Jul 18
Auto Industry Education
If the auto industry ever wanted a fresh start……I mean when the auto industry begins reinventing how they do business, Apple would definitely be a company to look into for guidance. I can’t think of too many companies or products now a days (except for the Wii) that can form waiting lines for days to buy a product that has already been out for a year. Imagine if cars were that sought after. There’s a thought, get people to dare I say “Lust” after cars again.
Check out the article below from Advertising Age. They do a great job of aligning the auto industry with Apple. Let us know what you think after you read it. Would it work? It is a great article and a good end note to end the week. What if the industry……..
What the Auto Industry Can Learn From Apple
IPhone Stampede Offers Lessons in Total Transformation
Like hundreds of thousands of people across the country, I stood in line last weekend at the Apple Store in Newport Beach, Calif., to buy the new iPhone 3G for my daughter after three unsuccessful attempts at nearby AT&T stores.
Witnessing this exuberant demand for a new product made me wonder if this feat could be repeated in other categories, such as the auto business. What would an automaker have to do to seduce consumers to stand in line to buy a hot new car? Here are some lessons from the iPhone:
Functionality: Auto execs pondering how to replicate the iPhone’s commercial and cultural success would be wise to note that the iPhone is not simply a marketing phenomenon. The iPhone is a breakthrough product. It revolutionized the mobile phone business through design, features and functionality.
One way for auto companies to create breakthrough products may be to begin thinking like a consumer-electronics brand. Technology brands are the new car. Throughout the last century, the automobile stood for freedom, mobility and joy. Cars represented modern life at its best. Today that role is served by each new smart phone, gaming system, wafer-thin laptop or home theater that joyfully proclaims that the present is better than the past. An automaker should commit to creating a truly modern car, a car that democratizes the latest technologies; a car that liberates us from tired compromises by proving that design and performance go hand in hand with safety and environmental responsibility; a car that is an extension of the personal technologies we use to make our lives more efficient, organized and entertaining. Create a car that joyfully proclaims that today is better than yesterday.
Design, design, design: The iPhone looks like nothing else. It took no cues from category norms. It wasn’t an exercise in incrementalism, as is often the case with domestic auto design.
Cult of celebrity: Auto companies tend to believe “celebrity” is attained by having A-list actors and rappers drive the car. In Apple’s case, its celebrity is organic. Steve Jobs is a celebrity. Jonathan Ive, Apple’s head of design, is a celebrity. It is time to elevate the automotive designers to be the face of the company instead of the suits. Let’s see these designers on the cover of Fortune, People and Vanity Fair. After all, at their core these companies are industrial-design firms.
To fast-track this cult of design celebrity, car companies should enlist a hot industrial designer (e.g., Yves Behar) or an accomplished architect (Frank Gehry) to create the next must-have design of the year. And I don’t mean creating a “Cartier” edition, which usually means a special-trim package. Fully empower this outside designer.
Limited supply: As a rule, a company shouldn’t produce more product than it can sell. Sounds simple, but seldom happens in the car business. Limiting supply negates the need for brand-sucking discounting and creates a perception of rarity that strengthens the marketer’s pricing power. Apple is a genius at this.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR New distribution model: Sales associates at Apple stores are extremely well trained and are living ambassadors of the brand. Consumers may not get this same experience from car salespeople. So here’s where the auto companies need to swallow a brave pill. Don’t sell this hot new car through dealerships. Signal change by changing how the car can be bought. Establish centrally located viewing galleries — in shopping malls, in airports, in downtown business districts — staffed by the same well-trained ladies and gentlemen hired for car shows. Sell the cars there or online. And, knowing that state franchise laws don’t allow cars to be sold without dealers, give dealers a reasonable commission on all sales that take place in their designated territory. Dealers must be properly compensated, because they play a crucial role in providing ongoing service.
Advance buzz: When Apple launched the original iPhone it created a huge amount of buzz and curiosity by doing the opposite of what auto companies tend to do: Apple said absolutely nothing. Auto companies tend to debut the concept car three years in advance at an auto show, create microsites for sneak peeks and give the buff books early test drives in return for good coverage. And what happens in return? The buzz peaks well ahead of the product’s retail launch. The new mantra must be to reveal less and intrigue more. (Dealers did this quite well back in the days when they’d cover up new models until launch day to keep curious faces pressed against store windows.)
