Tag Archives: environmental scan

by | Thursday, September 12, 2024 · 7:45 am

Learning from Failing – Rough, but Informative

While we all love a success story, sometimes a story about failing is just as informative. We say, “it couldn’t happen to me….” But oh my, it can happen to anyone and any company. After all, roughly 95% of new products fail. Further, only about 20% of new products live longer than two years after launch. Those are daunting numbers.

Despite all these rather glum numbers and examples, innovation in products and services are absolutely critical to companies. What can we learn not just from the successes, but just as importantly from the failures?

Here’s a few examples to ponder:

  • Microsoft’s first music player – the Zune.
  • Apple’s Power Mac G4 Cube.
  • ESPN mobile phone.
  • Google Stadia.
  • Juicero juice press.
  • Keurig KOLD.
  • CNN+ (launched, lived, and died in 30 days).
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
  • Amazon’s Fire Phone.
  • Google Glass.
  • New Coke.
  • Cheetos lip balm.
  • Facebook Home.

What are some of the common elements of the failed products? Well, top of mind comes a bad product-market fit, poor timing, ignoring customer feedback, a poor or incomplete marketing plan, failing to satisfy customer needs, poor quality, or just a me-too product are among the most common errors.

Can you name a recent product failure?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: What are key elements to a success new product?
  2. Discuss the needs of the market along with a solid marketing plan.
  3. Show a video about product flops: https://youtu.be/Hq7Pz27j2lI?si=_peXfR_BFASf3aA8
  4. Divide students into teams.  Have each team select a failed product to analyze.
  5. After they have analyzed what went wrong, have each team either (1) develop a new marketing plan, or (2) explain why the product will never make it in the marketplace.

Source: Cohen, B. (19 July 2024). The man in Silicon Valley who’s completely obsessed with failure. Wall Street Journal; Webber, A. (29 January 2024). 11 of the biggest product flops of the last decade. 24/7 Wall Street.

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by | Wednesday, May 29, 2024 · 10:48 am

Evaluating Competitive Products

According to research from Harvard Business School, nearly 30,000 new products are introduced each year, and yet from that number, roughly 95% fail. Wow. That’s a lot of products trying to get consumers’ attention and gain their trust. And, that’s a lot of marketing expertise working to launch products that consumers truly want and need.

One way to make sure a product has an edge is to conduct research to compare and analyze competing products. Of course this is best done in a testing and evaluation stage, but no matter the stage, the importance of a positive review can’t be understated.

Research shows that consumers are strongly influenced by reviews – either from current users or independent testers. Positive reviews are likely to influence sales and build trust. But even negative reviews have something to offer marketers as these can identify problem areas that need to be quickly rectified.

There are many product testing reviewers out there, including work done by Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, Good Housekeeping, and Wirecutter (part of the New York Times). According to Wirecutter, they test and review thousands of products to save consumers the time and stress of shopping – whether it’s for gifts or personal use.

A valuable tool used for testing – the humble spreadsheet to measure strengths and weaknesses of products. Good gets colored green, mediocre is colored yellow, and failing attribute gets colored red.

Try it out and test a group of products. What should marketing say about it?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: How much do they depend on product reviews? From friends? From other sources?
  2. View Wirecutter’s website: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/
  3. Here’s an example of recent evaluation for coffee pods: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-nespresso-pods/
  4. Show videos: https://www.youtube.com/@wirecutter
  5. Divide students into teams. Have each team select a product line or service that college students might purchase. The product should be something with complexity and impact, not a commodity. (See https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/ for examples.)
  6. For each product line, have teams develop a list of attributes important to consumers. The list should have a minimum of five attributes or more. There should also be at least five competing products to compare.
  7. Each team should develop their own spreadsheet and testing protocol.
  8. Now, have the teams analyze the products accordingly.
  9. How should this information be communicated to consumers?

Source: Airhart, E. (7 November 2023). Wirecutter’s secret to making great picks: Obsessive spreadsheeting. New York Times; Wirecutter. (30 April 2024). The best Nespresso pods you can buy at the grocery store. New York Times.

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by | Monday, December 11, 2023 · 7:00 am

Rebranding San Francisco

San Francisco’s standing has declined since the pandemic. The city’s problems include homelessness, overt drug use, crime at stores, and homelessness and housing. Speaking of housing, it costs more to build housing in San Francisco than in any other city in California. This definitely impacts relocation and homelessness levels.

These types of issues certainly impact business investment, employment, and tourism. To improve the image, wealthy locals are putting $4 million into a new ad campaign to promote San Francisco’s innovation and creativity. The tag line: “It All Starts Here.” But is this enough to turn around the negative narrative?

One measure to track is tourism. This past August only 69% of the city’s hotel rooms were occupied, compared to 85% during the same period in 2019. Tourism is only one facet though – the campaign also aims to build local support and pride for the city at a time when retailers including Target, Office Depot, and Nordstrom have exited the city as crime at stores has dramatically increased.

Of course advertising and marketing alone can’t save the city. But it can focus the work and remind people of all the great parts of San Francisco and build pride.

What do you think?

 Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: Who has been to San Francisco? What attributes does it have for travelers? What are the negative aspects?
  2. Show ad and background video: https://youtu.be/fPqbtCiMEtE?si=abvj4mXJ-IkH-o4X
  3. Discuss how marketing can impact a city’s brand. What are the needed elements?
  4. Divide students into teams. Have each team select a town or city for re-branding.
  5. Discuss the various promotional tactics that can be used for rebranding.
  6. Have students come up with tactics and list all the tactics on the white board (ex: billboards, print, direct mail, etc.).
  7. For their town, have each team select three different tactics. For each tactic, explain why it was selected and how it will be used.

Source: Knight, H. (19 October 2023). San Francisco’s brand is in trouble. Can a new ad campaign fix it? New York Times; Knight, H. (27 October 2023). San Francisco has a new slogan, and not everyone is a fan. New York Times; other news sources.

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