Page 1 CONFIDENTIAL & PROPRIETARY © 2008 Goodmail Systems, Inc You Can’t Bore People Into Buying...

CONFIDENTIAL & PROPRIETARY© 2008 Goodmail Systems, Inc

You Can’t Bore People Into Buying

Why Courage and Creativity Are Good Strategies

March 18, 2010

Peter C. Horan

Chairman

Goodmail Systems, Inc.


Thank you for your sponsorship


My Five Revolutions

I have been “in the streets” in the early days of five major technology revolutionsHome video gamesPCsCell PhonesWindows computingInternet


“If I’d asked people what they wanted--they would have told me faster horses”

-- Henry Ford,

inventor and industrialist


An Oxymoron? Corporate Courage It’s almost impossible to research the future Focus groups can’t define your strategy and

products for youBetter at describing problems than solutions

If research can “prove” the future it will have become the present…and it will be too late

The future belongs to companies with the courage to “take a leap in the dark”


Example 1: iPod

In 2001 there were already 30 mp3 players There was even an industry leader,

the Creative Labs Rio There were standards Everyone was focused on

incremental improvements

Conventional wisdom said that the world didn’t need another mp3 player

Apple offered things the consumers needed but hadn’t asked for: style; better interface; excitement


Example 2: Quicken

When Quicken launched, there were already 40 personal finance packages

No one asked for another one There were the usual feature wars Intuit realized that consumers were

still frustrated and unhappy They reinvented the category by

using the ordinary checkbook as the metaphor

Results: One of the few consumer software companies that didn’t get crushed by Microsoft


Five Success Factors1. Make the Edge your new center

2. Embrace consumers as advocates

3. Learn how to make good decisions faster

4. Make powerful mobile apps a top priority

5. Test and measure– but only the right things


Lever 1: The Edge of the Network is Your New Center

• In five years you may not even have a meaningful .com site• Instead, you will have multiple points of presence in the world

drawing on IP technology• Push content, commerce and functionality to the edge of the

network • Design programs from the edge of the network in—not from

your office out


Lever 2: Embrace Customers As Advocates

The ultimate edge of the network The volume and velocity of “word

of mouth” is growing exponentially Consumers trust peers as much

or more than “experts” Brands are built by passionate

advocates who “sell” their friends Brands are crushed by detractors


Look Who’s Talking


Lever 3: Good Decisions Faster “Do things quickly but never hurry”Actively monitor conversations on the social

web about your productsJoin the conversation as a participant not a

broadcaster


Getting It Right

Google launched the Buzz feature and immediately triggered complaints

Actively monitored the conversations and responded

Quickly turned the tide


The best day to invest in mobile is yesterday Don’t allow mindless, derivative apps Demand functionality, personalization and location-based programmingHow do you speak to your customers if you know their

identity, location, interests and time of day?New Lucky Magazine app

Lever 4: Make Mobile Apps A Top Priority


You are what you measure Compensation measurement.

Measurement drives behavior Most corporate measurement strategies reward:

Conservatism “Fighting the last war” Efficiency at the expense of effectiveness

It’s all about the data going forward Design measurement plans that reward activities

that build your future business

Lever 5: Test and Measure The Right Things


“If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less. ”

-- General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U. S.

Army

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