“If you grew up with it, it’s not technology.”  This was my favorite quote from guest speaker Geoff Moore this morning.  As he demonstrated to us that electricity and light switches are not ‘revolutionary technology’ to us because our brains were wired for these technologies from childhood, Geoff dramatically flipped on and off the lights.  Conversely, we do think of improvements in computing and now web-based innovations as technology because these notions were not ‘hard-wired’ into our brains as we grew up.

As Jennifer promised, Geoff really did make great use of an organizing framework (Tech Adoption Lifecycle/Market Development Model) to explain how he views the world:

Tech Adoption Lifecycle (from Everett Rogers):

1. Innovators (Techies)
2. Early Adopters (Visionaries)
3. Early Majority (Pragmatists)
4. Late Majority (Conservatives)
5. Laggards (Skeptics)

Geoff is most well-known for his “Crossing the Chasm” concept (made into a book by the same name).  This notion is predicated on the idea that there is an important gap (‘chasm’) between Early Adopters (Visionaries) and the Early Majority (Pragmatists).  Brands/companies that successfully ‘cross the chasm’ are well-positioned for market share capture through the ‘tornado.’  But, getting viability ‘at the bowling alley’ is a tough accomplishment and a (most often) necessary prerequisite to market share capture in the tornado.  The big driver of success is winning over the pragmatists in the early majority.

The five steps in Geoff’s model that line up with the lifecycle framework are as follows:

1. Early Market (innovators and early adopters) à Get Visibility

• Brand the Technology

1. Crossing the Chasm à Get Viability (Bowling Alley)

• Brand the Problem

1. Early Majority à Get Market Share (Tornado)

• now, Brand the Company

1. Early Main Street à Profitable Growth

• Work with the brand you have

1. Late Main Street à Profitable Relationships (traditional marketing firms (P&G) are experts here)

• Take your brand private

o How to execute this step was the most unclear part of the day’s lecture, in my mind

Geoff’s consistent ‘reliance’ on this framework was commendable, and I was surprised how infrequently I felt the framework references were a stretch.  (So often, these frameworks break down, in my mind.  And, this one really seemed to hold up…or Geoff is just really compelling as a speaker and is very adept at identifying corroborating evidence/examples.) J

Key takeaway was:

• Adapt your brand to the appropriate stage in the lifecycle of the industry/category.  Or, as he colloquially put it: “different horses for different courses.”

As Geoff talked through the five steps in his model, I also found the following insights interesting:

• Two type of business model paradigms necessitate different brand/company strategies:
  • Complex Systems (part of early market development cycle) are all about reputation
  • Volume Operations (more important in later stages) require strategic brands to help communicate with consumer because realistically a company cannot have high-touch salesforce deployment at purchase location for every consumer
  • Getting visibility in the early market (Stage 1) is key, but defining what is successful visibility is changing today based on shifts in the news industry (Fortune Magazine features are not what they once were)
    • The separation of adoption from purchase has provided challenges (i.e. monetization of ‘successful’ internet businesses has not yet been solved)
    • Proving viability is often about reaching the tipping point with the right audience (pragmatic, but willing prospects)
      • Clear references to Gladwell’s work on the importance of mavens, promoters, and connectors)
      • Gaining market share sometimes is a ‘patience game’ – Apple had to know how to ‘stick around’ while it re-grouped so that it could be re-birthed as a pre-eminent company following ‘darker times’
        • Knowing your niche and how to communicate to it is critical for ‘chimpanzees’

Gotta be true to the market power of your brand (which can change over time)