TIVO and The Chasm

by Blair Ingle on October 5, 2011

If you market a product or an idea, I strongly suggest that you read Geoffrey Moore’s “Crossing the Chasm.” Even if you aren’t in business, marketing or sales, its a great insight into why we buy, what we buy, and when we buy.

The theory is based around the Law of Diffusion of Innovation. Before your eyes glaze over, the theory around the law is pretty simple.

There are 5 different stages of “adopters” or consumers:

  1. Innovators: these are the ground breakers, the risk takers and make up 2.5%
  2. Early Adopters: these are the consumers that believe in the product and buy on emotion, making up 13.5%
  3. Early Majority: these are the folks who only buy when something is tried and tested, 34% of the market
  4. Late Majority: this group will arrive once the product or innovation has long since been accepted, making up 34%
  5. Laggards: this group has no choice but to accept the product or innovation, making up the final 16%

Here is an example of how this works. When the iPad was announced, the Innovators (2.5%) waited in line for 6 hours for the chance to pre-order. A week after the product hit the shelves and there was some inventory, the Early Adopters (13.5%) showed up. About 3-6 months after the iPad was introduced, those Early Majority (34%) consumers arrived and ordered theirs online. The Late Majority (34%) showed up this past Christmas and gobbled up all the inventory, or maybe they waited for the iPad 2. And the Laggards (16%), well, they are still waiting, and when they are ready, they will pick up their rotary phone and call Apple, or borrow an Innovator’s ancient iPad.

Here is what is important about the groups. Those Early Adopters influence the Early Majority which then influences the Late Majority. The Early and Late Majority groups make up 68% of the market. The Early Adopters are the key influencers.

And “The Chasm?” That’s the tipping point between those Early Adopters and the Early Majority; the tipping point between a small share and market domination. Your product only enters the mass market when it hits that 12-15% mark. Most marketers will tell you that you can literally trip over 10% of the market. That 10% will leave you in a heartbeat if the Early Adopters push or influence them in a different direction.

So, if you have 5% or 6% of the market, even in a fractured industry where that is the largest share, your hold is tenuous at best. You are standing on the wrong side of the Chasm. You still need to hit 15% before becoming comfortable and working on the Majority. Dig in and get back to work aggressively or suffer the inevitable consequences. Because someone else WILL jump you eventually.
Just ask TIVO, who maybe had the greatest product technology OF ALL TIME, that we all enjoy using now via DVR on our crappy Time Warner Cable boxes. TIVO nearly went bankrupt and has been passed like a turtle on the Autobahn.

Don’t be a turtle, endeavor to jump the Chasm.

Blair IngleBlair Ingle

“Innovative leader; man of action, influence and service everyday.”

You can read more at his website BlairIngle.com

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Aristotle Is Laughing At Me…Again

by Blair Ingle on September 28, 2011

If he was alive today, do you think Aristotle would be busy? Do you think he would be a blogger? Would his calendar be completely booked with speaking engagements?

If you think about it, so many of the self-help gurus are really preaching practices that Aristotle and his contemporaries discussed in 350 BC. Even as I talk to people about their personal strengths and assessing their strengths, somewhere in the heavens, Aristotle has to chuckle at my feeble efforts to describe his ground breaking theories a couple thousand years later.

Look at some of his quotes and teachings:

  • “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”
  • “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
  • “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.”
  • “Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach.”
  • “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
  • “Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it: men come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players by playing the harp. In the same way, by doing just acts, we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled; and by doing brave acts, we become brave.”

    • [click to continue…]

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How to Turn Clients Into Brand Evangelists

September 26, 2011

When it comes to growing their businesses, many entrepreneurs are missing the gold in their own backyards. They are so focused on acquiring new clients, they neglect to see the in-house sales team right in front of them. When you turn your clients into evangelists for your brand, you’ll never have to worry about where [...]

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Business Coaching Practice of Triangulation to Improve Your Business Coaching Program

September 23, 2011

A truly successful business coaching practice is one that achieves a triangulation of wins; for the coach, the partner and the client. The partnership of these individuals should promote win-win situations for each other. The win triangulation springs from the capacity of a coach to influence a partner. He should be able to convince the [...]

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