Nov 16, 2009 | Change, Innovation, Marketing
Not just the “bits”, the original target of Moore’s Law are halving in price every couple of years, lots of other things are as well.
For many goods and services, the whole notion of charging at marginal cost has been thrown on its head, because in many cases marginal cost has become negligible.
The internet has created the most competitive market the world has ever seen.
Barriers to entry are almost zero, and the marginal cost of production is zero. Therefore, how do you price this product, as price has always followed the marginal cost in traditional models.
The consequence is that over time, as things evolve on the internet, the for “free” component will increase, and the audience will increase, in numbers, but those who want “depth” will still be prepared to pay for it.
Disruptive innovation has used this model for 150 years.
Jell-O, effectively dried granulated gelatin in a box was given away in the 1880’s as a means to develop a market.
Linux software is the best known recent example of free stuff on the net, but it is every where, so the marketing challenge is to evolve a business model that enables you to make money when giving it away.
On of my clients has a unique information product that offers useful generic information covering an industry, but then has the scope to generate very specific and competitively useful information for individual enterprises and situations at a much deeper level of analysis. The debate about the best pricing model is proving to be very interesting indeed.
Nov 16, 2009 | Change, Innovation, Marketing
In the welter of new media arriving almost daily, is there an element of individuals being empowered to exercise their right to make their own choices after a lifetime of being told what they want by others.
Boys are taught from an early age to want a sports car by the role models and advertising thrust at them, and girls are taught what to want by magazines and their peers and role models, but do we really need most of it?
After several generations of honing the ability to filter out the mass market advertising we do not want to see, perhaps twitter and the other emerging social networking tools are an opportunity to express stuff that was previously just a personal consideration. The marketing implications of this ability to filter communications coming in, and respond directly to those that attract us for some reason are as important to marketing as Henry Ford was to automobiles.
Nov 11, 2009 | Branding, Innovation, Marketing
November 10 was the 40th birthday of “Sesame Street” perhaps the most influential television program ever produced, and it still brings adults a laugh, amongst the serious messages to kids.
I noticed early in the day that Google had Big Bird on their masthead, but did not know why, then about lunchtime, the Cookie Monster appeared, then later, the whole gang, by which time, I had realised the significance. This brought a smile, but more important, engaged me, a 58 year old bloke, with their brand in a way I would not have thought possible.
Search engines are now pretty much all the same, they all do a good job of finding stuff, but only Google has become a verb! This is because they have done a superb job of engaging their consumers around the world in a range of ways, and have innovated relentlessly to ensure they remain the first point of call on the net for most.
The determination creativity, and discipline of this effort is exemplified by the attention to detail that must have gone into someone dreaming up the idea of changing of the masthead three times during the day. It is easy to do, very hard to think of, but hugely engaging to anyone who opened Google on the 10th, probably half the connected world.
Nov 10, 2009 | Innovation, Marketing
Our society is obsessed with the elimination of risk, even little ones that really make no difference, and we spend huge resources insuring ourselves against the possibility that something will impact on us in a way we do not like.
Local councils ban kids riding skateboards in parks, teachers ban running in the school yard, to get a permit to have a table on a footpath outside your bistro is harder than designing a nuclear device, at least the instructions for that are on the net.
What is this all about?, we spend most of our time and resources on the negative stuff, rather than the positive stuff, being different, diverse, interesting, having a go, all in the name of ensuring we do not offend anyone, ever, under any circumstances, no matter how whacky they may be.
What a way to run a country, no wonder we are in the shit.
I was telling my 28 year old son about the anti Vietnam war moratorium marches a few weeks ago. Showing my age here, but we got out and made a noise, challenged the status quo, made a difference, had a blast, and changed the world for the better, and most people there were there for the energy, the ride, for the excitement, and as a side benefit, to meet girls.
Where is that passion now? Isn’t it time we brought some of it back, if for no reason other than we are boring ourselves to death. The flip side is what an opportunity to be noticed by being other than boring!
Nov 9, 2009 | Branding, Innovation, Marketing
Every brand to be successful has two dimensions.
- Generic attributes, those things it must do well to survive in its category. A car must have 4 wheels, be reliable, and not leak in the rain, a watch must tell the time, accurately.
- Differentiators, those characteristics that distinguish the product from all others, the thing a group of customers values, that creates loyalty & preference. These can be physical, and emotional, and most successful brands combine both.
A Rolls Royce is not a Hyundi, yet they are both cars, they both provide reliable transport, and have 4 wheels, but the differentiators, for which some are prepared to pay enormous amounts are what makes the brand. A swatch is not a Rollex, but they are both watches, just different types of watch that appeal to different people for different reasons.
A brand is not a brand without the distinctive characteristics, it does not matter how much advertising is spent, without the differentiators, it is just like all the others.
Nov 2, 2009 | Change, Innovation, Leadership, Marketing, Small business
We talk about vision, mission, and all the rest, but at a more fundamental level, evolving a point of view, shared throughout the firm, about the “shape” and trends of the industries we are in, and those of the industries we intersect with, is a really basic thing to do.
Having a point of view about the “green” economy enabled GE to start their “Ecomagination” program before climate change was on the general agenda, it enabled them to disrupt their own light bulb business with the compact flouro, and it drives their current efforts to rebuild their huge medical devices business by developing small, cheap, mobile devices that fulfill a more basic need in developing countries .
All this because Jeff Immelt developed a point of view, and drove it through the business as a catalyst for massive and disruptive innovation.
Have you developed a “point of view” about your industry, and the role your business will take? Few are as influential as GE, able to change the “shape” of their industries by their actions, but it is no less important for small firms to have a point of view, and a plan to deal with the “shaping” influences as they emerge.
