I originally wrote this piece in June of 1999, when I was working in the consulting industry. I thought it would be interesting to re-post it and see what has changed.
The technology industry today is characterized by rapid change in performance, expectations, design & business models. There is increasing pressure to squeeze every bit of revenue out of an innovation before it becomes yesterday’s news. The successful launch of a new product requires speed, word of mouth, a cunningly executed marketing campaign, and carefully discriminatory pricing. The fashion industry has been dealing with issues like this for hundreds of years, and has a lot to teach to the technology industry.
What is fashion? Fashion is a way of demonstrating insider knowledge, knowledge of emerging trends, and more importantly, an understanding of what everyone else will find important. In the information driven world of the Internet age, these are all attributes of a successful business in any industry, not strictly the fashion industry. It becomes important to understand, not only fashions themselves, but how the fashion industry has shaped itself to meet these exacting attributes. The technology industry has a lot to learn from the fashion industry as it becomes more intimate with the consumer marketplace.
First, the fashion industry is highly tolerant of eccentric creative talent. Anyone who has worked in the technology businesses of Silicon Valley has realized just how difficult this is. The best creative talent is capable of unbelievable productive sprints and leaps of imagination, but requires considerable coddling and a work environment that is far from the 9 to 5 routine of most jobs. The fashion industry has learned to coddle this talent while still maintaining a corporate identity distinct from the personal notoriety of the people who work in it. Tom Ford at Gucci is recognized for his achievement, but what buyers look for is still Gucci. In the same vein, fast growing new technology companies must learn to laud their Steve Jobs without being becoming utterly dependent on them. More established companies in the technology industry must build a culture and workstyle that is friendly to these eccentric, exceptional talents.
Second, the emphasis on design, quality and emotional factors. When buying a jumper, few people make their decision on the exact warmth, strength or durability of one item vs. another, though this can vary dramatically. Customers choose what will make them feel good, not what’s best. Often this is the case with technology products. Nokia has very clearly recognized the fact that mobile phones, as a deeply personal product, are a fashion item. Ericsson has not, and has paid the price in market share and stock market valuation. Apple Computer’s fortunes have been clearly linked to their understanding of soft factors: their decline in the early nineties coincided with their products becoming anonymous beige boxes, their rebirth in 1998 with the launch of the trendy iMac, a decidedly limited product from a technical point of view. Fashions are, less obviously, a key deciding factor in technology standards and management consultancy ideas. A key imperative for technology companies is to not only make the best product technically, but the one that will make their customers feel good.
Third, the creation of a value chain that allows flexibility, rapid response, and the effective management of risk. The fashion industry is not dominated by integrated, monolithic companies covering the entire value chain from merchandising & retailing through manufacturing and sourcing. Rather, it is a network of specialized suppliers, capable of handling small production runs, changing their products every season, and able to cut deals on the spur of the moment. Exceptions to this, such as Benetton, have built their responsiveness on the back of an enormous investment in information technology and manufacturing process. In the technology industry, companies such as Solectron have capitalized on this trend, acting as the contract manufacturers to a large number of better known brands.
The fashion industry has learned to separate branding and image from the process of efficient manufacturing. Finding ways to develop quick prototypes with raypcb business without removing the focus on the development of the tech in question, or securing means to produce the parts that go into the product consistently is a must, and lessons can be learned in the how and why from the fashion industry. Cisco, the leader in Internet routers and equipment has learned this lesson well, outsourcing all of its manufacturing. Fast response times, excellent market intelligence and outsourcing are all prerequisites for successful risk management in a dynamic industry.
Fourth, the fashion industry is driven by the obsessive observation of the marketplace, with key events driving marketing and production with a lag time of days. Reactions to a catwalk show in Paris lead to changes in merchandise in high street stores in a matter of days or weeks, and the merchandise changes will be almost instant via online stores, with the likes of marketing strategies like Search Engine Optimization from companies such as Victorious, optimizing the website for different keywords relative to the new merchandise range. The technology industry needs to build similarly responsive market intelligence mechanisms, driven by the spur of stock market valuations. Getting into the stock market in the first place can seem daunting for anyone, especially if they are looking at investing in big businesses such as tech. If they aren’t sure where to go first they can look at Bitcoins mit Paysafecard kaufen, which is buying Bitcoin with a Paysafecard that can help ease them into this market.
Fifth, the careful manipulation of taste and demand through association with opinion leaders. The fashion industry does not just react: it shapes the market by tracking key developments and then enlisting opinion leaders to define a response. Nokia’s marketing of the 8810 (the little chrome phone) by placing them with supermodels is a good case study, however, anyone selling enterprise software will tell you that a reference site at a top-performing company is worth more than any other number of benchmarks.
All industries are becoming “fashion” industries, technology more rapid than most. While we may not see Tom Ford as the head of Nokia anytime soon, technology companies should start learning from the fashion industry, and how it has responded to unpredictable changes in demand, fickle customers and the managing of eccentric creative talent.
