2. We are committed to providing leadership that allows competitors to test new technologies and refined applications to answer the challenges of the 21st Century and beyond.
3. Every interaction a fan or partner has with our organization must be exciting, enjoyable and memorable.
Product Development Preparation
We shall use the Working Mission Statement above to organize development of our Marketing Plan. The 4 Ps model - Product, Place, Price, Promotion (in that order) - will lend structure to our Plan.
After we establish plans for each of the four Ps, we will return to the Mission Statement. Please note that the first P, Product, will likely require a good deal of time and consideration. The IndyCar product is much more than cars and engines.
Before we commence the process of Product Development, I ask that you go back and read the following Maxims. Each considers an argument regarding product development. I admit that my various positions tend to fluctuate and are often contradictory with one another.
I will introduce our first Product Development issue in the next entry.
Roggespierre
"Who should ultimately design the product? The customer of course." - Philip Kotler
ReplyDelete"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." - Henry Ford
I believe the synthesis of the above statements is the path to creating real market value and presence. Which, I think, the following hints at:
"...the job, not the customer, is the fundamental unit of analysis for a marketer who hopes to develop products that customers will buy." - Clayton Christensen
I agree with Ford, that if queried people will generally ask for an improvement in the current product. But as Christensen alludes, it's the job the current product does that the marketer should focus on, because as Ford demonstrated, a different 'vehicle' may better serve the customer's job function, i.e. to get from here to there.
-John
Hi "R."
ReplyDeleteGood call.
I suggest you provide a brief dissertation in "core product" vs. "whole product." I am afraid if you don't, we will be all over the map.
As a further suggestion, once that baseline is established in defining the task, I would define what you believe the core product to be and let us define that first. But this should only be done after there is a shared understanding of what a whole product is.
TC
Haha. Good call on the stop sign. I think the productivity of the discussion will be much increased by getting into slightly more specific talking points.
ReplyDeleteThough I suppose we've learned a lot over the past few days about the difficulty of determining, at this point in its history, just exactly WHY IndyCar should be...
I'd like to put forth some thoughts on the structure of discussion that should take place. "R," if you feel I am off base, feel free to recast it. I just offer this with a desire to be helpful in getting the discussion started.
ReplyDeleteLet me suggest that the core product of IndyCar is the basic infrastructure: cars, rules and venues. The rules encompass not just car tech/specs but also the operations necessary to conduct the races and time trials.
The whole product includes not only the core product but extends out to define the entire experience of your constituents. These constituents include, in my view, the end consumer, sponsors, influencers (ie, traditional and emerging media), promoters, and suppliers. There are several points of overlap, so nothing is so neatly segmented that there is no blurring at the edges, but these constituents are an essential part of the mix and must be understood to effectively serve them.
The whole product elements should create an experience that is, for the most part, a consistent look and feel for each interaction. These elements include:
*Accommodations at and near the venue
*Ticket distribution
*Access to drivers/teams
*Availability and quality of refreshments
*Communications (race programs, Web experience, public address, jumbotrons, care & feeding of media, scanners, hand-held apps, etc.)
*Television experience (coverage quality, distribution, availability)
*Support events (support races, vintage cars, "fan experiences," automobile shows, seminars, sponsor meetings/entertainment, fan club meetings, ministry, family friendly support)
I'm sure there are other elements to the whole product, but, again, I offer this as a way to get the ball rolling.
TC