What kind of competitor analysis would be of most benefit to Cyproswim?
A firm that innovates can steal a competitive advantage over other firms in its industry. Nevertheless, there are many innovations that fail in the market place. They fail to meet the expectations of the firms that launch them and quite often achieve abysmally low sales by any standard. Some of these products are good whereas others are just gimmicks or fads. However, one thing does seem to be clear, if a new product does not stand out sufficiently well from other existing products in the market place then its chances of success are diminished.
Perhaps the best way to beat competition is to be so innovative that potential customers won’t even see a product as having any potential substitutes. It has long been known, for example, that some people just adore the personification of inanimate objects. Children’s toys are a good example. Barney with its repertoire of songs and sayings is a favourite when displayed in most children’s toy shops and attracts considerable attention from passers by—both young and old. How many older people will squeeze Barney’s hand when asked to do so! There have also been some more practical applications of voice technology in products. Most notable among these have been talking watches which have been a great help to the blind and partially sighted.
Cartech has extended voice technology to car alarms. It has produced a product which can be fitted in five minutes without tools or drilling. The alarm contains a deafening 130dB siren and also literally talks. When the alarm is activated by the remote control key-fob the alarm announces to all and sundry ‘alarm armed’ in confirmation. If someone sets off the alarm’s built-in vibration sensors (with anything from a sharp jolt to a light tap) the alarm will react with the spoken words ‘Stand back! This vehicle is alarmed’. When the alarm detects a change in electrical current (such as that produced by a door opening) the product will again emit an urgent spoken warning, followed by the siren if the words are ignored. Other voice command functions include an emergency panic button, activated by the remote control from either inside or outside the car (‘Please help! Please help!’ plus siren), a handy car finder button for crowded car parks (‘Your car is here’) and step by step vocal instructions for setting the sensitivity of the car alarm sensors.
Cartech feels that it has a unique product which is sufficiently different from anything else on the market to mean that it has no competition. It intends to set a premium price on the product, but before marketing the product is interested to analyse it in the context of competitive offerings just to confirm its own feelings.