What tech can learn from fashion (A blast from the past!)
I originally wrote this piece in June of 1999, when I was working in the consulting industry. I thought it would be interesting to re-post it and see what has changed.
The technology industry today is characterized by rapid change in performance, expectations, design & business models. There is increasing pressure to squeeze every bit of revenue out of an innovation before it becomes yesterday’s news. The successful launch of a new product requires speed, word of mouth, a cunningly executed marketing campaign, and carefully discriminatory pricing. The fashion industry has been dealing with issues like this for hundreds of years, and has a lot to teach to the technology industry.
What is fashion? Fashion is a way of demonstrating insider knowledge, knowledge of emerging trends, and more importantly, an understanding of what everyone else will find important. In the information driven world of the Internet age, these are all attributes of a successful business in any industry, not strictly the fashion industry. It becomes important to understand, not only fashions themselves, but how the fashion industry has shaped itself to meet these exacting attributes. The technology industry has a lot to learn from the fashion industry as it becomes more intimate with the consumer marketplace.
First, the fashion industry is highly tolerant of eccentric creative talent. Anyone who has worked in the technology businesses of Silicon Valley has realized just how difficult this is. The best creative talent is capable of unbelievable productive sprints and leaps of imagination, but requires considerable coddling and a work environment that is far from the 9 to 5 routine of most jobs. The fashion industry has learned to coddle this talent while still maintaining a corporate identity distinct from the personal notoriety of the people who work in it. Tom Ford at Gucci is recognized for his achievement, but what buyers look for is still Gucci. In the same vein, fast growing new technology companies must learn to laud their Steve Jobs without being becoming utterly dependent on them. More established companies in the technology industry must build a culture and workstyle that is friendly to these eccentric, exceptional talents.
Second, the emphasis on design, quality and emotional factors. When buying a jumper, few people make their decision on the exact warmth, strength or durability of one item vs. another, though this can vary dramatically. Customers choose what will make them feel good, not what’s best. Often this is the case with technology products. Nokia has very clearly recognized the fact that mobile phones, as a deeply personal product, are a fashion item. Ericsson has not, and has paid the price in market share and stock market valuation. Apple Computer’s fortunes have been clearly linked to their understanding of soft factors: their decline in the early nineties coincided with their products becoming anonymous beige boxes, their rebirth in 1998 with the launch of the trendy iMac, a decidedly limited product from a technical point of view. Fashions are, less obviously, a key deciding factor in technology standards and management consultancy ideas. A key imperative for technology companies is to not only make the best product technically, but the one that will make their customers feel good.
Third, the creation of a value chain that allows flexibility, rapid response, and the effective management of risk. The fashion industry is not dominated by integrated, monolithic companies covering the entire value chain from merchandising & retailing through manufacturing and sourcing. Rather, it is a network of specialized suppliers, capable of handling small production runs, changing their products every season, and able to cut deals on the spur of the moment. Exceptions to this, such as Benetton, have built their responsiveness on the back of an enormous investment in information technology and manufacturing process. In the technology industry, companies such as Solectron have capitalized on this trend, acting as the contract manufacturers to a large number of better known brands.
The fashion industry has learned to separate branding and image from the process of efficient manufacturing. Finding ways to develop quick prototypes with raypcb business without removing the focus on the development of the tech in question, or securing means to produce the parts that go into the product consistently is a must, and lessons can be learned in the how and why from the fashion industry. Cisco, the leader in Internet routers and equipment has learned this lesson well, outsourcing all of its manufacturing. Fast response times, excellent market intelligence and outsourcing are all prerequisites for successful risk management in a dynamic industry.
Fourth, the fashion industry is driven by the obsessive observation of the marketplace, with key events driving marketing and production with a lag time of days. Reactions to a catwalk show in Paris lead to changes in merchandise in high street stores in a matter of days or weeks, and the merchandise changes will be almost instant via online stores, with the likes of marketing strategies like Search Engine Optimization from companies such as Victorious, optimizing the website for different keywords relative to the new merchandise range. The technology industry needs to build similarly responsive market intelligence mechanisms, driven by the spur of stock market valuations. Getting into the stock market in the first place can seem daunting for anyone, especially if they are looking at investing in big businesses such as tech. If they aren’t sure where to go first they can look at Bitcoins mit Paysafecard kaufen, which is buying Bitcoin with a Paysafecard that can help ease them into this market.
Fifth, the careful manipulation of taste and demand through association with opinion leaders. The fashion industry does not just react: it shapes the market by tracking key developments and then enlisting opinion leaders to define a response. Nokia’s marketing of the 8810 (the little chrome phone) by placing them with supermodels is a good case study, however, anyone selling enterprise software will tell you that a reference site at a top-performing company is worth more than any other number of benchmarks.
All industries are becoming “fashion” industries, technology more rapid than most. While we may not see Tom Ford as the head of Nokia anytime soon, technology companies should start learning from the fashion industry, and how it has responded to unpredictable changes in demand, fickle customers and the managing of eccentric creative talent.