Marketing Thoughts
Nick McClick
Posts: 1,003
I'm a hi-tech marketing guy by trade, so I have a tendency to examine others' efforts when I buy their product. A few things I've thought about (at least as it applies to the enthusiast / hobbyist market).
Basic stuff;
Retail distribution is great - I saw a boe bot at fry's (I think it was a boe bot), and it's reassures me that the product I order from your website will be of similar quality.
Build quality, packaging, the storefront, shipping and customer service, and brand reputation are A++. The manual is extremely well written, and it seems written for people of my skill level. Giving the manual out for free download is great. Your website and brand = "The experts for helping hobbyists" and demonstrate your expertise. The selection of products on your store supports that position, too.
For the hobbyist, Propeller competes with playing videogames, watching TV, reading a book, etc. I argue that most prospects don't consider Parallax compared to another µController; they consider Parallax and decide on watching TV or learning SQL or another leisure time activity.
My Experience;
I had considered buying a basic stamp on several occasions, but it looked too hard. I also couldn't think of what project I'd use it for.
I looked at the xgamestation at the classic gaming expo a few years back. I was pretty tempted, but it seemed pricey and too hard. It looked like many hours of work for pretty limited results. I read a sample chapter from the book, and it made is sound even more complicated.
The pre-built robots seem like an attempt to simplify the complexity, but the seemed a little pricey to me (the more I experiment, however, the more I see how reasonable they are).
I ended up buying a ybox2 a few weeks ago. A big reason was the prebuilt applications. I could see a use case, it was pretty cheap, and looked fun to make. Of course, once I started using it, I saw how the demo board would be easier, and ended up dropping another $200 on your site for a starter kit, sensors, servos and so on.
Of course, the product was not as hard as I thought, and now I'm trying to figure out which cool thing to do with it. It is a lot of fun, and worth the expense.
Selling more;
The most significant competitors I see are the Arduino & PIC. Many of the µController projects on hackaday & the various blogs use an Arduino. A couple of thoughts on countering this threat;
Part of the message has to be 'how easy it is'. Even if I see an awesome project that used your chip, I might say, "Bet that took them forever".
Certainly, there are a variety of users for your products. Some are Robotics experts and are entering DARPA events. Some buy a demo board and can't figure out how to turn it on. My perspective of your most profitable audience;
IN SHORT;
You guys are doing a great job. My experience has been excellent. Really, you have a great product, which is more than most companies can say. The product is also well differentiated. The challenge is expanding the market, and fighting the 'too complicated' perception.
Basic stuff;
Retail distribution is great - I saw a boe bot at fry's (I think it was a boe bot), and it's reassures me that the product I order from your website will be of similar quality.
Build quality, packaging, the storefront, shipping and customer service, and brand reputation are A++. The manual is extremely well written, and it seems written for people of my skill level. Giving the manual out for free download is great. Your website and brand = "The experts for helping hobbyists" and demonstrate your expertise. The selection of products on your store supports that position, too.
For the hobbyist, Propeller competes with playing videogames, watching TV, reading a book, etc. I argue that most prospects don't consider Parallax compared to another µController; they consider Parallax and decide on watching TV or learning SQL or another leisure time activity.
My Experience;
I had considered buying a basic stamp on several occasions, but it looked too hard. I also couldn't think of what project I'd use it for.
I looked at the xgamestation at the classic gaming expo a few years back. I was pretty tempted, but it seemed pricey and too hard. It looked like many hours of work for pretty limited results. I read a sample chapter from the book, and it made is sound even more complicated.
The pre-built robots seem like an attempt to simplify the complexity, but the seemed a little pricey to me (the more I experiment, however, the more I see how reasonable they are).
I ended up buying a ybox2 a few weeks ago. A big reason was the prebuilt applications. I could see a use case, it was pretty cheap, and looked fun to make. Of course, once I started using it, I saw how the demo board would be easier, and ended up dropping another $200 on your site for a starter kit, sensors, servos and so on.
Of course, the product was not as hard as I thought, and now I'm trying to figure out which cool thing to do with it. It is a lot of fun, and worth the expense.
Selling more;
The most significant competitors I see are the Arduino & PIC. Many of the µController projects on hackaday & the various blogs use an Arduino. A couple of thoughts on countering this threat;
- Sponsor / seed some of these projects. Get a list of some of the usual modders and send them a demoboard.
- Competitions. I know I'm thinking of what I can do to enter the current Propeller competition.
