Do we focus on the fruit bowl or the alarm clock?

One of the difficulties facing Taiwanse OEM/ODM firms as they attempt to sell their own branded products into the North American, European, Middle Eastern, and Indian sub-continent markets is developing market insight. Taiwan is a long way, both geographically and culturally, from these markets. This distance makes it difficult to really know what delights and what annoys customers.

Hiring local staff in these markets will only help if what this staff say is listened to, respected, captured, and communicated to decision makers involved in the design of these products.

So what feature of a product annoys a customer?
What feature do they place little value on?
Should we make sure our little flap doors -- discussed in the previous post -- feel solid or can we cut corners here?
Does an ageing population in Italy care about owning a "smart phone," or do they want something with huge buttons that's easy to use?
Do we have a system that allows us to answer these questions?


There is a good snippet in Businessweek that illustrates the importance of knowing what to innovate. The piece describes how the Hampton Inn motel learned that guests care a lot, and I mean a lot, about the alarm clocks in their rooms.


[Tags]: Innovation in Asia, innovation management, Joseph Schumpeter, ageing populations, product development, Innovation in China, Innovation in Taiwan, Innovation in India