Marketing vs Tech…Consumers Need Voice in Driving Products
Marketing vs Tech…Consumers Need Voice in Driving Products
The hard fact is…we really don't need more technology.
What we do need is better application of the technology we have.
In fact, it would be fair to say that we probably have enough sound technology available to last us for the next five to ten years. What we need are people to make the technology usable for the rest of us.
Technology is important, but what is needed even more is sound marketing/market understanding, ability and practice.
We rush insanely great technology/products to market, we get them reviewed/talked about by bleeding edge media techno-writers and the din of noise fills the media (Figure 1). Print, web, blog, radio, TV all cover the insanely great solution and we forecast fantastic hockey stick sales and insane profits.
Figure 1 here
Instead of the product sweeping the globe in a year – or two – it trundles along with respectable growth but nowhere near the hyped numbers we read. Obviously the product is a failure and we’re certain it was the product failed…not the consumer.
As time goes on the product slowly and by now without the insane profits we envisioned sales grow and the product is absorbed into our daily lives.
It wasn’t magic. It wasn’t the consumer epiphany. Manufacturers/retailers didn’t convince the consumer he or she had to have the product. Instead Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm product lifestyle discussion. His book hit the street in 1991, established Moore as a visionary, people read the book and most returned to the same old technology/hype/failure practice.
Industry history proves again and again that no one listens to the consumer because in the U.S. and around the globe penetration took time.
Consumers weren’t/aren’t stupid but the industry does a disservice by not putting all of the marketing tools behind the product to give people a reason to…buy!
Rather than listening to engineering on "what the marketplace really needs," marketeers go out and talks with customers and prospects. Then he or she tells engineering and manufacturing to produce a product that meets those criteria.
Then the company builds a legion of early adopters and “puts them to work” spreading the word, advancing the technology across the marketplace. According to a Forrester consumer adoption study:
- 83% of respondents got their information from friends/acquaintances
- 75% from product/service reviews
- 63% from a known “expert”
- 52% from user reviews on a content site
- 50%from online consumer opinion sites
- 49% from editors on content site
- 37% from online chat rooms, discussion boards, user forums
- 30% from blogger reviews
Tech-based CEOs, cold-number CFOs and marketing staffs often dismiss the importance – and value – of these individuals in helping products/services cross Moore’s Chasm more rapidly.
Rare Mixture
There are some excellent (but rare) heads of marketing in the industry who understand finance, economics, selling, R&D as well as how to determine and anticipate the market's next-generation product requirements.
These men and women want new, additional products to sell. They also want products that will fit specific market segment/niche requirements.
They understand the importance of packaging and presenting these products so that they appeal to their target markets. They understand the value of good marketplace relationships and promotion.
Smart management doesn't make a decision to introduce a new product without the facts in front of them--facts that tell them their chances of success with the ultimate consumer. They hone their promotional messages not on the engineering “facts” but rather tap into the wants and needs of their buying publics.
Successful marketing people realize the importance of promotion that makes their customers feel a little uncomfortable.
They understand that people need to be dissatisfied before they'll make a change from status quo. Marketing must provide the catalyst for change in order to stimulate the purchase of their product(s).
The also understand the importance of helping, working with, supporting and relating with the early adopters, reviewers, bloggers, podcasters, site managers handle, use, discuss and champion the products.
Success with them isn’t absolutely necessary we suppose. What the heck if they ignore the product because they can’t get it in their hands to talk about.
Or if they take potshots at the product, no big deal…they’re only one person.
The problem today is that lousy little potshot is heard around the world.
Battlelines Drawn
When Robert Duval muttered those immortal words in Apocalypse Now, "God, but I love the smell of napalm in the morning," he wasn't talking of death and destruction. He was talking about the excitement and challenge of battle.
While the battles of one-upsmanship between engineers and designers will probably go on forever, those small skirmishes don't win the big, bottomline battle.
And, while engineers may mutter under their breath that marketing is squelching their technical advances, they also have to admit that their efforts are not driven by profit motives.
To stay in business, every company has to be pushed, pulled and dragged to make a profit.
The only people who are in a position to accomplish this are the rare--very rare--marketing people who can rally the organization and its outside resources to do more than simply sell some product.
Instead, they sell the product to a market segment again ... and again ... and again.
Marketing should focus all of their communications resources and efforts on helping the marketplace help them capture market share.
Finance, engineering and product design should be figuring out how to give the company the tools and products they need to get the firm's unfair share of the market before the competition realizes what is going on.
True all of this isn’t absolutely necessary. Insanely great products and services will sell themselves.
The blackholes of space are filled with great innovations – hardware, software, service – that weren’t competently and thoroughly led by intelligent/competent marketing.
