Once again, it should be about the customer...

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While many people tout the success of the iPod, the PlayStation, and other "platforms", it is amazing to see how many companies miss the point -- that it is supposed to be about providing complete solutions for what customers need.
It seems that Sony has missed the mark once again with the PlayStation Portable. I watched them miss with the Mini Disks, which were a superior technology to the Walkman and cassette tapes, but where Sony failed to realize that the Mini Disk should be a computer peripheral rather than a stand-alone entertainment box.
I have yet to try a PlayStation Portable, but Stephen Wildstrom at BusinessWeek provides great insights into the missed functionality and proprietary fences that Sony has built around this product.
They have created a Universal Media Disk (UMD) that are pre-recorded only, are expensive, and lack a support network of titles and inexpensive rentals. They have a limited form of WiFi but prohibit streaming music and video. They failed to allow easy synchronization for song loading. And they support only two music formats -- MP3 and their own ATRAC.
We all need to learn from the successes and failures of others. Sony would be wise to buy Apple, just to get Steve Jobs and his team to show Sony how to create a new product sensation and break down traditional barriers.
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On the 8th P of Marketing, my customer gave to me....

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In my time at Accenture, clients would often ask me to list the "4 Ps" of marketing (product, pricing, promotion, and place) to help them organiize a marketing plan or new product introduction plan.  I argue that any marketing plan should address 8 Ps instead, to be complete:
  1. Prospect:  It is so important to know which customers you are targeting, so all the other Ps can align.  This is different than a boil-the-ocean segmentation program.  And it is important to go beyond "there are two types of customers.. those who will buy our product/service and those who won't".
  2. Product/Service:  Describe the major features of the product or service.  Note that I include both products and services because more product companies are getting service components in their business (e.g., warranty and maintenance support) and more service companies are getting into hard products (e.g., telephone companies with DSL modems).
  3. Price:  This one is still important, and it is becoming increasingly important to look at all the "terms" elements of price as part of the equation.  For example, with cellular companies, the set-up charge, phone cost, phone-upgrade flexibility, cancellation charges, etc. are all part of the price equation.
  4. Proposition:  With the first three elements defined, it is essential to define the compelling value proposition for why a target customer will want to buy this products/service versus other options, including doing nothing.  At the planning stage it is critical to push the envelope on the proposition, to apply superlatives as much as possible (fastest, cheapest, easiest, only, etc.)
  5. Place:  The distribution channels are still important, and it is as important to think about the value proposition for the channel partners as it is for the end consumers.
  6. Promotion:  There are more options for promotions today than there were 10 years ago, and wise companies get creative about exploring those.  Seth Godin offers some of the most interesting and compelling ideas on new-age promotion that I have seen.
  7. Process:  It is essential to define the end-to-end, lifetime experience you want your customers to enjoy.  Some marketers leave that to others in the organization, such as the shipping department or the customer service team, but it is up to marketers to define this completely.
  8. Profits:  Marketers are primarily responsible for revenue growth and customer growth, but must also understand the economic levers of the business and demonstrate how they are building the profits of the business over the long run.
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Kicking off the Weblog

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Why am I doing this? I love technology and what it can do for people. At the same time, I am frustrated by how much technology is done for technology's sake, rather than keeping in mind the needs of the users. For example, consider how for how long cell phones came only in black, and personal computers in beige/putty, until someone realized that they were as much fashion items as tools. My basic belief is that technology needs to align with the needs of the end user. That means applying some basic marketing principles. I will use this blog to identify good and bad examples of technology marketing, and weigh in with my point of view about them. Take it or leave it. Accenture sponsored me to write the white paper, Creating the Digital Customer, while I worked there. In that piece I identified four basic needs that are as true today as they were in 2001:
  1. Engage the early majority (with thanks to Geoffrey Moore's book, Crossing the Chasm)
  2. Simplify the Digital Value Chain
  3. Engineer to an acceptable price point
  4. Develop "aggregator" channels
These will be my fundamental building blocks. Wish me luck. Let me know what you think.
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