- Open source the chip. Talk about taking the wind out of their sails. Open source the spin interpreter. Or keep it closed but announce that you're 'opening the source code' for the 'system software that runs the Propeller chip, a 32bit, 8-core microprocessor costing less than $10'. You've already published the code, why not make a big deal about it?
- Make everyone who does a cool project with your chip a star. I think you're already doing a good job with that.
- Advertising doesn't hurt. I'm not suggesting ads in wired, but a few websites offer viewership that can be really closely aligned to your audience. A small, actively managed online campaign would only cost a few thousand dollars a month and would pay off in direct sales. Sites like hackaday, makezine.
Part of the message has to be 'how easy it is'. Even if I see an awesome project that used your chip, I might say, "Bet that took them forever".
- How about "Make Magazine" style guides that are step-by-step?
- Calling attention to the Object exchange is great, too. There are some objects in there that are pretty unique. "Why re-invent the wheel? Access the Object Exchange to simplify project development - and share your best code with others. 200+ objects are available, including voice synthesis, sophisticated motor controls, sensor management, and more."
- SPIN is a big advantage. I think many prospects believe µController == assembly or a difficult language. OOP has some negative connotations, but maybe, "A development environment that's welcomes beginners and empowers advanced users".
- What about 'project kits'? I was swayed by the ybox2 because it would put twitter on my TV with a machine that fits in an altoids tin. Maybe a kit that's preprogrammed to open your front door with an RFID dongle? A kit that will play perfect guitar hero? An LED mural kit (like on Timothy Swieter's site www.brilldea.com/)? Your education kits are a good example of how this kitting works in education, and how it could work for hobbyists.
- Customer quotes would be awesome, on the website and on other literature. I expect Parallax to say that their stuff is easy, but hearing it from a 3rd party is more credible. The big list of projects on the propeller info page is awesome, they probably deserve more space.
Certainly, there are a variety of users for your products. Some are Robotics experts and are entering DARPA events. Some buy a demo board and can't figure out how to turn it on. My perspective of your most profitable audience;
- Have some programming experience; VB, PHP, something like that.
- Are not OOP experts. Some experience, but more with using objects than making them
- Want to impress their friends. Most nerdy folks want to show others how smart they are
- Read Slashdot, Make, Engadget
- Are in light technical to technical careers. Customer support to QA.
- Go to NextFest, maybe go to Maker Faire.
- Tend to have above average incomes. Tend to be less price sensitive.
- Want something 'cool'. Learning a language is fine, but shooting laser beams is better
IN SHORT;
You guys are doing a great job. My experience has been excellent. Really, you have a great product, which is more than most companies can say. The product is also well differentiated. The challenge is expanding the market, and fighting the 'too complicated' perception.
Comments
·
My experience with Parallax has always been a great one as well.· The Living Room LED system and the subsequent LED Window system both used the Propeller.· Just last week Engadget and Make and Gizmodo and many other blogs referenced the Brilldea site and the LED Window system.· Their posts drove bus loads of traffic to Brilldea and to our YouTube Video's.· Even though it was not directly mentioning the Propeller, I am sure the traffic on Brilldea and the reference to the Prop Blade controller I created help to generate some exposure for the Propeller MCU.
·
From what I can tell, Parallax has had a good relationship with Make, Nuts&Volts, Servo, Robot Magazine and many similar publications.· I have written about Parallax products and signing their praises in several articles in Robot Magazine.· The arduino and other MCUs are competition, but they aren't necessarily competition that is meant to be stumped out.· It is good to have options.· I would like to see more users of the Propeller and the ranks are growing slowly and surely.
·
Parallax is one of the creators of the market that exists now.· 20 years ago the electronic and robotic hobbyists market was very small.· Now look where it is!
·
Thank you for your thoughts and analysis, as an entrepreneur I enjoyed reading through them and thinking about Parallax and other companies in this market, including Brilldea.
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com·- Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, uOLED-IOC
www.sxmicro.com - a blog·exploring the SX micro
www.tdswieter.com
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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
We're very interested in knowing how customers view Parallax, whether they are existing, new or future customers. We're always able to improve our business when our customers show us the way. It would be most interesting to have some customers participate in some of the internal discussions we have - portions of your message are continual subjects in our office talks.
