Lesson #1: Take Your Market Research to the Streets
Lesson #1: Take Your Market Research to the Streets
In 1979, Ibuka asked his audio department to create a stereo system that he could take with him on his many long flights overseas. The creative engineers created a makeshift device for Ibuka, which allowed him to play tapes for long periods of time. After showing the gadget to his Sony co-founder, Morita spent the following weekend tinkering with it. He took it home with him, took it to dinner, and took it with him golfing. That Monday morning, he showed up at work and announced that this gadget would, in fact, become a Sony product.
Morita saw promise in the portable sound system. He recognized that “young people cannot live without music,” and thought it would hit the markets running. Few others, however, saw what Morita saw. First of all, he was told, no consumer would buy a tape recorder that did not have the capacity to record. Secondly, market research suggested that the earphones would hold the product back.
Morita was told that not only would consumers find the earphones irritating, but that since they were also associated with hearing loss, they would never go over well in Japan, where deafness and hearing impairment are taboo issues. Morita began to wonder whether people would, in fact, want to listen to music by themselves, cut off from the rest of the world.
Despite the advice given to him by his marketing department, Morita chose instead to follow his hunch. He told Sony staff that they were going to create a worldwide culture of headphone wearers. In fact, he would later advise fellow entrepreneurs to avoid market research altogether, saying, “Carefully watch how people live, get an intuitive sense as to what they might want and then go with it. Don’t do market research.”
The newly named Walkman became the immediate hit that Morita had predicted. It hit the stores in 1979 without a single day’s worth of market research. From there, the company continued to follow their hunches in creating such innovative products as the compact disc and today’s Playstation.
Not everything Morita pushed through achieved similar success as the Walkman. His electronic rice cooker never got off the ground, while the company’s first tape recorder weighed over 75 pounds, and never found a willing market. Indeed, as Morita later admitted, “If you go through life convinced that your way is always best, all the new ideas in the world will pass you by.” But, Morita always learned the lesson.
“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake,” he said. “But make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Lesson 1 Take Your Market Research to the Streets
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Morita might have been the Chairman of Sony Corporation, but that did not mean he stayed cooped up in his office all day long, removed from the daily action. He enjoyed tinkering with electronics as a child, and nothing had changed in the years since. Morita took a constant and keen interest in the research and development branch of his company. In fact, in the early years, there was one product that particularly caught Morita’s attention.
In 1979, Ibuka asked his audio department to create a stereo system that he could take with him on his many long flights overseas. The creative engineers created a makeshift device for Ibuka, which allowed him to play tapes for long periods of time. After showing the gadget to his Sony co-founder, Morita spent the following weekend tinkering with it. He took it home with him, took it to dinner, and took it with him golfing. That Monday morning, he showed up at work and announced that this gadget would, in fact, become a Sony product.
Morita saw promise in the portable sound system. He recognized that “young people cannot live without music,” and thought it would hit the markets running. Few others, however, saw what Morita saw. First of all, he was told, no consumer would buy a tape recorder that did not have the capacity to record. Secondly, market research suggested that the earphones would hold the product back.
Morita was told that not only would consumers find the earphones irritating, but that since they were also associated with hearing loss, they would never go over well in Japan, where deafness and hearing impairment are taboo issues. Morita began to wonder whether people would, in fact, want to listen to music by themselves, cut off from the rest of the world.
Despite the advice given to him by his marketing department, Morita chose instead to follow his hunch. He told Sony staff that they were going to create a worldwide culture of headphone wearers. In fact, he would later advise fellow entrepreneurs to avoid market research altogether, saying, “Carefully watch how people live, get an intuitive sense as to what they might want and then go with it. Don’t do market research.”
The newly named Walkman became the immediate hit that Morita had predicted. It hit the stores in 1979 without a single day’s worth of market research. From there, the company continued to follow their hunches in creating such innovative products as the compact disc and today’s Playstation.
Not everything Morita pushed through achieved similar success as the Walkman. His electronic rice cooker never got off the ground, while the company’s first tape recorder weighed over 75 pounds, and never found a willing market. Indeed, as Morita later admitted, “If you go through life convinced that your way is always best, all the new ideas in the world will pass you by.” But, Morita always learned the lesson.
“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake,” he said. “But make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Lesson 1 Take Your Market Research to the Streets
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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