You are on page 1of 25

Symbian 2015

Building an Innovation Strategy


to Win the Smart Phone Market

Geoffrey Moore
Symbian Exchange & Exposition
October, 2009
Agenda

• Why have an innovation strategy?

• The key to a winning innovation strategy

• The impact of category maturity on innovation strategy

• What Symbian should do: An outsider’s view

2 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Why have an innovation strategy?

Most innovation is wasted

3 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
How Innovation Doesn’t Matter
Remember Your Vector Math Class!

= 0
Bubble-up Innovation

When organizations innovate “bottoms up,”


competitive separation is small,
and differentiation is not sustainable:
Lots of activity, not much to show for it.
4 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC
October 28, 2009
Innovating for Differentiation
Focus on Competitive Separation

Amplify a specific
vector of innovation

*
* Gain bargaining power
Competitor 1
by getting separation
*
YOU from your
*
Competitor 2
competitive set
*
Competitor 3
Failure to separate
Competitive Set equates to lack of ability
to influence the market

5 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Return on Innovation
Differentiation Neutralization
CORE CONTEXT

Failed
Attempts Optimization
PRODUCTIVITY

Waste
Sources of Waste:
• Differentiation projects that don’t go far enough
• Neutralization projects that go beyond good enough
• Unaligned innovation efforts that cancel each other out
6 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC
October 28, 2009
Questions to Ask
Apply These to Every Initiative You Sponsor

• Which of the three returns on innovation are we targeting?


(Note: It is never appropriate to target more than one.)

• Have we staffed this initiative with the appropriate type of leader?

• Do our metrics of success measure the return we are seeking?

7 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
The key to a winning
innovation strategy

Declare your core and


rally around it

8 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Building an Innovation Strategy
Value Disciplines as Innovation Zones

Product
Leadership
Zone

Customer Operational
Intimacy Excellence
Zone Zone

Which zone is your sweet spot?


9 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC
October 28, 2009
Vectors of Innovation
Targeting Your Sweet Spot

Product
Disruptive Solution Product Platform
Leadership Innovation Innovation Innovation Innovation
Zone
Genentech Autodesk Google Microsoft

Customer Line
Design Marketing Experiential
Intimacy Extension
Innovation Innovation Innovation
Innovation
Zone
HP IDEO Apple Facebook

Operational Value Business


Integration Process
Excellence Engineering
Innovation Innovation
Model
Innovation Innovation
Zone
TSMC SAP Dell Salesforce.com

10 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Creating Definitive Separation
How Great Companies Outperform Their Categories

• Identify a primary vector of differentiation, and declare this to be core.


This will be your “Path out of the Yellow Circle.”

• Drive offer and program investments “beyond reason” along your core
vector to the point where the competition either cannot or will not follow.

• Reengineer supporting context processes to further accentuate and


enhance your core differentiation. “Tilt” toward core.

• Fund these extraordinary efforts by productivity initiatives focused on


extracting resources from context activities.

11 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Questions to Ask

• Have we declared or do we know which vector or vectors of


innovation are core for our enterprise?

• Do we have “crown jewels” that give us distinct competitive


advantage on one or more of these vectors?

• Are we over-investing on these vectors and making the


corresponding cuts elsewhere to fund this focus?

12 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
The impact of category maturity
on innovation strategy

Different types of innovation


succeed at different times

13 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Technology Adoption Life Cycle

Pragmatists: Conservatives:
Stick with the herd! Hold on!

Visionaries:
Get ahead of the herd! Skeptics:
No way!

Techies:
Try it!

Innovators Early Early Majority Late Majority Laggards


Adopters

Pragmatists create the dynamics of high-tech market development.


14 Presentation Title © 2003, TCG Advisors LLC
October 28, 2009
High-Tech Market Development Model

Main Street

Tornado

Total
Early Assimilation
Market

Chasm

Bowling
Alley

15 Presentation Title © 2003, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Category Maturity Life Cycle

Indefinitely elastic
middle
Revenue Growth

Growth
C
Market D
Mature Fault
Market
Line!
B Declining
Market E
A End of
Life

Technology Adoption Time


Life Cycle

16 © 2008, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Life-Cycle Marketing Strategy
Buying Focus Evolves as a Percentage
of Overall Mix
Mature

Growth Decline

Early

Performance Buyers Relationship Buyers Value Buyers

17 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Building an Innovation Strategy
Value Disciplines as Innovation Zones

Product
Leadership
Zone
Performance
Buyers

Customer Operational
Intimacy Excellence
Zone Zone
Relationship Value
Buyers Buyers
Just to reconfirm,
which zone is your sweet spot?
18 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC
October 28, 2009
Questions to Ask
Apply These to Every Category You Compete In

• Where is this category in the Category Maturity Life Cycle?

• Which type of buyer do we have the best chances with? What


are we doing to win as many of these buyers as we can?

• What is our best bet for winning as many of the dominant type of
buyer as we can (even if that is not our sweet spot)?

• Where is the least valuable place we can spend our energy, and
what are we doing to minimize our activities in that area?

19 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
What Symbian should do

An outsider’s view

20 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Prioritizing Vectors of Innovation

Product
Too niche
Disruptive Too niche
Solution Product Platform
Leadership Ditto
focused
Innovation Innovation
focused Innovation Innovation
Zone
Genentech RIM Apple Microsoft

Customer Too
Line Too Too Too
Design Marketing Experiential
Intimacy Extension
company company
Innovation company
Innovation company
Innovation
Innovation
Zone specific specific specific specific

Mattel IDEO P&G Starbucks

Operational Value Business


Integration Process
Excellence Engineering
Innovation Innovation
Model
Innovation Innovation
Zone
Southwest SAP Toyota Salesforce.com

21 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Symbian Innovation Strategy
for Mature Markets
Product
Platform
Leadership Innovation
Zone
Refresh and extend your reach Microsoft

at the low end of the market


Customer as feature phones evolve to
Intimacy smart devices
Zone

Operational Value Business


Integration Process
Excellence Engineering
Innovation Innovation
Model
Innovation Innovation
Zone
Southwest SAP Toyota Salesforce.com

22 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Symbian Innovation Strategy
for Growth Markets
Product
Platform
Leadership Innovation
Zone Use Neutralization
Innovation to catch up
and eventually
Customer overtake existing
Intimacy market leaders
Zone
Exploit Business
Model Innovation to
differentiate from
Operational existing market Business
Excellence makers Model
Innovation
Zone

23 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Final Thoughts
• Manage Growth Market and Mature Market initiatives
separately
• Focus the first on Performance Buyers, the second on Value Buyers

• Exploit your distribution advantage in the feature phone


market
• Create a value-based upgrade path that stays within the price
envelope that is optimal for the low-end market

• Exploit your business model advantage in the smart phone


market
• Neutralize and then commoditize every currently differentiating
element as fast as you possibly can

24 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009
Thank You
gmoore@tcg-advisors.com

25 Dealing with Darwin © 2009, TCG Advisors LLC


October 28, 2009

You might also like