Latest Articles
Latest Articles
Consumer Evangelists
The word "evangelize" is said to come from the ancient Koine Greek language. Back in 300 B.C. it meant, roughly, "to proclaim." Later, evangelists were known as people who spread religious gospel. I define consumer evangelists as customers whose support for your...
Thanksgiving in Consumer Electronics
What does the consumer electronics industry have to be grateful for this Thanksgiving? An endless array of blessings: That people have such a natural interest in technology. That the media covers technology like it covers sports: in-depth, and daily. The tech beat is...
Executives with Vision
The most successful products -- say, the iPhone, iPad, and Amazon Kindle -- have three types of people working together seamlessly: executives with a vision of what the final consumer experience will feel like; engineers that can execute on that vision, and marketers...
Who’s Involved in Creating the Most Successful Products
I call the very best, most successful consumer technologies singular products. These products include the iPhone, the Amazon Kindle and Netflix. Three interaction of three groups inside of a manufacturer are responsible for creating singular products: High-level...
“I Can’t Imagine My Life Without This…”
That's what people want to feel about your product. This is not a thought. It's not a statement. It's a feeling. If your product is really great -- truly outstanding; iPhone/iPad/Kindle/Netflix great -- and if your marketing is excellent -- Apple excellent -- you will...
Exceeding Expectations
People have certain expectations of what a product will do for them before they buy it. We know, for example, that a digital camera will take really good photos of our children, our family, etc. When that camera also takes tremendous looking HD video, usable for our...
Product Excellence: Traits of the Best of the Best
In order to develop consumer evangelists with excellent marketing, you first need terrific products. Most products on the mainstream market today are very good. But here is a list of traits shared by products and services that enjoy evangelists. Those products are:...
The Sorry State of High Tech Product Names
One of the most read pieces on this blog is this one, about how terrible product names kill good devices. The PR firm Stage Two discusses it this week here, as well as a piece on CNet about a horrifically named iPhone speaker dock from Sony. Here's the bottom line:...
Gravity Pushes Backwards
You must continue innovating your marketing and communication in order to remain in consumers' hearts and minds. Even if you have attained goodwill with mainstream consumers. Even if you have good press coverage. Even if the language you use to talk about your...
The Innovation Ceiling
In consumer electronics, the innovation ceiling has been reached in most major product categories. What's left to improve in computers? Digital cameras have seen 98 percent of the innovation they're going to enjoy. Flat-panel HDTVs -- plasma and LCD -- pretty much...