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Suggest You - Branding Blunder—Creative Technology's Mistakes
There are several good reasons why office paper must be recycled. First, papers used in offices are usually high-grade, and it's a shame to see these quality paper reduced to waste. A staggering 77% of these papers are recyclable. Second, an average business office employee can produce a pound and a half of paper waste in working for a business office daily. Finance offices generate waste paper from two to three pounds per employee daily. Third, production costs can be lowered simply by reducing office paper costs and using used paper whenever
On the other hand, Creative has no strong retail experience. Its earlier massive success, the SoundBlaster, was a technological breakthrough, but it was not really a retail consumer product. Most people who buy computers don’t know whether the soundcard inside their CPU is a SoundBlaster or not. Of course, there are those who demand technolo
It seems to happen every week: someone is caught saying something that they immediately wish they could take back. Even seasoned professionals like Don Imus say things they wish they hadn’t.While Imus said that he used those infamous three words “as a joke,” most people certainly didn’t think it was a laughing matter. In our view, the situation was made worse because virtually every time the media reported on the incident, they repeated those three words. It was truly a story that took on a life of its own, for several reasons. First, the
For their feature story on Branding, the magazine asked for my comments on Creative Technology’s (renowned for its sound card and MP3 players, and most recently for its legal tussle with Apple) branding efforts. While I’m a fan of Creative, I have to say that their branding leaves much to be desired. In particular, comparing the arch rivals of Creative Tech’s MP3 players vs. Apple’s iPod, it is easy to see where Creative’s branding efforts had gone wrong. Below is a simple comparison of its rival’s branding moves.
Apple
(A marketing and branding savvy company)
1. Understands the target market—young people want to be hip and cool.
So they created a hip and cool positioning for iPod.
2. Very sleek and minimalist cover design—enhancing the hip and cool
image.
3. Great ultra hip and cool TV ad, using black dancing silhouettes (all
the better to contrast with Apple’s corporate white) against a colorful
background + hit song of the moment ‘Hey Mama soundtrack performed by
one of the hottest groups, the Black Eyed Peas.
4. Very focused in the beginning, starting with only one color, one
model: The white iPod. This makes it very recognizable and easy to brand.
5. Special edition signed by U2 (very hip and cool band).
6. Featured in many hip TV shows.
Creative Tech
(A tech focused company)
1. Don’t understand their consumers’ desires, preferring to focus on
product features, etc (appealing to logic, instead of emotions) and with
no strong positioning.
2. Tacky cover designs. Responding to iPod’s sleek design, they asked
their own engineers to design their new cover design! Huge mistake!
Naming their products ‘Zen’ doesn’t mean that they will inherit the Zen
essence.
3. Bizarre TV ads that consumers can’t relate to: one series of ad went
along the lines of ‘something you really need’ and ‘Panda Rhapsody’, an
ad using a panda bear listening to its MP3 player.
4. Unfocused and fragmented: Zen Jukebox, Zen Nano, Zen Touch, MuVo
Slim, MuVo TX.. etc (confusing consumers with too many choices)
5. Special edition signed by Creative Technology’s CEO Sim Wong Hoo…
(what?!?)
6. Almost non-existent.
While Creative Technology first came up with MP3 players, they lost out their pioneer status advantage due to incompetent branding and marketing strategies. Apple has always been an innovative company when it comes to technology. But more important than that, it has always been a company that is close to their consumers, understanding their desires.
On the other hand, Creative has no strong retail experience. Its earlier massive success, the SoundBlaster, was a technological breakthrough, but it was not really a retail consumer product. Most people who buy computers don’t know whether the soundcard inside their CPU is a SoundBlaster or not. Of course, there are those who demand technolog
Is it just me or is business getting tougher? Look around gas prices are rising and all the manufacturing jobs are going elsewhere? What should we do? The only thing certain about our economy today, is that it will look different tomorrow. How computers changed the economies of the 80's and 90's, today we deal with cheap foreign labor.The North American economy used to have an advantage in that we were well educated and technologically advanced. This allowed us to charge more, produce quicker and raise our standard of living. Margins were
Apple
(A marketing and branding savvy company)
1. Understands the target market—young people want to be hip and cool.
So they created a hip and cool positioning for iPod.
2. Very sleek and minimalist cover design—enhancing the hip and cool
image.
3. Great ultra hip and cool TV ad, using black dancing silhouettes (all
the better to contrast with Apple’s corporate white) against a colorful
background + hit song of the moment ‘Hey Mama soundtrack performed by
one of the hottest groups, the Black Eyed Peas.
4. Very focused in the beginning, starting with only one color, one
model: The white iPod. This makes it very recognizable and easy to brand.
5. Special edition signed by U2 (very hip and cool band).
6. Featured in many hip TV shows.
Creative Tech
(A tech focused company)
1. Don’t understand their consumers’ desires, preferring to focus on
product features, etc (appealing to logic, instead of emotions) and with
no strong positioning.
2. Tacky cover designs. Responding to iPod’s sleek design, they asked
their own engineers to design their new cover design! Huge mistake!
Naming their products ‘Zen’ doesn’t mean that they will inherit the Zen
essence.
3. Bizarre TV ads that consumers can’t relate to: one series of ad went
along the lines of ‘something you really need’ and ‘Panda Rhapsody’, an
ad using a panda bear listening to its MP3 player.
4. Unfocused and fragmented: Zen Jukebox, Zen Nano, Zen Touch, MuVo
Slim, MuVo TX.. etc (confusing consumers with too many choices)
5. Special edition signed by Creative Technology’s CEO Sim Wong Hoo…
(what?!?)
