Skip to main content

Is a product’s success all about marketing????




I have always wondered about how companies decide when to launch a product... How they decide that the market needs that product etc?

And after all that analysis how come many products end up flopping? I am in touch with the tech sector and so will refer to it for examples.

Let’s take Windows Vista as an example... It was a failure.... I know many people will say that 24% of the world today uses Vista but that was because all the new models sold had only vista as an option...Microsoft stopped selling XP.... I’m sure the ppl at Microsoft must have done a great analysis as to why this would have happened....But I believe the major reason for the failure was marketing... Apple jumped on people’s inertia about changing from XP to vista and screwed up the image of vista badly… I don't think any OS is better than any other but Apple somehow managed to convince people that their products are much better so they get to even charge a premium price.

And what bout Linux???? It runs almost 80% of servers everywhere yet it is not even known in the consumer market. Is the OS not good?? It’s very good... it’s free... yet completely unknown... The major reason for this I believe is bcos no company owns Linux and so no company want to advertise for it.

At the end all that matters is how people perceive a product. People have problems if their phones hang up but are ready to adjust if their computer does the same??? Why?? Bcos Microsoft has created an illusion that phones are much simpler devices (which apple is breaking with the I Phone) while computers are not.... And people’s perception is built on how the companies show their products to be. This really makes me believe that Marketing is all that matters for a product... nah... even for a company.... It’s the brand they build that matters.. quality??? nope... just suppress any bad news....(most companies do this)...... 

I hope I am wrong and hope that the quality of a product matters finally but the present scenario in the tech sector tells a completely different story....What do u think????


- Alok


Comments

Also read

Does India need communal parties?

I think, it was Tan's post on this blog itself, Republic Day Event, where this question was raised. My answer. YES. we need communal parties even in Independent, Secular India. Now let me take you, back to events before 1947. When India was a colony of the British Empire. The congress party, in its attempt to gain momentum for the independence movement, heavily used Hinduism, an example of which is the famous Ganesh Utsav held in Mumbai every year. Who complains? No one. But at that time, due to various policies of the congress, Muslims started feeling alienated. Jinnah, in these times, got stubborn over the need of Pakistan and he did find a lot of supporters. Congress, up till late 1940's never got bothered by it. And why should we? Who complains? No one. But there were repercussions. The way people were butchered and slaughtered during that brief time when India got partitioned, was even worse than a civil war scenario. All in the name of religion. And there indeed was cr...

Adopt what is right.....

I see that many people of my age group adopt certain western cultures. School students and college goers are often seen buying friendship bands and valentine cards. I feel its not right. You may think I am traditional and don't keep up to date views. But if you think a little maturely you will find out its not modern to wear friendship bands. Its rather pure pride. Now as I am talking about western culture I should tell you that I'm not against it in fact I find some of the western values very much followable like dignity of work, civic sense, accountability etc. We have to maturely decide what to adopt from the westerners and what not to adopt. Why should we go after them when we have a culture of such great versatility? -Priya Joyce

Did You Ever Love Me? Book Review: Can Rithvik singh turn heartbreak into a homecoming?

Did You Ever Love Me? by Rithvik Singh is a tender contemporary poetry collection about love, heartbreak, longing, self worth and learning to let go. Its greatest strength is emotional accessibility: Singh writes directly to readers who feel intensely and care deeply. The collection offers comfort without pretending heartbreak is simple, though its simplicity may occasionally feel familiar to seasoned poetry readers. Did you Ever Love Me? Have you ever loved someone so completely that, after they left, you were left wondering whether they had ever understood what they had been given? Not merely whether they loved you, but whether they ever noticed how much you loved them, how much patience you offered, how many small things you remembered, or how often you chose to stay when leaving might have been easier. There is a particular loneliness in that question because it rarely arrives at a dramatic moment. More often, it finds you while you are doing something completely ordinary. Yo...