See how, once again, how Apple makes competitors default to the “better tech” message in an attempt to catch up to the iPhone
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100518/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_apple_iphone_lovers
Archive for the ‘Industry Insight’ Category
iPhone proves rule: Superior Technology Does Not Equal Competitive Advantage
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010Common Launch Disasters and How to Avoid Them
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Jay Longwell and Greg Mower from Stratus are conducting a seminar for the UCLA Anderson School of Business Alumni Network on successfully launching technology products worldwide. The event is on March 24th in San Diego. Here is the link for the event — check it out.
B2B Tech Marketing Marketing Embedded Imagers
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009B2B Tech Marketing: Marketing Embedded Imagers
View in PDF Version
For embedded components of tech-products, the lore of the ‘Intel Inside’ ingredient branding is a ‘siren’s song’ promising strong consumer identification and untold sales. Like most stories of easy money and innovation in marketing, there is much more to tell. While Intel has achieved ‘brand nirvana,’ the initial capital outlay for the ingredient marketing co-op easily measured in billions of dollars. The advertising co-op that paid for a portion of computer manufacturers ads was heavily supplemented with television advertising, further increasing the cost beyond most marketing budgets.
OPENING A BUSINESS IN THE U.S.
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009MARKETING TO THE U.S. BUILDING BRIDGES IN THE DESERT
By James Longwell and Greg Mower View in PDF Format
In virtually every industry other than technology, the marketing function drives product development. A detergent company will spend several months of research and testing to determine a new scent to put in its products. By the time it’s launched, the sales and marketing teams will have a very precise financial proforma and business model for exactly how this innovation will affect share. In the technology world, a company will spend years and millions of dollars (even hundreds of millions) in R&D and product development only to throw the new product “over the fence” to sales and marketing who are then tasked to find the customers.
NFL Scuttles Capt. Morgan Campaign
Thursday, November 12th, 2009I remember seeing it and going hmmm. Eagles TE Brent Celek catches a TD pass on Sunday night and then strikes the “knee-up” Capt. Morgan pose. Turns out it was a guerilla campaign that awarded dollars to charity for every time a player “struck the pose” in the end zone. The NFL cried foul and it was immediately banned. Now I wonder how much time, money and effort was put into a campaign that never had a chance from day one. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-celekpose111209&prov=yhoo&type=lgn
Get a Clear Window into Your Brand Strategy
Monday, September 14th, 2009Do you have a clear view of your brand strategy? Do others in your company as well? What about your channel partners? Because execution of Brand Strategy involves such visible elements as logos, product design, advertising, packaging and other materials, it can, and should, have a wide-reaching impact. Too often brand elements are developed within a narrow viewpoint. For example, packaging may communicate functional advantages over the competition, but fail to effectively reflect the brand persona. Your brand architecture may be clear to the internal divisions who are developing your products, but confusing to customers at point-of-sale.
Usability changes can greatly increase your online ROI
Monday, September 14th, 2009According to a recent study, implementing website usability enhancements can increase your online ROI by 83%*.
Consider a few examples:
- A major online retailer experienced a 3,000% increase in sales for a consumables product category within one week after implementing changes to the homepage based off consumer insight from usability testing studies.
- A major consumer products manufacturer utilized usability studies to identify a new online shopping model for one of its product categories. The result was that 99% of people indicated they would purchase from their online catalog versus only 40% that said they would purchase from other website options.
Let’s face it, companies invest significant resources into developing, maintaining and promoting their websites – and for good reason. A company website is often the first place potential customers go to learn more about your firm and determine if they want to take the next step – turning interest into action.
But is your company maximizing its online ROI? When new visitors come to your site, is it what they expected? Can they find the information they’re looking for or accomplish what they intended to do? Is it better and more intuitive than competitor websites? Do you really know if it’s working and what prospects think?
Many companies do not.
Thus, the invaluable role that a usability assessment can provide. Usability refers to how intuitive and user friendly your website is to the target audience and encompasses everything from site design to content, navigation, categorization, and functionality. The beauty of usability reviews is that it is extremely flexible and can be accomplished in many different ways for any type of website or online tool. And, it can be incorporated at any point of the development process.
Perhaps the most effective and enlightening approach is a usability testing study in which people are observed navigating your website and verbalize their thoughts as they go along. Many studies will also compare your website to the competition, providing even greater insight into how well your website fares against others and what you should be doing differently. Let’s face it, you don’t really know how effective your website is until your hear it from your target market firsthand. This type of study is invaluable in identifying where problems exist and how to solve them. And, they can be conducted in a lab environment, on site or even remotely.
