marketing, pitchWhen pitching an idea to investors and/or executives, I’d like to refer to well-known examples from history where a product/idea/technology was outstanding, but didn’t catch on due to bad pitches or promotion/marketing. I’m struggling to come up with some.
Does anyone have some examples of such products/ideas/technologies?
It's tough because outstanding ideas usually do well!
I don't know if any of these are what you're looking for exactly - but it might kick start some ideas:
Mainly due to the success of the CD, Mini Disc players were awesome but quickly turned into nothing. There was a load of marketing for these but ultimately, it was doomed before it started.
I always wanted a Powermat. Wireless charging is a great idea - how did it not take off?! Well, poor marketing and lack of availability.
The OUYA microconsole. Did incredibly well on the fundraising side... not so well on the sales, marketing and 'making an impact' side.
Google Wave. You might have to Google it. A great product with loads of features, but let down by marketing and awareness.
Color, the photosharing app, are a good recent example a technology product failing due to poor marketing.
Instead of going for a localised launch and concentrating on getting a high number of users in a small area, something vital if they rely on interpersonal networks for their product to work effectively, they went for a large national launch. So instead of people logging into the app and seeing their friends, they logged in and saw nothing. When you're launching a technology product, it's always better to be a big fish in a small pond and use the advocacy of a small set of users to launch into bigger markets.
Tinder are an example of this kind of launch done well. They started (if I recall correctly) with sororities and fraternities in key locations so that when they logged in they immediately saw users in their area. From there the word dissipated to other markets and they've become the app behemoth they are today.
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