One of my basic branding principles is that the more complex the technology or science, the simpler the brand message should be. When marketing their products or services, companies violate this principle at their own risk.
Evidence for this principle abounds in the world of consumer electronics.
In a 2002 survey, the Consumer Electronics Association found that 87% of people rated “ease of use” as the most important factor when considering a new technology. Lately, it seems that many companies have rediscovered the strategy of simplicity and are incorporating it into their products and their messaging. But before we examine these newcomers to the simplicity scene, let’s look at a couple of pioneers who have stayed true to the principle of simplicity for an extended period of time.
No company in the consumer electronics world understands simplicity better than Bose. While the technology that powers Bose innovations is quite complex, the consumer interface has always been simple. The result is industry-leading sound quality with interfaces that consumers can understand in seconds, without reading the user manual.
In the 1950s, Dr. Amar G. Bose observed that speakers did not deliver natural sound. In 1968, after extensive research into the science of sound, Bose introduced the legendary 901 Direct / Reflecting loudspeaker, which reflects 89% of the sound from the walls (similar to a live concert) for a natural and realistic sound. In 1975, Bose developed the 301 series, which became one of the best-selling loudspeakers of all time. Since then, Bose has introduced a new product every few years, such as the acoustic noise-canceling headphones, Wave radio and 3 · 2 · 1 home entertainment system, which captures the interest of consumers.
The result of following this strategy of simplicity? Millions of satisfied customers, a spot on the Forbes Weathiest 400, and an estimated net worth of $ 900 million for Amar Bose.
Henry Klaus offers another example of a design engineer who understood the importance of simplicity. Your Tivoli Audio Kloss Model One, an AM / FM table radio with amazing sound quality, has been on the market for more than half a century. You won’t find a better $ 125 desktop radio and it fills a room with high-quality sound that compares to systems that cost thousands of dollars more. Klaus also innovated the first acoustic suspension speaker that became the basis for the Advent Loudspeaker, which became the reference design for all rear speakers. When he passed away in 2002, Klaus left a long legacy of technical innovations bordering on genius, but always kept it simple and clean when interfacing with consumers.
Opposite ends of the spectrum
At the other end of the spectrum of simplicity is Sony.
Most analysts attribute Sony’s recent woes to a lack of innovation – a true Achilles heel for leading product companies striving to deliver the “best product, period” value proposition. I agree that a lack of innovation tops Sony’s list of challenges, and rightly so. However, I argue that the second to fifth reasons have to do with overly complex products.
As I write this blog, a Sony DA5ES receiver sits next to me on my desk. It has enough power to simulate an earthquake in California, but it also has enough complexity to confuse an engineering Ph.D. from Stanford. This receiver has no less than 37 buttons and knobs on the front panel, most of which I have no idea what they do. Worse still, my teens don’t either, because after messing with all 37 knobs it sounds really bad. In today’s world, if a teenager can’t discover a technology, they will know that it is too complex.
Current leaders in the simplicity movement include TiVo, Skype’s Internet Voice service, Google’s search engine, Intuit’s Quicken, and RIM’s Blackberry. But the real shining star in the simplicity category is Apple’s iPod. The iPod has been this year’s huge success story for many reasons. However, at the top of the list is its simplicity.
Other manufacturers tried for years to gain a dominant market share in the MP3 player market, but their products were too complicated, too confusing, or too difficult to use. Apple broke the nut with a simple design for both the iPod and its PC companion software, iTunes. As a result, Apple has sold more than 20 million iPods to date and has a 75% share of the MP3 market. More importantly, Apple has seen its share price rise eightfold as a reward for its simplicity.
The dark horse of simplicity
While Apple may be leading the way these days, I see a true dark horse fast approaching in the race for the simplest consumer electronics: Royal Philips Electronics.
By the late 1990s, after decades of relentless Asian competition, the Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics had become a slow sloth whose products, ranging from medical imaging systems to light bulbs to televisions flat-screen TVs, were rapidly losing ground in the country. market.
According to an article in the November 2005 issue of Fast Company, Phillips attacked the problem of declining market share by deploying researchers in seven countries to survey nearly 2,000 consumers. Your goal? Identify the biggest social problem that the company must address. Respondents’ response was strong and urgent: Consumers were overwhelmed by the complexity of the technology.
According to Phillips research, about 30% of home networking products were returned because people couldn’t get them to work. Also, almost 48% of people had put off buying a digital camera because they thought it would be too complicated. As a result of this feedback, Phillips strategists recognized a great opportunity: to be the company that delivered on the promise of sophisticated technology without the fuss. Rather than simply reconditioning products, Philips would transform itself into a simpler and more market-oriented organization. More importantly, Philips would position itself as a simple company.
Phillips launched an internal and external campaign, titled “Sense and Simplicity [http://www.simplicity.philips.com/global_flash.html], “which required that everything Philips did in the future had to be technologically advanced, but designed with the end user in mind. It also had to be easy to experiment with. More importantly, each product and its resulting features had to emanate from a This ideal now drives everything Phillips does, from product conception to development, packaging, and distribution.
This drive for simplicity extends to the entire company. For example, Philips recently introduced Dynamic Lighting, which brings the dynamics of daylight into the workplace, creating a stimulating, “natural” lighting environment and giving people personal control of their lighting. In this way, Dynamic Lighting improves people’s feelings of well-being, motivation and performance.
While many of Phillips’ new products have yet to hit the market, the early results of the business shake-up, particularly in North America, have been dramatic. Sales growth during the first half of 2005 increased 35% and the company was named “Supplier of the Year” by Sam’s Club and Best Buy. Phillips’ Ambilight Flat TV and GoGear Digital Camcorder won European iF Awards for integrating advanced technologies into a consumer-friendly design, and the Consumer Electronics Association presented the company with 12 awards for innovation.
My bet is that Philips will re-emerge in the next few years as a leading technology company, as Apple has recently done. I don’t claim to be an investment advisor, but I would be surprised if we don’t see a similar increase in Phillips’ share price. History shows that markets reward the ability to simplify businesses and their products in meaningful ways for consumers. As Phillips seems to be learning, a little simplicity can go a long way.
