Thousands of new products are launched each year; and surprisingly, most of them fail. What is it exactly that causes them to fail though? Is the marketing research not good enough? Is the advertising not creative enough? Are consumers just too difficult to understand? According to a report by the Harvard Business Review, the answer is no. They believe that the problem lies in the market segmentation.

An article by Kathryn Roy on MarketingProfs discusses this report and provides a few tips for getting your message heard in such a crowded market. Roy points out that many businesses are setting themselves up for failure right from the start by defining target segments by consumer types and not by consumer needs. As Harvard Business School marketing Professor Ted Levitt says: “People don’t want a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.”

Figuring out what consumers want your product to do is the first step in building brand equity. Instead of focusing on a specific consumer segment, focus on what that segment wants your product to do for them. What job do they need done, and how can your product achieve that goal? By marketing the unique job that your product supplies, you will have a better chance of standing out in such a crowded market. By address the specific needs of a target segment before your competitors do, you can increase company revenues and morale.

Read the full article for more on how you can be heard in today’s crowded market.

Yesterday was a big day! Google got a new look and some hot new features, including a new mobile search.

What’s new and improved? The latest version of Google has some major differences – design changes, the addition of a left-hand navigation, and a more integrated search experience.

The design focus remains simple. So simple, in fact, you probably won’t notice the revised Google logo.

The addition of the left-hand navigation is a nice touch. You can see the types of search options available, such as Image Search, Shopping Search and Books Search. The coolest feature of the new menu? It’s dynamic. Your search options change based on your search topic.

The integrated search is designed to help you refine results by adapting to your search needs and streamlining the search experience. When you click on any of the menu items it won’t take you to a wholly different results page. Instead the left-hand menu stays put as you search which should make it easier for you to navigate the page.

What do you think of this new Google? Let us know in the comments.

This year, the Woothemes.com team met for a week-long, working retreat and decided to use the trip as an experiment to connect with their customers by testing out their own products in the real-world. The goal was to get the team together for usual company brainstorming, but they also wanted to practice what they preach and show off their new themes and applications for small business.  They set up a blog, iphone applications, and used Twitter and Facebook to stay connected with customers and fans. The results were a great success, with website visits up 55%, unique visits up 52%, and page views higher by 13%. The experiment in social media generated 5 key takeaways which any small business can learn from:

• Social media doesn’t have to be complicated to be successful
• You can tie social media into anything
• Know what you want to get out of social media before going into it
• Transparency builds trust, and trust can lead to sales
• When you can, practice what you preach

WooThemes.com used their own products in a unique way to make a connection with their current customers, increase their social presence with new customers, and most importantly increased sales.  Read more

Would you stand in line for hours, perhaps days,  to get a chance to buy the latest gadget from Apple? If your answer is yes, you are what the technology industry aims to charm – an early adopter.

 So do you fit the profile of an iPad wannabe? Here are some early sales results.

 Are you a current Mac user? 74% of iPad purchasers think Leopards are far superior to Windows.

Do you have an iPhone? 66% of purchasers can’t get enough of those iphone apps.

Do you Kindle? 13% who bought the iPad love to cozy up to a warm E ink screen instead of a paperback.

Fortune’s survey takes a bite of the apple…

Did you hear? Google has launched Google Buzz . Be sure to check out this great  new tool to have conversations with people you already email and chat with via Gmail.  Let us know what you think, post a comment.

According to “2010 Marketing Trends Survey” from StrongMail, next year looks like it will be a big year for eMarketing, with email and social media initiatives leading the way. Besides these hot new trends for 2010, businesses are focusing on improving their ability to measure and analyze the success of their online campaigns. Read More