January 12, 2015 · 11:55 am

Self-driving

You might have seen some news stories about CES over the course of the last week.  It’s a huge tech trade show that starts every year off with a glimpse of what technologies are down the road.  In many cases, not very far down the road either.  One of the tech area that was most prominent last week was automotive; specifically, autonomous cars.  While you might have heard about Google’s work in the area of self-driving vehicles, many other automakers – Audi, Mercedes, and others – are quite far along in developing this technology and Audi even let a car drive itself to Las Vegas from San Francisco to show how well their prototype works.

Honda-like steering wheel vector graphic

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Maybe you find that creepy.  Maybe the thought of sitting down in a vehicle that moves along pretty quickly and letting that vehicle control itself scares you.  I guess you haven’t flown lately, since most airplanes do exactly that.  Some even land themselves.  So what is the business point?

This thinking isn’t new.  Way back in the 1990’s engineers were re-thinking the automobile and the way in which humans interact (or don’t) with it.  The Saab folks designed and built a car without a steering wheel.  The driver used a joystick instead. As the Wired folks reported:

It turns out that the steering wheel is an excellent way to steer a vehicle, and really tough to improve upon. That’s why they’ve been used on ships for centuries. The key to controlling any vehicle is to make smooth adjustments to keep it going where you want to. Steering wheels allow this. Most turn 1,260 degrees—3.5 turns—from lock-to-lock, that is, from all the way left to all the way right. That allows the driver to make very precise corrections to get the car pointing the right way, or quickly make big corrections to, say, avoid hitting something.

There were other problems too but the business point is this.  All of us need to constantly challenge our paradigms.  Maybe we don’t need people to drive the cars, or even BE in the cars.  BMW showed a car that you could “call” to you and which would go find a parking space for itself and park once you were done with it.  That redefines how a designer might think about the vehicle.  So the real question is this:

How have you challenged your paradigms today?

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January 9, 2015 · 11:43 am

Wine And Winning

Foodie Friday! I don’t know about you but I enjoy a glass of wine with my meals when I dine out. Unfortunately, there is no faster way to run up a restaurant bill than to order wine. I’m pretty familiar with many of the better low-cost wines from around the world and I tend to seek them out when I’m dining out. Usually they cost anywhere from 2 to 3 times what I know I would pay at retail.

This image shows a red wine glass.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This sets up a classic problem. Restaurants make a good amount of profit on selling wine and liquor and I certainly don’t begrudge them that. I would rather, however, pay them a lot for a really great dish that I know I can’t possibly make at home or for spectacular service. Paying $35 for a $12 bottle offends me, frankly.  The restaurant’s priorities are out of sync with mine and that’s never good in any business.  As a result I (and a number of my wine-loving friends) have made it a habit to seek out BYOB restaurants.  We bring our own wine and spend our money on food.  That’s a missed profit opportunity for the establishment, especially since we avoid “corkage” charges religiously.

Lately, quite a few nearby restaurants have done a very smart thing.  On what are their slow nights they offer half-price bottles.  Has this enticed us out on a Wednesday night?  Yes it has.  Which points to how we all need to solve business problems no matter what our business.

In this case the restaurant is selling the wine at a small markup, nothing like the 100%+ they usually charge.  More importantly, they have more covers on slow nights, and their overhead doesn’t change if they restaurant is full or empty.  As a customer I think of it as a big win, and going out Monday or Wednesday is fine with me, especially since it is generally slower, the service is better, and the kitchen usually more attentive.  I might even buy a much better bottle than usual which helps the turn over the wine stock or order an additional dish.  In other words, it’s a big win for everyone.

Isn’t that how every business dilemma need to be resolved?

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January 8, 2015 · 11:39 am

Getting A Chance

English: Food2u running on an Android phone. E...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Anyone who has played sports has had the thought about getting a chance to prove their worth.  If I could only get a few more at bats, I know I could show what I can do.  I need more shifts on the ice. Throw the ball my way.  I suspect many of us hold the same thinking when it comes to our products or services.  If I can only get a sample in the consumer’s hand, they’d be a convert and a customer for life.  How do I get their attention?

The odd thing is that marketers are getting those chances more now than ever.  The sad thing is that many of us haven’t adjusted our strategies and tactics to take advantage of it.  It’s almost like the coach says “get in the game” and we are taking a nap on the bench.  Here is what triggered my thought.

The Harris Interactive poll discovered years ago in a survey of US adult smartphone owners that 63% of female respondents and 73% of male respondents don’t go an hour without checking their phone.  Much of it is messaging as Pew found that cell phone users between 18 and 24 exchange an average of 109.5 messages on an average day, more than 3,200 per month.  A lot of it is in apps.  An academic study of Android users’ app-habits revealed that while users spend nearly one hour on their devices a day, the average app session lasted only just over a minute.  Both messaging and apps hold the potential for communication to consumers.  The issue is that many marketers ignore those opportunities or use them badly.  You only get so many strikeouts before the coach decides the bench is a better place for you.

Example.  Ever see ads on your phone?  Most are cheap-looking banners reminiscent of the web in 1999.  Others interrupt your experience and as the above data points out these user sessions are brief, implying a time sensitivity.  We need to embrace the micro-experience and add value.

The above is easier said than done, I’m well aware.  The thing we can’t do is complain that we’re not getting any chances.  Instead of complaining about micro-segmentation and new technologies/platforms, let’s embrace them.  Consumers are more connected to one another and to us than ever.  How are we going to use that opportunity?

 

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