# # #
Marketing vs TechConsumers Need Voice in Driving Products - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
On any given day you will find a group of engineers or programmers huddling in the back room, sitting in the corner of the coffee shop, or gathering around the most recently divorced individual's kitchen table to plan the next major new company built on breathtaking technology.
The hard fact is…we really don't need more technology.
What we do need is better application of the technology we have.
In fact, it would be fair to say that we probably have enough sound technology available to last us for the next five to ten years. What we need are people to make the technology usable for the rest of us.
Technology is important, but what is needed even more is sound marketing/market understanding, ability and practice.
We rush insanely great technology/products to market, we get them reviewed/talked about by bleeding edge media techno-writers and the din of noise fills the media (Figure 1). Print, web, blog, radio, TV all cover the insanely great solution and we forecast fantastic hockey stick sales and insane profits.
Figure 1 here
Instead of the product sweeping the globe in a year – or two – it trundles along with respectable growth but nowhere near the hyped numbers we read. Obviously the product is a failure and we’re certain it was the product failed…not the consumer.
As time goes on the product slowly and by now without the insane profits we envisioned sales grow and the product is absorbed into our daily lives.
It wasn’t magic. It wasn’t the consumer epiphany. Manufacturers/retailers didn’t convince the consumer he or she had to have the product. Instead Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm product lifestyle discussion. His book hit the street in 1991, established Moore as a visionary, people read the book and most returned to the same old technology/hype/failure practice.
Industry history proves again and again that no one listens to the consumer because in the U.S. and around the globe penetration took time.
Consumers weren’t/aren’t stupid but the industry does a disservice by not putting all of the marketing tools behind the product to give people a reason to…buy!
Rather than listening to engineering on "what the marketplace really needs," marketeers go out and talks with customers and prospects. Then he or she tells engineering and manufacturing to produce a product that meets those criteria.
Then the company builds a legion of early adopters and “puts them to work” spreading the word, advancing the technology across the marketplace. According to a Forrester consumer adoption study:
- 83% of respondents got their information from friends/acquaintances
- 75% from product/service reviews
- 63% from a known “expert”
- 52% from user reviews on a content site
- 50%from online consumer opinion sites
- 49% from editors on content site
- 37% from online chat rooms, discussion boards, user forums
- 30% from blogger reviews
Tech-based CEOs, cold-number CFOs and marketing staffs often dismiss the importance – and value – of these individuals in helping products/services cross Moore’s Chasm more rapidly.
Rare Mixture
There are some excellent (but rare) heads of marketing in the industry who understand finance, economics, selling, R&D as well as how to determine and anticipate the market's next-generation product requirements.
These men and women want new, additional products to sell. They also want products that will fit specific market segment/niche requirements.
They understand the importance of packaging and presenting these products so that they appeal to their target markets. They understand the value of good marketplace relationships and promotion.
Smart management doesn't make a decision to introduce a new product without the facts in front of them--facts that tell them their chances of success with the ultimate consumer. They hone their promotional messages not on the engineering “facts” but rather tap into the wants and needs of their buying publics.
Successful marketing people realize the importance of promotion that makes their customers feel a little uncomfortable.
They understand that people need to be dissatisfied before they'll make a change from status quo. Marketing must provide the catalyst for change in order to stimulate the purchase of their product(s).
The also understand the importance of helping, working with, supporting and relating with the early adopters, reviewers, bloggers, podcasters, site managers handle, use, discuss and champion the products.
Success with them isn’t absolutely necessary we suppose. What the heck if they ignore the product because they can’t get it in their hands to talk about.
Or if they take potshots at the product, no big deal…they’re only one person.
The problem today is that lousy little potshot is heard around the world.
Battlelines Drawn
When Robert Duval muttered those immortal words in Apocalypse Now, "God, but I love the smell of napalm in the morning," he wasn't talking of death and destruction. He was talking about the excitement and challenge of battle.
While the battles of one-upsmanship between engineers and designers will probably go on forever, those small skirmishes don't win the big, bottomline battle.
And, while engineers may mutter under their breath that marketing is squelching their technical advances, they also have to admit that their efforts are not driven by profit motives.
To stay in business, every company has to be pushed, pulled and dragged to make a profit.
The only people who are in a position to accomplish this are the rare--very rare--marketing people who can rally the organization and its outside resources to do more than simply sell some product.
Instead, they sell the product to a market segment again ... and again ... and again.
Marketing should focus all of their communications resources and efforts on helping the marketplace help them capture market share.
Finance, engineering and product design should be figuring out how to give the company the tools and products they need to get the firm's unfair share of the market before the competition realizes what is going on.
True all of this isn’t absolutely necessary. Insanely great products and services will sell themselves.
The blackholes of space are filled with great innovations – hardware, software, service – that weren’t competently and thoroughly led by intelligent/competent marketing.
# # #
Marketing vs TechConsumers Need Voice in Driving Products - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken'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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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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