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The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.

Creating Markets for New Technologies

Tuesday, May 1, 2001



Launching a company and creating a market around a new product or service entails risk on a number of levels: financial, technological, people. When a company has these elements in place — adequate funding, marketable technology and proven executive leadership — it is ready to address market risk. Through our strategy work at The McKenna Group, we have identified three key success factors for managing market risk while building a market for new technologies. Again and again, we’ve seen that companies that fail to embrace these drivers consistently fail to gain traction in today’s marketplace. Those that master these concepts are far more likely to ultimately succeed.
FOCUS & MARKET POSITIONING
For any company trying to create a market for a new product or service, the first step must be to devise a plan of attack that focuses on a single well-defined segment of the overall market. This market leverage approach enables you to establish a beachhead from which to build bridges to other segments. Moreover, by narrowing your focus you conserve financial and human resources. The beachhead approach is a proven method for accelerating market adoption, reducing costs of sales and building the base of referenceable customers that you will need to expand into the broader market.

On what market segment should you focus? It is very important to evaluate all the segments within the market, and then determine which are experiencing the most pain points that your solution can address. With this knowledge in hand, you can prioritize potential beachheads according to their attractiveness, and your ability to reach and serve them effectively. Remember, the market segment that needs your solution most is not necessarily the ideal candidate. Your best beachhead will be the segment that gives you the most influence over the other segments in the market and gives competitive differentiation at the point of entry. Think of it as a lead bowling pin: hit the right one, and the rest will fall.

Once you select your beachhead, it’s time to tailor you product or service positioning for the distinct attributes of the segment. Positioning must be based on three criteria: Does your offering resolve the primary needs of the target segment? Can you provide evidence that it is true? Are you the only supplier of this solution?

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