6. Almost non-existent.
While Creative Technology first came up with MP3 players, they lost out their pioneer status advantage due to incompetent branding and marketing strategies. Apple has always been an innovative company when it comes to technology. But more important than that, it has always been a company that is close to their consumers, understanding their desires.
On the other hand, Creative has no strong retail experience. Its earlier massive success, the SoundBlaster, was a technological breakthrough, but it was not really a retail consumer product. Most people who buy computers don’t know whether the soundcard inside their CPU is a SoundBlaster or not. Of course, there are those who demand technolo
Let me begin by stating that this article is not a discussion about the military or the pros and cons of war. It is about learning some of the most powerful persuasion strategies in use today. And the truth is, military recruiters are some of the best salespeople in the world. They have to be. When you enlist, you agree to a four-year commitment. During this time, you give up your freedom. You must do what you are told no matter how much you might not like it or the people who or telling you to do it. This is ironic because the majority o
4. Very focused in the beginning, starting with only one color, one model: The white iPod. This makes it very recognizable and easy to brand.
5. Special edition signed by U2 (very hip and cool band).
6. Featured in many hip TV shows.
Creative Tech
(A tech focused company)
1. Don’t understand their consumers’ desires, preferring to focus on
product features, etc (appealing to logic, instead of emotions) and with
no strong positioning.
2. Tacky cover designs. Responding to iPod’s sleek design, they asked
their own engineers to design their new cover design! Huge mistake!
Naming their products ‘Zen’ doesn’t mean that they will inherit the Zen
essence.
3. Bizarre TV ads that consumers can’t relate to: one series of ad went
along the lines of ‘something you really need’ and ‘Panda Rhapsody’, an
ad using a panda bear listening to its MP3 player.
4. Unfocused and fragmented: Zen Jukebox, Zen Nano, Zen Touch, MuVo
Slim, MuVo TX.. etc (confusing consumers with too many choices)
5. Special edition signed by Creative Technology’s CEO Sim Wong Hoo…
(what?!?)
6. Almost non-existent.
While Creative Technology first came up with MP3 players, they lost out their pioneer status advantage due to incompetent branding and marketing strategies. Apple has always been an innovative company when it comes to technology. But more important than that, it has always been a company that is close to their consumers, understanding their desires.
On the other hand, Creative has no strong retail experience. Its earlier massive success, the SoundBlaster, was a technological breakthrough, but it was not really a retail consumer product. Most people who buy computers don’t know whether the soundcard inside their CPU is a SoundBlaster or not. Of course, there are those who demand technolo
Looking for a way of speeding up the check out process in your supermarket? Point of sale, or POS, scanners will help you a long way. Having barcode or label scanners will take the product and price information and send it directly to the computer and take the money from the customer. These scanners are not just useful in a supermarket or a restaurant, but are also very popular in libraries and companies where they are used to read employee or book information.An important type of barcode scanner is one that uses CCD technology. This tech
3. Bizarre TV ads that consumers can’t relate to: one series of ad went along the lines of ‘something you really need’ and ‘Panda Rhapsody’, an ad using a panda bear listening to its MP3 player.
4. Unfocused and fragmented: Zen Jukebox, Zen Nano, Zen Touch, MuVo Slim, MuVo TX.. etc (confusing consumers with too many choices)
5. Special edition signed by Creative Technology’s CEO Sim Wong Hoo… (what?!?)
6. Almost non-existent.
While Creative Technology first came up with MP3 players, they lost out their pioneer status advantage due to incompetent branding and marketing strategies. Apple has always been an innovative company when it comes to technology. But more important than that, it has always been a company that is close to their consumers, understanding their desires.
On the other hand, Creative has no strong retail experience. Its earlier massive success, the SoundBlaster, was a technological breakthrough, but it was not really a retail consumer product. Most people who buy computers don’t know whether the soundcard inside their CPU is a SoundBlaster or not. Of course, there are those who demand technolo
Fitting is one of the important criteria for consumers in their buying decision. Every garment manufacturer have target segment with certain demographic characteristics, defining consumer profile. For getting the best fit and size dimensions, manufacturer spends big chunks of money. Best range of sizing can be a key success factor for manufacturers. To implement this many companies are using advanced technologies and strategies to device sizing systems and sizing categories.Following are the issues central to the sizing problem:Col
On the other hand, Creative has no strong retail experience. Its earlier massive success, the SoundBlaster, was a technological breakthrough, but it was not really a retail consumer product. Most people who buy computers don’t know whether the soundcard inside their CPU is a SoundBlaster or not. Of course, there are those who demand technological excellence and insist on having the SoundBlaster. Unfortunately, they form the minority.
Sadly for a hip product such as an MP3 player, Creative chose to take the same approach—focusing on technology only, instead of combining it with a massive branding and marketing campaign. It is important to note that Creative’s MP3 players have received many awards and critical acclaims. BUT it sorely lacked the ‘street cred’, the approval from the target market. How many times did you hear someone say “I really want to get the Zen / MuVo / Jukebox”? You don’t hear much of that because they all want an iPod.
That is why Apple’s iPod holds near to 90% market share. Just take a look at the TV ads from both rivals and you’ll understand what I mean by Apple understanding the consumer’s mind, while Creative missed it totally.
So the next time you think that by focusing only on delivering the best product, you will be guaranteed success, think again. Creating powerful positioning, branding and marketing strategies for your business can make a HUGE difference!
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