Apple did all this and more. Breakthrough product. Inspiring design. Smart pricing. Clever marketing. Seems so simple. And therein lies the beauty of Apple’s success.
3 Comments so far
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Interesting article. I especially like the thought of putting your designers in the spotlight. Duh.
However, since when did this become difficult? Be passionate about your product. Build cool cars. People will buy them. The rest is the details.
MOTORFOOT - “Get On It!”
well written, but keep in mind that the i-phone is 1 product…a car, literaly hundredds (if not thousands) of individual products working together, fit together to serve it’s purpose. Also, the federal, state and even foreign governments have placed many laws and regulations in place that drastically limit the creativity and design focus of automotive design in the name of safety and efficiency. Almost everytime some one asks, “why is this like this?” there is some safety or legal requirement driving it. Trust me. Just now are we as automotive designers/manufacturers starting to overcome these rules with creative solutions. As soon as you have one rule beat, they make another…I’m not saying we can’t do better, but remember, an I-phone does only a few things (granted many more than most other phones)but it doesn’t have to carry occupents of a varying size at 80 mph while protecting them, and looking good, and being fun, and being competitive, and not hurting the earth and so on and so on and so on. There are very good ideals in this article, but it hits me over the head with a very innexperienced approach. It reminds me of a design instructor I had with no automotive experience, but claimed to know the solutions to all the automakers problems…
Well said Gravy. You made some really good points. There is a certain naivety to Mr. Murphy’s comments, though all well intentioned. However the formula for success that has been apparent to Apple is difficult to apply to an industry that is governed by so many other factors that affect it.
I appreciate the “out of the box” thinking and ideas. Such thinkers are capable of inspiring change. However the Automotive Industry is far more complex than he is making it out to be(which is part of the industries problem).
Companies such as Apple can afford to reinvent themselves because the cost of the development and the end product is going to be paid for by the consumer and their products are in high demand. People are willing to pay a premium for those products because it is somewhat affordable and they have the “got to have it” factor.
In the “Functionality” paragraph, Murphy states that “An automaker should commit to creating a truly modern car, a car that democratizes the latest technologies.”
I don’t think he has put enough thought in this statement. Technology costs money. Big Money. Not to say that it is not necessary, but latest technology is expensive (such as Ipod) and as said before, becomes obsolete. A car takes every bit of the 3 years of development to bring in all the disciplines together, not to mention testing and validation, etc.. You have to secure the costing up front only to be implemented 3 years later. If you do not have the volume, you can not reduce cost. Latest technology in a car will drive the costs up considerably due to the developmental costs to harmonize it with the rest of the vehicle’s electrical functions alone. Being in this industry for over a decade, the OEMs are not keen on paying for the latest technology either unless it makes economical sense.
So the industry has to be able to balance between the “must have” and “would like” technologies and the associated costs.
“It is time to elevate the automotive designers to be the face of the company instead of the suits. Let’s see these designers on the cover of Fortune, People and Vanity Fair. After all, at their core these companies are industrial-design firms.”
Another goofy statement. What does that mean? Where do you draw the line here? Rarely is only one designer working on the car. You typically have several designers working under the design manager who chooses a theme. So who gets the credit? The Manager or the 3-6 other designers that worked and detailed out several portions of the car. Then you have the interior designers. Which aspect of the car is more important? Who gets credit?
In summary, the automotive industry has improved substantially. Production cars are getting even closer to their concepts revealed in earlier Detroit Autoshows.
Cars are also being designed with more emotion. (Just check out our earlier article on “Follow the Leaders:Analyzing Exterior Design Trends”)
I am not certain that Mr. Murphy’s ideology is the way to go but one thing is for certain. There needs to be paradigm shift in the Automotive Industries overall approach to conducting business and create a sustainable environment. Part of that may mean total consolidation and reduction of overhead to reduce complexity and development time. Secondly, reduce the amount of influence the Union seems to have on their botton line.
Thirdly, create options in a vehicle that have true usable value.