8August 2018By Chad Kartchner, Director Marketing & Product Management, HoneywellTO TRANSFORM YOUR MARKET, FIRST TRANSFORM YOUR MARKETINGMany companies expect digital transformation and innovation to drive growth in the future. There are many reasons a company might pursue digital transformation in the markets they serve:· Their existing product lines may not see future growth because the markets they serve are saturated. · They may see product obsolescence on the horizon and want to fill the pipeline with new businesses.· They may face price pressure from global competitors.· They may see customer demand shifting to products with higher levels of technological integration.· They may seek the scalability, flexibility, and higher profit margins of software businesses.· They may see software-enabled services as means to expand customer value.Companies that are setting out to digitally transform markets without first transforming their marketing are using old tools for new problems. These companies should first transform their marketing from "industrial" to "innovation" marketing. Industrial marketing describes a marketing process that will include these steps:1. Market Segmentation2. Targeting3. Positioning. To improve the probability of a successful market transformation, a switch from "industrial marketing" to "innovation marketing" involves adopting a marketing process that views customer experiences across defined markets, instead of segmenting and differentiating within traditional markets. During times of transformation this integrating approach is redrawing the lines of traditional markets and leaving behind those companies stuck using industrial marketing. Apple vs. Industrial Marketing TheoryWhen Apple announced the release of the first generation iPad many observers voiced concerns that there was not room for a third category of mobile devices. Steve Jobs spoke of their concerns during his keynote introduction of the iPad. "All of us use laptops and smartphones now, and the question has arisen lately, is there room for a third category of a device in the middle? And of course we've pondered this question for years as well."Industrial marketing answered this question with "no". To see why, consider the example of a theoretical company using industrial marketing to evaluate building a tablet. The first step of industrial marketing is market definition. Assuming the company selected the PC and laptop market for their analysis, segmentation of that market would have IN MY OPINION
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