Strategy, Innovation, Leadership and Security
Here are some interesting twitter stats I wanted to share
We can then take a look at some interesting site statistics provided by Compete :
Twitter.com had:
1 year graph comparing unique visits to total visits:
Click on the above thumbnail to see a full size image.
Pingdom has created a nice graphic showing the growth in tweets per month. This includes all tweets (including those made with 3rd party apps):
Honest Tea is a competitor to the Snapple brand in the United States of America. They conducted a brilliant marketing campaign and social experiement. It was so original I wanted to share it with you.
They wanted to see which of the major US cities was the most honest. They installed un-manned racks of their product and asked people to voluntarily donate a dollar per drink. The experiment was filmed and the results were tabulated.
Watch this fantastic experiment and campaign unfold.
Edison Research/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Series released an interesting report entitled “Twitter Usage in America: 2010”. What really sets this report apart is the fact that they spent 3 years collecting and tracking usage.
The most interesting conclusion is the fact that “twitter is a broadcast channel” contrary to what many marketers believe. The majority of twitter users are lurkers and rarely post.
The report is filled with useful and actionable information but some interesting highlights include:
You can read their quick blog entry about their report here:
http://www.edisonresearch.com/twitter_usage_2010.php
Download the full report here:
Until recently, most executives operated under the impression that consumers demand choice and lots of it. You could walk into any electronics store and see 5 different versions of the same computer system (each with only minute differences). But is this really what the modern, educated and busy consumer is demanding?
Early this year, I read a research paper by Forrester Research (1) that discussed the experiential difference between the typical Personal Computer and the iPad. The author discusses the fact that the iPad has a “curated” experience. On a typical PC, you can download and install almost any app, configure it the way you like and use/abuse it to your heart’s content. The choices and options are endless. Because of the limited real-estate on the iPad and iPhone, Apple has carefully chosen and designed every aspect of the device and its interface. When you want a specific functionality, you buy a pre-configured and vetted app from their application store (which is itself carefully “curated”.)
Because of the device’s phenomenal success, we can assume that consumers accept and like this model of limited, carefully controlled functionality. This is the quality over quantity debate. It places a heavier initial burden on the manufacturer since the customer expects everything to “just work”.
This new model not only simplified the use of these devices but helps customers that may have decidophobia (2). We are seeing more and more companies moving away from the “Choice is king” mantra with the aim of:
Companies are seeing marked reductions in their costs and improvements in their margins. A great example of this is GM. After their unfortunate bout with bankruptcy, they shed many of their brands and emerged stronger and better for it.
As you start planning for 2011, think about your product or service offerings and determine if they can be streamlined. Do you really need as many SKUs? Do the additional products really add value for your customer? What would be the impact to your company if you cut your lineup by 40-60%?
REFERENCES
(1) http://forrester.com/rb/Research/apples_ipad_is_new_kind_of_pc/q/id/57008/t/2
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decidophobia