Effectivus Product Management » strategy

A Sense of Perspective

Chris — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:24:26 +0000

After 30 minutes of scudding over the desert tundra we crested a rocky bluff and the ground fell away vertiginously into the Grand Canyon. The whole grandeur of one of the seven natural wonders of the world lay below us. The tiers of soft rock falling rapidly down the 1 mile drop into the Colorado River which snaked off into the distance, giving us just a glimpse of its 277 mile length. Wow.

A sense of perspective can be difficult to achieve, and this particular one was costing us $300 each, but it was unique and we could not have achieved it any other way.

After following the Colorado for a few minutes, the helicopter started to descend towards what looked like a tiny landing area. Finally it banked dramatically, and battling the crosswinds, finally settled on the rocky shelf. We scrambled out and looked around us dazed. Suddenly we were very small and the canyon was huge, towering above us and entirely surrounding us. We could no longer see the overall topography, but were stumbling over stones, with our feet slipping on the red rubble that was testament to the erosion that had created the canyon.

Now we were amongst beautiful desert plants with bright yellow and blue flowers. Cacti were dotted all around. Below us was the Colorado: huge, mud red, and lazily boiling as it swept around the corner and disappeared from view.

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Post tags: film, markets, television, vision

Apple differentiates the iPad

Chris — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:36:22 +0000

Regular readers will know that I tend to rant until blue in the face about differentiating technology products, targeting user needs and not going overboard with your one key differentiating feature.

I’m also really keen on clear names and clear concepts about what a product does. In the film industry they talk about “high-concept pitches” for films. Legend has it that the high-concept pitch for Aliens was “Jaws in space”.

So I was gratified when I heard a high-concept pitch for the Apple iPad as “like and iPhone but bigger” – I got it (or at least some of it) immediately. Then I came across this picture and became a little worried that Steve may have over done it a tad and that he was destined to go the same was as the captain of the Vasa.

Behind you Steve!

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Post tags: design, product

The future of 3D TV

Chris — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:00:07 +0000

I am a geek. Well, I was. But I’m starting to doubt it now. You see part of being a geek is adopting new technologies way ahead of the sensible majority of the population. Not only am I a geek, but I’m a geek who has spent 25 years in the film and television business creating and delivering the coolest new products to help put fantastic images on your screens, but now I feel like I’m losing my way. Why? 3D TV.

First out let’s just clear something up, because geekiness is also about pedantry. It’s not 3D. I’ve got to call it that because everyone else does and if I don’t you won’t know what I’m talking about. The point is that it is an optical illusion that gives us just two of the cues we use to perceive the 3D world in which we live to make us think that what we are looking at is (a bit) three dimensional.

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Post tags: 3D, commercial, film, television

Rotten to the core?

Chris — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:51:43 +0000

One of the concepts I learned about during my MBA that really resonated with me was that of the Psychological Contract. This is the unwritten, and largely unspoken, contract between an employee and their employer. The idea is that during the recruitment process discussions will give rise to a set of expectations about how each will behave and what they can expect of one another. This is further developed as the employee becomes part of the organisation and learns “how things are done around here”. If those expectations are not met, there is a breach of the psychological contract and the employee may feel a reduced level of loyalty, motivation and commitment.

A similar type of contract is built up between a customer and a supplier. The customer, reading the marketing information, absorbing the messages and negotiating the purchase, will build up a set of expectations about both the product and the company. That set of expectations is based on the values that the brand communicates. If those values are true to the organisation, the customer is likely to be satisfied, or even delighted, with the relationship – they get what they are expecting, and are likely to be an advocate of the brand. If, however, the values are unrealistic or untrue, the customer will become dissatisfied and may feel cheated or tricked. They’ll certainly not be promoting the brand to their friends and colleagues.

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Post tags: design, marketing, product, strategy

The Tyranny of the Served Market

Chris — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:59:28 +0000

“The trouble is” said the CEO of a client firm, “we’ve run out of executive cycles, we just don’t have the bandwidth to look at these new opportunities”.

Strangely, the same week, the CEO of another client firm said to me “we know that we have to make plans for the next generation product, but we are just too busy right now”.

Both the companies are SMEs and they are both overwhelmed by the needs of the current customers and markets.

In 1991 Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad defined “The Tyranny of the Served Market” as “business units … hampered by overly narrow business charters”[i], they then go on to talk about how cleverness at Motorola and Sony has avoided this. I don’t think any of my SME clients feel “hampered by overly narrow business charters”; their problem is far more real.

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Post tags: commercial, markets, strategy

Fear and Loathing in Strategy

Chris — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:34:22 +0000

When I look back at all the boardroom discussions about strategy and taking strategic decisions, one thing sticks in my mind: most companies will defer, delay and avoid any decision for as long as possible except when facing a direct threat. When I knew that a strategic move was necessary, the way to sell it to the board was to dress it up as a direct threat; “we saw competitor X talking to these people at the tradeshow. What if they acquire them?”. Result? Immediate action.

It is surely very strange that a group of people who have been charged with the strategic direction of a company, and who have met to specifically discuss it, will do anything rather than knuckle down and discuss it. Here is my incomplete list of what company boards do rather than discuss strategy:

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Post tags: commercial, strategy, theory

Product Vision and Corporate Culture

Chris — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:48:43 +0000

I was chatting with an old colleague the other day; he was describing a company that he has been doing some work with. In it, every time employees identified an problem their response was to look at how their processes and procedures needed improving in order to stop that problem happening again. Oh dear we lamented; not only is that not a fun organisation to work in, but they literally become ossified by rules and regulations.

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Post tags: product, vision

First-Mover Advantage or Winner’s Curse?

Chris — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:51:19 +0000

“First-Mover Advantage” is a piece of received wisdom in management circles. It is taught on MBAs and has been the attention of much academic research. Is there really an advantage to being a first mover when bringing innovative new technology products to market? My experience made me doubt it. Just asking myself the question led to another, equally interesting one for those wrestling with product strategy; what are the costs of attempting to gain first mover advantage?

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Post tags: ideas, markets, theory

What to do in a Recession?

Chris — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:31:39 +0000

Running a business is tough at the best of times but when times become tough the job goes beyond challenging. Reading around what some expert commentators were saying about what to do in a recession, I started to realise just how challenging it was.

I was lucky to study Economics during my MBA under Prof. Joe Nellis (Cranfield University). He’s written an article on “How to Thrive as the Economy Falters” in the September issue of “Finance & Management”.
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strategy

Chris — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:00:21 +0000

Where are you going? What are you trying to achieve?

Two seemingly straightforward questions that many technology companies struggle to answer. We can help you and your executive team to find answers to them.

We can investigate new markets and give you the information you need in order to decide whether to invest in them. Alternatively we can develop strategic alliances that will help you achieve your objectives.