Technology Adoption – You are the challenge

I have written about multiple challenges in the adoption of a technology product or service from the marketplace.

However in a lot of cases its product management team who are the challenge. This happens when they are so much in love with the product that they don’t see the signals that the market is sending.

Or a lot of times we get blinded by our ego and don’t see the changes that the market is undergoing. This is very critical in the technology space because there so many changes happening simultaneously in different layers of the fabric.

A typical case is that the cloud is bringing even high end computing in a consumption model and driving costs low.

Now someone with a unique idea can test a high end application at almost no cost from his home and release it in the market while your company has spent so many man-months.

If you think that no one will look at the application from the individual only because your company has a big money or brand, then you are letting your ego come in the way.

If you don’t have the humility to accept that the market decides what it likes then you are going to be shocked a lot.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Testing…more testing …and even more testing – Part II

Positioning, Product Management, segmentation, Testing

I wrote a post, a few days back, on this topic for identifying the right message, the correct strategy, the correct segment etc. with respect to marketing.

I was wondering if I was being too headstrong in insisting on this.

I just realised, that the nations who were able to bring Corona / Covid19 under control faster also relied on this. While keeping a safe distance and wearing a mask are the only deterrents to catching the Covid19, for the people who are involved in pandemic control, the only method was to test and see how the rate of growth of the pandemic was taking place.

The faster and higher the number of tests being done, the faster the identification of the possible infections , the quicker the response to isolate the people and quarantine them, thus reducing the opportunity for the virus to spread.

On the manufacturing floor also the higher the tests you do in the process, the lesser is the chance that the final product will have defects and will need to be scrapped.

When I visited Paris recently, I visited one of the perfumery companies and they showed us the process of launching a new perfume and how multiple tests had to be conducted to ensure that it did not react with people’s skin and the kind of audience reactions.

For releasing any vaccine they have to go through multiple rounds of tests.

So my rant that the only way to figure out what would succeed in the market is to test, then do more more tests and then even more tests, is actually a standard practice in all kinds of domains. I therefore don’t understand why people in marketing are averse to the idea of having a very serious process of testing their segmentation, niche, messaging etc.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Technology Adoption- Part 2

Product Management, Value, value proposition

In my last post I spoke about the different kinds of resistance when you take a new technology product or service you take to the market.

Today I will talk about how the product management person will have to keep the “value” issues related to adoption.

If your company is seen to be a price leader in the market then you cannot come out and position a product under your company’s brand as a premium product.

Never create a confusion in the market. Your product or service may have the best features and benefits, but if it’s perceived as expensive and you are the price leader then it will not get any traction.

There are two ways I have found companies solve this issue. They create a new company or create a completely new brand. To create a new brand is a very expensive affair and companies have to ensure a long branding strategy for this.

The other value position in the technology world is related to product innovation. If you’re seen as a innovation leader then you have to ensure that each new product you come out with has a WoW factor with it.

On the other hand if you’re products are seen as unreliable then you have a major challenge to be able to show value.

So we need to keep the customer value perception always in mind if you have to get your product successful.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Technology Adaption – the next challenge

Habits, Human Brain, mindset, Product Management, Technology

For product management in a technology company, the big challenge after identifying a single niche then targeting it, is the adaption of the technology.

Most technology based products are integration of existing resources. Very rarely are they designed from scratch for every component.

If by chance your product is designed from scratch then this problem is even more acute for you.

If the end user of your technology is not able to adapt your product easily as in 2-3 steps then even the most technologically superior product will be sent the grave. The human brain does not like change and therefore people resist any kind of new products. This is the biggest blockage for new technologies.

Look at Instagram or WhatsApp, such easy to use apps, therefore the adoption is in millions. It does not mean that the product is simple. I am sure the complexity is enormous, but they have kept it hidden from the customer. The user experience is very elegant and easy to use

Similarly the Iridium satellite phones, with the best pedigree and the ability to connect you from wherever you are in the world, bombed.

When doing product management of technology based products, you need to keep in mind if the existing infrastructure willsupport your technology. How much will the user have to unlearn to use your technology. What can be the simple things you can do to increase adoption.

This is a very complex subject so we will cover over multiple posts.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!