Strategy in TECH...
It has never been more difficult to communicate real differentiation or to create real value. Which is why a loyal customer has become more of a concept and less of a reality. But loyalty is something we’ve always had to earn and to earn it now it will require that we get serious about creating innovative programs that build real consumer engagement.
Be sure to see the cover story in the June issue of Residential Systems magazine titled Beyond the Referral – Tools & Techniques to Power Up Your Marketing Strategy by Strata-gee’s own Ted Green. This article introduces readers to the top tools of marketing to market your tech company today.
Osaka, Japan-based Funai Electric announced earlier this month that it will release a line of inexpensive 4K televisions in the North American market this fall, in time for the region’s major selling season. The company expects this year to be the year when 4K UHD TVs hit it big and they want to be ready to grab market share with their lineup.
Hitachi America, Ltd. announced on Tuesday that it has entered the wireless speaker business with three self-contained wireless speaker systems using Qualcomm’s AllPlay technology. According to Hitachi, their new hardware/software “smart media” platform makes it simple for consumers to stream any local or cloud-based media from any type of device via Wi-Fi.
Samsung Electronics has taken the unusual step of selling smartphones in Japan that do not bear the Samsung brand name. We’ve never heard of this before, but if you want a Samsung smartphone in Japan, you have to purchase a “Galaxy” smartphone.
Cabela’s Inc., the world’s largest direct marketer of hunting, fishing, camping and outdoor goods, announced last week that it is partnering with country music star Justin Moore to launch a campaign to encourage their customers to disconnect from tech by supporting a Disconnect Day. Saying, “It’s no secret that a dependence on technology affects individuals and families,” the company plans to launch a multi-faceted effort to encourage consumers to “step away from their devices for a day of their choosing to enjoy outdoor activities.”
In a joint release this week from both Nationwide Marketing Group (NMG) and the Home Technology Specialists Association (HTSA), the partners announced the creation of a new entity that they call the Home Technology Specialists of Nationwide (HTSN). The announcement, that surprised many in the industry…and had some scratching their heads trying to see the fit…said that this new alliance will offer new business opportunities for their respective members and vendors. It also, largely due to the size of Nationwide, creates the “largest buying and marketing collaboration” in the industry.
New data from market researcher Forrester Research Inc. suggests that retailers should forget about trying to attract millennials or other younger shoppers and instead shift gears to reach out to baby boomers. Why? Quite simply, that’s where the money is.
The narrative surrounding Tidal, the latest music streaming service to enter the increasingly crowded music delivery market last year, has taken a new and unforeseen turn with the purchase of the service by Jay Z. Originally conceived as a pay music streaming service offering a higher performance alternative to the ad-driven free services of highly compressed music streamers such as Pandora and Spotify, the Tidal narrative was one of quality. Now?