We try to be the place our customers want us to be. One difficulty we continually face is that our audience is equally divided among hobbyists, education, and commercial/industrial users (33% each). While this brings stability, we try to market to all of them. Right now you see us growing the latter third (commercial) which brings a certain set of challenges beyond the product we're using to reach that market [noparse][[/noparse]the Prop]. Our business is well established in education and hobby, and in some ways perfectly designed for that audience. We're picking the various business/support tools that work well for selling more to commercial/industrial customers, but we're not redesigning our business or making changes that adversely affect other customer types. Companies that only sell to commercial users have a different model, which wouldn't sit well with 90%+ people on this forum.
At heart, the typical Parallax technical person is similar to the customer on this forum.
Always tell us what you like and don't like, openly. We're interested in continual improvement, creative products, and giving you the tools you need to be a success.
And most importantly, we welcome you as a customer and friend of Parallax.
Sincerely,
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
This is what kept me from getting involved with Parallax sooner than I did. I just couldn't justify spending $100+ (BASIC stamp w/accessories) to try something that might wind up on my shelf due to complexity. A $50 gamble on a Protoboard with Propplug seemed worth giving this a shot. Funny part is I'm afraid to take inventory of my investment after two years of parts, tools, and add-on toys. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Keep a simple introduction kit cheap, Parallax. It's a great hook! [noparse]:)[/noparse]
OBC
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New to the Propeller?
Getting started with the Protoboard? - Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card? - PropDOS
Need a part? Got spare electronics? - The Electronics Exchange
Something I would LOVE to see, and I think it would pay off huge in terms of getting new people interested is if there was some kind of local clubs that promoted this stuff. My brother in law started going to brew clubs in Nashville and now he is about to open a brewery (3 yrs later). I myself have a 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider and go to local Alfa club and get into new project ideas or areas that I hadn't considered.
I know there aren't enough users (YET) to have a club in every major city, but it would be so cool to be able to go to someone's basement once a month to talk about projects, share news and ideas. The forums are great, but they aren't hands on.
Perhaps Parallax can look through their address lists and see what cities make sense to try to establish a club or two.
Competitions between clubs would be fun too.
We've organized a loose club in my small town (9000), time allowing
we meet at our computer shop on Saturdays and spend time
tinkering with the Propeller. At the moment our numbers dwindle
in the summer due to this being a "sports" community and two families
are doing football.
Nothing is stopping you.. Find a location, Libraries generally have
a friendly policy to small non-profit groups meeting in their facilities,
as do large churches. (Just ask if it's ok to bring soldering pencils. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Find out if there's enough Propeller (or potential) users in the
surrounding states and put together an expo.
(http://www.warrantyvoid.us/upene) It's a little more work,
and nerve racking, but well worth the effort.
Don't depend on Parallax to do it all. Take the initiative.
Come on in, the water is fine!
OBC
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New to the Propeller?
Getting started with the Protoboard? - Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card? - PropDOS
Need a part? Got spare electronics? - The Electronics Exchange
I agree on the 'not stomping out the competition. I think this hobbyist market is expanding, and your competition drives interest in the market. Some of it will come to you, and some will come to your competition. What Arduino does to sell uControllers will help parallax. That said, search hackaday for parallax, and compare to a search for arduino or PIC. I think they sharpen the messaging to counter those threats, not by badmouthing the competition, but by maintaining presence. Don't say "Arduino blows". Say, "You don't need an EE degree to use our products". In fact, don't even mention Arduino.
Ever think about productizing the LED painter? I have to wonder how well ladyada does www.ladyada.net/make/. Your install video looks really nice, with fluid animation. I don't know if it can be kitted cheaply and maintain a healthy margin, though. Scaling it down might work better - say an 8"x10" frame. There's a growing market for kits - A lot of folks read engadget / make / etc. thinking "that's pretty unique. Wish I could build that". How many folks go to makers faire & how many actually haven't built anything? They see the attention makers get in nerd media, and they'd love to participate - But they don't want pound down a 300 page manual to get started. Kits let them participate (read: buy) without have to be experts.
A suggestion to help gain the mass market; most people don't buy possibilities or potential. Visionaries exist, but they aren't the bread & butter. Most prospects buy things that solve problems, aka, things that do stuff. The nature of a uController makes it hard to market - but when you see it do stuff (e.g., Robotics), interest is piqued. Solve problems like "I'm bored", "I want to impress my friends", "I want a cool decoration for the house", "I want people to think I'm smart", "I want to do something challenging", and so on. Amorphous products can explode when there's a compelling use case (think email and the internet, spreadsheets and the PC).
Asking for their $100 is hard enough. What if you didn't have to ask them to think of something fun to do with your product? What if you didn't have to ask them to figure out where to find the parts they'll need? Remove the barriers to buying your product. Less barriers = easier to do = gets done more often.
