iPod a hit because it is born out of a big idea

There is a letter to the forum today by Subodh Deshpande, who responded to Alfred Siew’s article last week. For those who have not been following the story on Creative’s failure to grasp the market against Apple, here is the link to an earlier blog entry in sgentrepreneurs.blogspot.com

In the last paragraph of the letter, I quote here:

What is the idea that will guide Creative’s next move? Will it be another digital product with multiple options? Will that make people love it? When people buy Creative, what idea do they experience? What deep individual motivation does Creative respond to?

These are questions Creative should ask, as much as it seeks investment in new products.

Because the idea is critical. It is the idea that creates consumer passion.

I will like to add that Creative needs to understand that who their customers are or what the market is. It is no point in creating a better mp3 player with 10 or more features better than IPod. The problem is that they need a vision for the Zen micro. There is a lack of vision in what they want to do with the product. What is the vision for the product? Is it the gadget that everyone must have on their hand with the latest music in the gadget? I believe that the makers of IPod have a clear vision on what they want to achieve in the first place. Price slashing and cost cutting are not going to help Creative in anyway. The problem lies in vision and branding.

yours sincerely,
sgentrepreneurs Editorial Board