Rally that is one very insightful post that I think hits the nail squarely on its hipster head. Thanks!
I understand about building brands... so I can see what they are trying to do with this. I just don't agree that it's a good way to go. Another very insightful look at how these psycological levers are pulled is both of Dan Airlys books on behavioural economics and how our irrational behaviour patterns create the perception of value. What's true about approaches like the scooter is that it will work for some, but it's a shell game. I guess, like most who posted after the 2 min clip, I'm so far from the demographic that is portrayed that I'm not even on the radar screen of someone selling to that type of market. There were so many quotes from those potrayed that screemed "I have an overinflated sense of my own value and see myself as setting the agenda for others!" Too bad.... While this may play to the urban yuppie, I think that they could have made a peice that said "I'm looking for effective value and performance" and had a pitch that would go much farther in reaching to a broader market. That spot seemed to sell image more than content.... Eventually, selling image without substance fails. This is the stuff of flash in the pan trends. Selling image with substance works. This is the stuff of building lasting brand identity. Time will tell if the scooter will be the first or the second. We can also look at some of MINIs attempts at building brand identity from thier run so far: The Anti-SUV Backlash starts here, or now, I don't remember which. But a lot of the MINI owners owned SUVs as well! Now they are building them! That's a bit of both shooting oneself in the foot as well as a meander with little lasting value in brand creation. There's the Openometer for the new cabrio, but no real temp gauge. This is squarly in the image over stubstance camp. There's the iPhone App. Don't hear much about it... at best, it's a poor attempt at a microcosm of hooking onto the social networking bandwagon. It's not that well rated by users in the App store. I have it on my phone, but never use it. Is this substance or image? In the marketing piece, there was the quote that "I don't want to buy a lot of things that are cheap, I'd rather buy one thing that is expensive but quality." I can understand this. It's a statement about lasting value being worth a premium. Back to the scooter, if it's a good value proposition according to that model, it may help the brand. If it's not, then it's just a drag on the brand, and like I said before, time will tell. It will depend on the quality, the features and the price. As well as MINIs commitment to value creation in electric scooters... From where I sit, the tea leaves don't look that good for this effort, but I may be wrong. I've spent my entire professional life in taking innovation to the market, of actually building things that bring value to customers, of actual cration of newness (just got my third patent awared on 8/31!) so this isn't just me biatching about stuff, it's from the perspective of one who actually has done and does this stuff for a marginal living. I understand the play, I don't really agree with it. I'd rather that they put this effort into increasing the delivered value of their key product: thier cars. To me, that seems a better way to create brand identity and commercial viability than pandering to self-absorbed yuppie demographics. I'd be more worried about the ever increasing price point of what is in effect a compact car, and the ever decreasing margin of performance and content compared to the competition. The commercial roadside is littered with examples of those that have neglected thier core competencies while persuing marginal activitities to the point of failure. But to be fair to MINI, in reading most of the responses to the MF feed, there are those that like the concept and are open to it. But there is also no mention of price, warranty, sales model or any of the other details that one would need to know. So the devil is in the details. And none of these details have been discussed. So we're just left guessing. Matt
I think we can both agree that there are multiple ways of running a business and perceive value. You have a very classical approach to life. You seem to find value/quality in numbers, performance, graphs, etc. But, there will always be the opposite side of romantics who find value in sensations, aesthetics, emotions, etc. It's just two different ways of structuring a value system to judge/understand one's world and what can be considered quality. Neither is right or wrong. You can keep trying to insult them as "self absorbed" "yuppies", but it's just a different value system. I'm sure they don't agree with yours either. As the saying goes...that's why vanilla and chocolate ice cream both exist... It's better to choose one image/path and run with it than to play ambivalent and try to cater to everyone's needs. You'll never be able to make everyone happy, so your best bet is to choose a strong market demographic and aim your business at it. You'll probably lose some potential buyers in the process, but you'll be able to create a strong market for yourself among the people you are catering to....even if it's hipsters :lol: Like I said, I'm well aware that the demographic on MA doesn't meet the demographic that MINI has catered to all along, but to some extent that proves that it's not THAT harmful to cater to hipsters. Even though you don't fit the group they are selling to, you still found value in the product they produced and bought it. While this may upset people such as yourself, I'd be willing to bet many average customers don't even notice the lack of a temp gauge. And I'm sure there's a bunch of people who think the openometer is "cute" and "sassy". Again, I would rather a temp gauge....but that doesn't mean there isn't a group of people who are happy with this move. Again, it's just for brand identity. While it may not actually get much use, the dealer can tell the prospective buyer "Our car even has an iphone app...blahblahblah". And the customer (who may never use the app) thinks "Oh, that's really cool! They have all sorts of special gadgets for this car". This is just yet another "positive" on their list of pros and cons when deciding to buy the car. Even if they never use the app, it can make an impact on their choice. But once you create something of value to people, you have to do something to sell that product. A quality product won't get as far with lack-luster marketing. Delivered value is a much more expensive task than perceived value. With the BMW price point just slightly above MINI's, I'm sure they have no interest in raising it. So instead, they seek to play up the MINI's current strengths. Hipness, cuteness, environmentalism, etc. They only fail when their core competencies were lacking. If you are able to supply a quality core product while also engaging in side projects to further promote a community of customers, you will do better than a company that simply makes a quality product but spends no time on brand identity, marketing, or creating an experience for their customer. Yvon Chouinard has some great writing about the importance of developing a custom community/experience to go along with your quality products in order to ensure a long lasting brand.