As an aside; ever see Arduino's website? When I click 'buy board', what do I get? A list of distributors. Wha?!? Didn't I just click on a link that says "BUY", because this link looks like "SEE A LIST OF RESELLERS". I don't want to check each distributor, compare price, see if they have stock, etc. I just want to buy. Why do they make it hard for me to give them money?
Paul - When's my Guitar Hero cheating kit coming out? [noparse]:)[/noparse] It's a silly idea, but wouldn't it be cool to do small kits like that every few weeks? All the parts that would go in the kit are already in the store, it's just a matter of putting them together in a ziploc bag with a photo tutorial. Coding would take effort, but something like that wouldn't be too hard (says the Marketing Guy!) - and it would add to the object exchange. I've got tons of kit ideas! A friend worked at a motorcycle aftermarket parts maker; when they kitted parts, sales would go up 30% - 40%. They made it easy to buy.
·
You've thought about this a lot more than I have, but I'll offer a few thoughts;
That's a tougher nut to crack.
Sans beanie [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Post Edited (Praxis) : 7/13/2008 6:06:28 PM GMT
Brilldea is a small business at this time, but we·are growing.· We do sell the LED Painter and Prop Blade PCBs, but no kits.· We are looking into cost to produce kits as well because we have seen interest for this type of product.· I like kits, but I need to really consider the cost of parts and materials and creating the kits.· Their is a science to making the "kit baggies" that takes time and effort.··Similarly I have thought about selling an entire DIY package to make your own system.· There is a considerable more effort into creating this type of package.· There needs to be instructions and support document created.· The revenue·to purchase inventory and many more things.· In time.· Baby steps.·
There are diffierent ways to tackle and be apart of this industry.· I like your ideas and you hit the nail on the head for the major marketing points that really need to be considered.· You can bet I am going to come back to this post in the next few days to read and reread because the content here stimulates my thinking.
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com·- Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, uOLED-IOC
www.sxmicro.com - a blog·exploring the SX micro
www.tdswieter.com
have put Parallax where they are right now, and the market is no where near
saturation. There is so much untapped potential in these areas, why
seek to become something else?
OBC
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New to the Propeller?
Getting started with the Protoboard? - Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card? - PropDOS
Need a part? Got spare electronics? - The Electronics Exchange
Why Not??
I'd say the Propeller IC was an attempt to become more, imho.
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Harley Shanko
There was a good post that was deleted - about SPIN being a tougher pitch to commercial orgs, and the reputation of Basic stamp being too slow, and SX being too fast. I think it makes the case for brand extension - of course, that's a lot of work.
Amtel, Microchip, Zilog, make it hard to do business with them. Parallax can offer a unique benefit here; Easy pricing, good documentation, plenty of prototyping options, and a unique architecture for rapid development.
I think a 2 point plan is forming;
1 - Expand the hobbyist market while maintaining thought leadership;
- Kits
- Seeding projects (contests, sending dev boards to top makers)
- Selective marketing (specific blogs, competitions)
- Extol Spin
- Message 'Cool things easy'
2 - Position Parallax as a unique commercial provider
- Highlight successful commercial projects
- Position as a leader for Small and Medium sized businesses with development projects
- Explain how a unique hardware philosophy overcomes traditional development cycle hurdles (this is your PT barnum)
- Sub brand to minimize some negative connotations of the brand
- Make sure the developer load for using propeller is minimized
- Message ease of doing business "Does your current vendor make you feel like a small fish in a very big pond?"
The unique architecture angle can awesome. "interrupts? What are those?". How about a comic book strip with grandpa explaining how things 'used to be done'. I think the beanie is great! When I go on Microchip's or Zilog's website, I feel like I'm at the dentist's office. I picture their literature loaded with stock photos of old white guys in business suits high fiving. Drab, boring, and not connecting. The beanie brings levity, it's distinctive, sincere, and highlights the positive attributes of the product. I would probably make it slightly different to differentiate from the hobbyist side.
The 'Engineer to engineer' conversation can be powerful. Chip's letter on why the propeller works is a great example of this. Pump up the custom design angle. It's a hand crafted development effort, not a hodgepodge of blocks on a mask.
The beanie on the chip I think we can except that and anyway Parallax has offered custom markings for 100K or more orders, but for general marketing in the comercial arena I think not.
I can understand why Chip posted that...........................
Just some random thoughts.