Comments on: A Lesson In Branding From Indian Truck Drivers

By: Las Vegas Property Managers

Las Vegas Property Managers — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:26:54 +0000

About five years ago I had a Nokia phone with a flashlight on it and loved it. I used it a lot more than I thought I would. It supports the old addage “the customer is always right”. Thanks for the post.

By: John Van Vleck

John Van Vleck — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:36:44 +0000

I love this story for a couple of reasons. For one it speaks to the need to get out and really look at how ordinary people live their lives in a way that data on a power point slide could never uncover. Secondly, it suggests that in a world obsessed with the latest app and breakthrough innovation, it’s the little thing, the small improvement that has the biggest impact on people’s lives.

So here’s to the one’s who get out, have a look and who see the value in doing so.

Thanks for sharing.

By: Phil Koesterer

Phil Koesterer — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:52:27 +0000

I think that’s right. Who are your hidden “power users”?

Of course, once you identify them, you have to actually innovate to serve them.

By: Toph

Toph — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:21:06 +0000

Great question… and i have no idea about the answer. But you’re making me think that traditional research (even ethnographic) tends to pick a selection of users and very likely passes over potential cohorts. The lesson here is to look for the “truck driver” equivalents in every category, right?

By: Phil Koesterer

Phil Koesterer — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:33:25 +0000

Nice story. Do you know how they arrived at this insight? In a lab, or out talking to truck drivers?

It seems like most of the innovation in the U.S. mobile market is taking place in the application development arena. I wonder whether all the start-ups furiously coding the next big iPhone app arrived at their ideas through blue-sky sessions or through actual ethnographic research. I’m thinking of work like Gravity Tank’s recent study (http://www.gravitytank.com/apps/#), but I’d like to see it go even deeper to find potentially underserved populations like India’s truck drivers.

By: rband

rband — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:46:55 +0000

I was thinking of this when I was trying to open my front door at night. My phone screen is so bright I didn’t need an additional flashlight. But that’s today - I bet it wouldn’t have been so good 5 or more years ago when Nokia came up with the original idea. When I checked out this story, it seemed to me that Nokia India’s big win was a brilliant portfolio strategy, where they had different levels of engagement/service for different tiers of user (Entry, Live, Connect, Explore and Achieve). So they may have been a hit with truck drivers, but they didn’t become the “truck drivers” brand at the expense of luring Mumbai hipsters.