The large technological developments allow the consumers to enjoy many new great innovative products, however, behind the scenes there are still many failures. Why does the one great idea win it from the other great idea? According to Business Insider UK also Google has many products that were bombed, died or disappeared. This results in a reality check that not everything that Google touches turns into gold.
The Google Glass is one of the best examples of a new innovative product that did not (yet) convince the world. The Google glass made it to the market in 2012 already, but due to the price tag, potential privacy problems and the nerdy Google decided to stop selling the device in January 2015. How can they ensure that, after several improvements they are working on behind the scenes, it will become a success whenever it comes back on the market again?
There are several improvements that could be made when putting a new product on the market, according to a Forbes article. Google missed out on the opportunity to launch the product on a specific day. Giving a specific day that the product can be bought by the public, results in excitement and a desire to be the first to purchase it. Also, there was no real advertising campaign to convince the public that it was a real evolutionary and promising product. It is strange that they would build a hundreds of millions of dollars product, but not spend enough money to promote it. Lastly, from my own perspective, I did not know why I should buy the product. Isn’t that the most important requirement for consumers?
One lesson from these failures is that both the IT management as well as the business management should be in line to make a innovative product a success. This largely has to do with planning and understanding what the customer wants. If this can be aligned, large firms as Google do not have to waste their money on products that do not make it, but they hopefully are then able to increase their success rate. It is never too late to learn. Maybe in a couple of years we will all be walking around with a Glass, who knows?
Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/siimonreynolds/2015/02/05/why-google-glass-failed/3/#2c1ac3c274b5
