Turning new technologies into must-havesHow marketing can build demand for cutting-edge tech

By Sarah Brown

The history of technology is full of ideas or inventions that were initially dismissed as unworkable until finally their viability became so clear it seemed silly to have doubted them in the first place.

“Well-informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires and that were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value.”

Editorial in the Boston Post, 1865

“Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.” Lord Kelvin, pioneer in thermodynamics and electricity, 1895

“Man will never reach the moon, regardless of all scientific advances.” Lee DeForest, inventor of the vacuum tube, 1957

The difficult reality is that the more innovative the technology, the more it departs from traditional ways of doing things, then the more people may distrust it.

Technologies can fall into a chicken and egg trap in which the technology cannot prove it works if people won’t try it, and people won’t try it until they believe it works.

How can technologies break out of this vicious cycle of distrust and prove their viability?

To reference Moore’s model of technology diffusion, how do some technologies gain adoption not just by those rare souls willing to take a risk on cutting-edge tech but, rather, by the prudent majority who will invest in only proven technology? (Moore calls this ‘crossing the chasm.’)

We’ve developed a model that maps each step in the journey to winning the market’s confidence in your tech product and, ultimately, achieving broad adoption.

We map the technologies potential, the level to which it can disrupt markets and create competitive advantage, against the confidence the audience has in it being sucessfuly deployed.

The Bright Blue Day Model of Technology Adoption

Siren SongsStrategy: Build trust

CloudSoftware as a Service

Low ConfidenceTarget audience lacks confidence that the technology can be successfully deployed

DogsStrategy: Dump

Virtual Reality

StarsStrategy: Broaden use

Server virtualisationVideo conferencing

High ConfidenceTarget audience is confident that the

technology can be successfully deployed

Cash CowsStrategy: Milk

BarcodesWi-Fi

High Potential Technology offers fundamental improvement to customers’ IT or delivers competitive advantage

Low PotentialWhile beneficial or even critical,

technology does little to fundamentally transform IT or offer

competitive advantage

Low Confidence High Confidence

High Potential

Stars

Unless a technology crosses

the ‘trust gap’, it will not achieve broad adoption

Low Potential

Siren Songs

Dogs Cash Cows

Start Crossing the trust gap

Technology is provenAudience gains confidence

Technology gains broad adoption

Crossing the usage gap

A common mistake in marketing Siren Songs is to shout about the technology’s benefits without offering proof that the technology works. Unfortunately for the marketers of Siren Songs, buyers willing to take a chance on a new and unproven technology are a minority. A technology must prove its viability before it can hope to attain broad usage.

Marketers tasked with building demand for a Siren Song should focus on convincing the target audience that the technology will deliver what it promises. We call this ‘crossing the trust gap’. Only by first crossing the trust gap can a technology gain widespread adoption.

What can you do to help your technology cross the trust gap? Here are 4 strategies:

Strategy Tactics Examples Could this work for you?Prove success • Understand the audience’s objections and concerns

• Prove the technology’s viability in ways the audience will find convincing such as references, demonstrations, or independent reviews

• There are few marketing tools so powerful as a case study that closely matches a prospect’s situation. Build a library of case studies segmented by industry and issue

• At HP’s Meet the Experts sessions, prospects can speak directly to technical experts about products’ viability

• Microsoft’s I Hate CRM campaign directly acknowledged the audience’s frustrations with CRM – and showed how Microsoft’s CRM addresses these issues

• Is it possible to prove the success of the product with concrete examples?

• Can you lead a frank discussion of the applicability of your technology? Can you provide a framework for helping prospects decide if the technology is appropriate for their situation?

Encourage trial • Bundle the product with others, give it away free, or incentivise use

• Make it as easy as possible for the audience to try your product; for example, go where the audience is

• Microsoft sponsored a competition for the best work using its new web design suite

• Many online services such as Spotify offer free basic versions of their product and encourage upgrade

• Many software companies bundle new products with established products

• Does trialling your product tend to breed confidence or create habitual use?

• What would it take to get the audience to try your product? How can you make trial possible in practical terms?

Lead the debate • Have a voice on the issues your technology addresses. Be a thought leader through white papers, seminars, PR, etc.

• Understand the importance of word of mouth. Know what’s being said about you and make sure you are part of the conversation

• Find the ‘mavens’, the respected authorities who lead opinion, and partner with them

• IBM publicises the results of its C-suite surveys, giving IBM voice and visibility in discussions of myriad IT issues

• Nortel coined the concept of ‘hyperconnectivity’ to seize the initiative in debates about unified communications

• How could your company provide insight or new perspectives on the issues IT audiences care about – and that your technology addresses?

Provide a safe place to experiment

• Let the audience freely explore how your technology works and how it might help them

• Enable the audience to decide for themselves about your technology’s pros and cons

• EMC’s Solution Centres enable visitors to design and test any architecture without risk

• Chevron’s Energyville site lets users experiment with cutting-edge energy technologies

• Could testing your product allay people’s concerns or help them understand its benefits?

• How can you make this possible?