The February 2010 briefing of TrendWatching is highlighting "FUNCTIONALL" products. It is all about a new breed of simple, small and/or cheap (with a dash of sustainability) products and services designed for low(er)-income consumers in emerging markets, with cross-over appeal to consumers in mature consumer societies.
Goods and services especially designed for emerging markets often incorporate one or more of the following characteristics:
- Smaller and/or limited number of features, to keep prices low.
- Simpler, or easier to use, for inexperienced consumers.
- Energy efficient (or not using any traditional energies at all) and/or easy to repair and/or waste-reducing.
- Robust, as some of them are used in rugged conditions.
- Well-designed (the democratization of design is a global phenomenon).
- Aimed at helping owners to generate income, or allow users to create self-sustaining systems.
When was the last time your team was defining strategy and someone said ... "We need to blow our customers away by building a product that is simple, small and cheap"? It might be the time.
O.D.O.o.O.D.B.
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