This is funny... we're argueing on something we agree on! We both see brand creation as a good thing! We agree that well executed brand creation is very beneficial. This has nothing to do with numbers vs lifestyle. Where we don't agree is if the scooter is a good play. I'm saying it's possible, but based on track record and assumed business model, I'm very skeptical. You seem to be saying that this is good by definition because it creates more buzz among the demographic that is described in the 2 min hit piece. What you haven't commented on though, is the consquence between percieved vs actual value and it's long term effect on customer loyalty and brand value. The example of "we have an iPhone app" may have some benefit at first contact, but if the app sucks, it may actually be a detractor in the long term customer relationship. Back to the scooter. It's targeted at a group that MINI wants to own. Fine. But by these peoples very well articulated value statements, if the quality is there they will pay a premium. If it's not, they run away and shun the product. That sets a high bar for what the scooter has to be for it to be a success with that demographic. That value proposition is what launched MINI, and initially kept the factories at capacity. It's been a while since the factory has been at capacity. While I'm sure global economic conditions contribute to that, I also think that it's a changed value proposition that doesn't command the same premium as it once did that is partly responsible for that. I don't see how the creation of an electric scooter changes the value proposition for thier cars in a significant way. But like I also said, the devil here is in the details. So far we have a concept floated to see if it may have traction, and there is a lot of posative response, even an old quantitative fart like me can see that. So what's next.... figuring out how to deliver quality and value to the target market at a workable price point. All those details that aren't there yet.... Matt
Fortunately for them, I think the American public is a little too ADHD for the sucky app to really detract from the brand. If it sucks, people will forget about it and play with whatever other new fad/product they're intrigued by at the moment. I personally feel that MINI lives up to the value that they advertise. The car is just as stylish, fun, and environmentally friendly as all their brand marketing has suggested. It has a great following of owners and there is a real experience/community related to the brand. All that perceived value has been true value in my experience. IMO they have never promoted a value that they couldn't fulfill with their cars. As you mentioned earlier, I'm sure MINI is going to a contractor to have these made. Presumably a contractor who has vast experience creating scooters. Chances are likely that they're just throwing MINI body parts and a badge onto a pre-existing electric scooter chassis. I'm personally confident in MINI choosing a quality contractor for this project. MINI's were launched with this hipster brand identity right at its side from the very start. The scooter is just an extension/continuation to keep people interested and aware of the trendy style of MINI. It's not about changing the proposition. It's about re-emphasizing a pre-existing value. People will be reminded that MINI is a stylish, young, hip brand when they see an article about a "cool" new scooter in their newspaper. And yes, we'll have to wait for the details. As someone who has been looking into Honda Metro scooters, if MINI can provide a similar price point I would probably give it great consideration. I'm confident that MINI will excel in the realms of quality and aesthetics, but we'll have to see if they can do so at a reasonable cost.
if they can do so at a reasonable cost. There it is! Same thing I've been saying all along, I like the brand, I like the cars, I like the club support, I like the community involvement.......but I may not be able to continue to patronize them at the new price level.
Well, another way to look at it is that they are not after us -- the people who already own MINI's -- as a demographic. They are after a new market segment. It is still a transportation market. It is a younger, hipper, and much more Eco-sensitive one as well. Sounds like they are cultivating future customers that will eventually grow into a need for an auto, but want to remain eco-conscious about what they are purchasing. Sounds like good marketing to me. But I am sure there will be an argument to the opposite.
My guess... Aeolus E500-Scooter: Here's some text: "POWERFUL 500 WATT HUB MOTOR. COMFORTABLE OVERSIZED SEAT. 2 YEAR WARRANTED LITHIUM ION BATTERY. LOCATED UNDER THE SEAT. BATTERY IS GOOD FOR 1000 CYCLES. 25- 35 MILES ON A SINGLE CHARGE. RAPID 5-7 HOUR CHARGING TIME. CAPABLE OF CLIMBING 20% GRADES. NO CVT OR BELTS REQUIRED. KEY IGNITION. SPEEDOMETER IN BOTH MPH AND KPH. BATTERY INDICATOR. 48 VOLT LITHIUM ION BATTERY / 13 AMPS. ONLY COST IS 60 CENTS PER CHARGE. VERY QUIET AND SLEEK. LENGTH OF 75". WIDTH OF 27". HEIGHT OF 43". SEAT HEIGHT 32". GROUND CLEARANCE OF 4.7". UNDER SEAT STORAGE. FRONT AND REAR WHEELS ARE 18" /x 3" PROVIDING A SMOOTH RIDE. ALLOY WHEELS. FRONT AND REAR BRAKE. HAND LEVER OPERATED. DUAL HEAD LIGHTS. FRONT SUSPENSION: HYDRAULIC TELESCOPIC FORKS. DUAL REAR SHOCKS. DUAL MIRRORS. FRONT AND REAR TURN SIGNALS. BRAKE LIGHTS. SPEED OF 30 MPH." It's selling for $1500 now. Matt
I resemble most of those types, or did. I think it's good marketing, but I'm not buying the scooter, but will still commit to many more years with my 03. Mark