Just when we thought the technology “depression” was over, we face another scandal that, if I’m right, will rock the general investor confidence in technology investments. You know what I’m talking about. Options backdating. This is a time for an ethical check up and discernment training.
Tag Archives | High-Tech Case Studies
Basic Marketing 101: Don’t make the customer mad
I couldn’t believe this story ; I thought for sure it had to be a hoax. After all, Microsoft has the economics, savvy, and operating experience to do marketing right. But apparently not. Here’s what happened: Microsoft wanted to raise awareness of it’s licensing program. Makes sense. Probably everyone thinks their many vehicles are more [...]
Strategic Defense Moves: Get Closer to your Customer
You know the best way to build a competitive position? By knowing your customer face-to-face, voice-to-voice. Not some abstract idea of who your customer is, but being able to interchange ideas with them. In a career that seems a lifetime ago, I created and ran a channel program for Apple. It remains today as the [...]
Hype vs. Real Emerging Models for High-Tech Industry
I’ve been home sick a lot lately. First a cold that needed steroids to knock out, later a stomach flu which the whole family bonded over, and now a fever my son and I are sharing. (Let that explain why I’ve not been posting much). Yet during these times, I see an upside that I [...]
Is Adobe going to get crushed by the Big Guy?
The Journal reported today that talks between MSFT and Adobe broke down earlier this week. The issue is whether PDF will become a built-in feature of Microsoft’s office.
This is not a one way assault on Adobe, but a fundamental tension on who will innovate the platform and UI of the industry. Adobe has plans of it’s own that will make Microsoft the equivalent of plumbing. Needed but not discussed.
HP redefines their value proposition for PCs!
Do you know what you are selling to the user? Is it a thing (a unit, a box, a software package) or does that thing get associated with a solution, or feeling or a belief? In this day and age of globalization, it is relatively easy to get another ‘thing’ made cheaper and do more. [...]
Fighting with 4 Swords: The Art of Competitive Play
Rubicon has a defense practice, which we would love to call “Fighting With 4 Swords: The Art of Competitive Play”. Unfortunately, that’s too long to put on our business card along with our other 3 practices (define, design, optimize). So instead, we get to use the long description when writing articles or blog entries. There [...]
Sales model is critical go-to-market piece
Getting caught up on reading as I nurse a cold today. An article worth highlighting. On page B10 of this (3/28/06) Tuesday’s WSJ, there was an article on marketing strategy that made loads of sense. Two audiences might want to pay attention. First, product management folks who think it’s about building a better mousetrap and [...]
What makes a good Sales Comp Plan?
Last week, I worked with a CEO on designing / redesigning his comp plan. He has a set up where the business sells subscriptions and the sales rep gets paid a flat % for first year, as well as a relatively high % of future years. The idea being that the rep needed to be [...]
Sweat the small stuff, sweat it all
Last week, I attended a roundtable of CEOs. And one CEO of a well-known and privately held firm provided a showcase of his upcoming rebranding effort. Interestingly, the consumer company had done focus groups and figured out what they needed to do with the rebranding focus to appeal more broadly to consumers. While the stuff [...]