Monthly Archives: October 2015

Market research is a powerful decision-making tool. It brought world famous companies to success, however, when carried out in the wrong way, it leads to disruptive results.

Odeo, later rebranded Twitter, a podcast website competing with iTunes, was revolutionized by successful market research to a status-sharing platform. The company recognized what consumers visualized as the flaws of other existing social media websites, such as the overwhelming interface, and improved on them, developing a simple, consumer-friendly outlook. Instagram incurred similar early changes thanks to effective market researching. As the company’s CEO and co-funder reported, the business met consumers’ desires realizing that its original web app, Burbn, offered too many features, which made the app excessively complicated

In spite of the two previous example, many companies, notably Segway, completely failed to reach consumer’s needs. The company raised public expectations before its launch in 2002, describing the machine as extremely revolutionary. However, the idea of “revolutionary” did not match what the public was expecting. The 10,000 units per week goal was not met, selling 24,000 machines during the first five years of production.

Whereas Twitter and Instagram grew successfully through an effective analysis of people’s needs, Segway’s failed to reach the consumer’s needs, solve buyer’s problems or even target a specific segment. Clever inventions with a worthless market research do not always find a spot in consumers’ mind.

Credits

Sloane, Paul. “A Lesson in Innovation – Why Did the Segway Fail? | Innovation Management.” Innovation Management. InnovationManagement.se, 02 May 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Schneider, Johan. “Why Most Product Launches Fail.” Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business School Publishing, 01 Apr. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Systrom, Kevin. “What Is the Genesis of Instagram?FAQ.” The Genesis of Instagram. Quora, 11 Jan. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Nazar, Jason. “14 Famous Business Pivots.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Most of the companies I have been writing about grew harsh competition within their own segment. Nevertheless, Microsoft has now developed a different strategy.

At the end of July, Microsoft released Windows 10 software, which is already running on many types of devices and available as a free update. Based on personal experience, the software drastically improved in respect to the unfriendly Windows 8 operating system.

The software comes with a new app, Phone Companion, which offers a new way to connect Windows 10 to other devices. The computer program delivers increased interaction between the software and various competitive portable platforms such  as Apple and Android tablets and smartphones.

Through collaboration with competitors’ app stores, Microsoft has developed a new way to promote its products. Moreover, Phone Companion displays many useful products, especially One Drive and Office, which provide a practical way to access and upload documents directly from smartphones or tablets.

A better strategy corresponds to better product positioning. Instead of a meaningless battle to develop a complete smartphone platform, Microsoft has finally decided to aim for a different goal, producing a user-friendly PC operating system that enables enriched connection with external devices.

Credits

Weinberger, Matt. “Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s Genius Plan: To Swap One Monopoly for Another.” Yahoo Finance. Yahoo, 29 Aug. 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.

Warren, Tom. “Windows 10’s Phone Companion Aims to Link a PC to Any Smartphone.” The Verge. Vox Media, 26 May 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.

Wingfield, Nick. “Windows 10 Signifies Microsoft’s Shift in Strategy.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 19 July 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.

I bought my first GoPro camera in 2012. Before the purchase, I watched hours of spectacular footage of GoPro athletes engaging in reckless activities. For some reason, I tough the camera would have brought me to experience and film the same amazing adventures.

As I witnessed myself, the company managed to make the brand a status symbol. It is impressive how most of the people who are willing to buy the camera want to identify with the GoPro motto “Be a hero”.

The successful value proposition comes with an effective marketing strategy that not many brands managed to implement. In this perspective, the remarkable number of customers’ videos on You Tube is the main source of the brand’s promotion. Throughout the first quarter of 2014, people watched over 50 million hours of videos with the GoPro brand name involved.

In order to advertise its products even more, GoPro is also in the process of becoming a media company. Moreover, the brand is still looking for new ways to bring a well-rounded experience and has been planning to introduce a new cloud service.

By selling a lifestyle and not just a hardware, GoPro developed a brand that has a clear differentiation strategy within the competitive camera business. If the company successfully evolves into a media company and introduces a useful cloud service, than its popularity might persist.

Credits

Lapowsky, Issie. “Why GoPro’s Success Isn’t Really About the Cameras.” Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 26 June 2014. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.

Burns, Matt. “Inside GoPro’s Ambitious Plan To Connect Their Cameras To The Cloud.” TechCrunch. WorldPress.com VIP, 9 June 2015. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.

Seward, Zachary M. “What GoPro Means When It Calls Itself a Media Company.” Quartz. N.p., 19 May 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.

The first time I heard about Tata Nano was in my second COMM101 lecture. At first I was really astonished to hear the car’s cost: only 100,000 rupees (about $2,200). It seemed like an optimal solution for the Indian market, where 21.9 % of the population lives below the poverty line and many travel on extremely precarious scooters.

The goal was to sell 20,000 cars a month; in November 2010 however, it sold around 509 units. The head of Tata Motors itself reported in 2010 that the Tata Nano business model had to be reinvented.

As Lee Yohn reports on Business Insider, the main reason for this flop is the wrong approach to the customer. Since the company has focused more on the low price than the practicality of the city car, the low-end and slightly higher-end customers had a low interest in purchasing the product, a clear symbol of poverty.

In May 2015, Tata Motors slightly changed its offer proposition, with a new, appealing model, the Nano GenX. It seems the company has learned from its mistakes, as the new model now offers many optional features and has managed to change the customers’ perception of the car from affordable to stylish and practical.

Even though Tata Nano was supposed to revolutionize transportation in India, it missed an essential step: understanding what the customer really needed. Finger crossed for GenX.

Credits

Yohn, Denise Lee. “What Went Wrong with Tata Motors Nano.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 22 May 2013. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.

“Stuck in Low Gear.” The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 20 Aug. 2011. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.

Baggonkar, Swaraj. “Has the Tide Turned for Tata Motors?” Business Standard. N.p., 17 June 2015. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.

“Rural Poverty Portal.” Rural Poverty Portal. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2015. <http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/statistics/tags/india>.

Chipotle Mexican Grill and Five Guys have something in common: they both provide a customized value proposition to the customer. This characteristic is bringing significant competition to McDonald’s way of doing business, especially in the US, where the two restaurants obtained most of their
success.

On this perspective,
McDonald’s Canada has promised to introduce a new way of ordering food in its Canadian restaurants by 2017. The ordering process will be very similar to the one employed in some fast food chains, where the buyer decides the main ingredients of his dish at a self-service kiosk. The company is also seeking to improve customer service with table delivery and kiosk support staff.

The way McDonald’s is rethinking about its policy tights up to one of the major current trends to deliver extremely customized goods. On this respect, Ryan Kamimura’s blog post on Tesla Motors’ direct business model clearly conveys how a tailored customer offer can lead to success, especially when it sparks durable customer loyalty. McDonald’s does not have a direct selling policy, however, thanks to a customizable offer, it might get closer and closer to customers’ needs.

The new program will cost 200.000 for each of the 1400 stores in Canada. Who knows, it might be worth it.

 Credits

Henderson, Peter. “McDonald’s Canada Promises Burger with Choice by 2017.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.

Kopun, Francine. “McDonald’s Canada Introduces Self-serve Ordering.”Thestar.com. N.p., 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.

 Kamimura, Ryan. “Why Teslas Aren’t Only Attractive in Science.” Ryan Kamimuras Blog. N.p., 24 Sept. 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.

IStockPhoto. McDonald’s. Digital image. Pubblic Radio International. N.p., 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.