In this case study we will gain a better understanding of TiVo, Inc. and how it has struggled to find success in a market they are known to be the innovator. At this point there are very few television viewers in North American that do not know what TiVo does for TV viewing. However, most consumers do not know the history or struggles this company has been through since creating the product in the late 1990’s. After reading this case study it is clear the creators of the TiVo were visionaries but it is also clear they were not business people too. Sadly, this might be the eventual demise of the company that clearly had the market in the palm of their hand. We will examine some of their flaws and how TiVo might regain some of the momentum to become a profitable organization.
TiVo has had competitors for the first year that it was conceived which has made it difficult to thrive when fighting for market share. The two major competitors were DVR, and ReplayTV. All made their debut in 1999 and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Replay won the Best of Show award. (Pearce & Robinson, 2013) However years later no one remembers ReplayTV. Whereas TiVo and DVR has gone on to become household names in the market place. However in the early years of this technology TiVo thrive. Using clever marketing slogans such as, “It’s not TiVo unless it’s a TiVo”, “Simple enough you mother could do it, or “Hey if you like us, TiVo us.” Additionally, TiVo engaged in employing celebrities to endorse the TiVo brand. These are all time tested marketing strategies that work to help corporations dominate a market share and drive them to financial success. So why has TiVo dominated the market early but never turned a profit.
There is lit...
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...verything in the consumer’s home. Many techies would love to have a box that stores security video, TV, internet, photos and music. Make that Wi-fi and Bluetooth enabled so that they can access it anywhere in the world and you could be on to something bigger.
TiVo’s ultimate failure wasn’t the technology but it was in the business model. It is clear in the case study that not having a business executive running this company from its infancy, in a market with competitors with a well-established business model has stifled TiVo growth, in this industry.
Works Cited
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TiVo cooperate website. (2014). TiVo International. Retrieved for this paper May 9, 2014 from, www.tivo.com /international
In light of an evolving market, faced with new competitors, and after a careful analysis of their current customers, the Vanguard Group (hereinafter referred to as “Vanguard”) realizes it must rethink its entire marketing strategy. However, in order to protect and leverage their competitive advantage, which is their low management fees, and to optimize the loyalty that their customers continuously demonstrate toward their organization, they must now target the most profitable segment for them, and develop the best way to serve and delight these customers.
The case is about the introduction of Tivo, a new service that provides the TV viewer the flexibility to watch what they want when. The product is expected to change the way people watch TV by offering them the flexibility in programming, skipping commercials, pausing live TV and recording programmes for future viewing.
TiVo has diversified itself in the industry by promoting their system as user friendly and innovated features such as viewing digital photo's wirelessly from a P.C and even a suggestion engine that selects consumer preferences. Marketing seems to be the best competence TiVo has thus far. These unique marketing techniques have made TiVo the most well known DVR and set the standard in the market. Many consumers acknowledge DVR's as TiVo's.
The tech blog outlines the perspectives, decisions and challenges regarding the software used to create the Netflix service. By going into detail it explains the company’s approach to outages by building software to combat, minimize and prevent downed service and illustrates open sourcing initiatives. Netflix makes known the common metric used and reveals applications like Hystrix and Chaos Monkey as well go in depth to elucidate the AAS reactive auto scaling model and has no hesitation about revealing cases not addressed by it, like outages and variable traffic patterns; However, implementing complimentary technology in a way that promotes synergy enables Netflix to handle unexpected needs efficiently. This section also opens its doors to potential IT professionals that are interested in tackling problems through employment opportunity.
Determining the right target segment requires an analysis of the customer, company and competition (fig. 2). TiVo's customer is defined by unmet needs in the market. While TV is one of the most ensconced and ritualistic elements of contemporary American life, there are still aspects of television viewing that do not fulfill customer needs. An estimated 68% of Americans complained that they felt "widowed" by their loved one during the Fall television season because their spouses were chained to their televisions during primetime from 8pm to 11pm. Additionally, parents expressed a difficult time getting their children to do homework during key television programming times. In general, this is evidence that consumers want greater control over their television consumption habits. Analysis of the TiVo Corporation reveals their core competencies, which include proprietary software, national distribution through established retail outlets such as Best Buy, Circuit City and Sears and product co-branding with trusted electronics giants Philips and Sony.
Satellite radio is a technology that provides a radically new way to listen to radio. XM’s service makes use of advanced satellite capabilities and elaborates terrestrial receiver architecture to deliver a wide array of high quality radio programming nationwide. In early 1998, Robert Acker, director of strategic planning at XM, needs to develop a marketing strategy for this new radio service. There are several decisions that need to be made by the company in order to finalize the business plan. At fist XM needs to decide which of two business models to pursue, whether emphasis should be placed on charging customers a monthly subscription fee, or whether to rely more on earning revenue through advertising. In addressing this problem, management must consider the value that XM radio could propose for different consumer segments as compared with existing modes of radio (AM, FM) and in relation to its sole competitor in satellite radio – SIRIUS. Besides choosing a business model there is also a need to explore how best to approach and leverage manufacturer and channel partners, considering high unknown and high-risk technology. The purpose of this report is to analyze possibilities and outline possible recommendation on strategies for XM Radio. The following areas will be examined:
The year is 1952 and a young John Rigas purchased a cable company for a mere $300 in Coudersport, Pennsylvania with high hopes of building the company into a successful family owned and operated business (AICPA, 2005, para. 3); a business that would remain unparallel to the rest of its competition. In the late 1990s his dreams came to fruition; John Rigas, along with a few close family members and investors, purchased Century Communications for $5.2 billion and merged the companies together becoming the 6th largest cable company serving more than 5.6 million subscribers (AICPA, 2005, para. 4). Ensuring that the majority of Adelphia’s voting stock and control of the board remained in the hands of f...
Acts of consumption- buying, window shopping ,browsing- are routinely recorded, stored and made available for advertisers. Profiles of the lifestyles of consumers are now so finely granulated and accurate that retailers are likely to know better than the consumers what he or she will buy and when the purchase will take place . Automated programs on ones computer , known as the “bots,” have better memories of consumer preferences than does the consumer . Information machines such as TiVo gather data if viewing habits and on that basis anticipate consumer desires for
Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix headquartered in Los Gatos, CA, began the company’s operations in 1997 after receiving an enormous late charge from a movie rental he returned long overdue. However, Hastings had the desire to be different than traditional movie outlets; whereas, customers had to drive to the location, pay a certain amount for each movie they rented, and were given a deadline in which to return the movie. Instead of using a method established by other video markets “to attract customers to a retail location, Netflix offered home delivery of DVDs through the mail” which eventually led to a booming business towards streaming forms of entertainment (Shih, Kaufman, & Spinola, 2009, p. 3). Direct and indirect competitors, along with outside obstacles, to a greater extent present a financial threat for Netflix. As a result, Netfl...
The Digital Video Recorder used in modern entertainment systems can now be replaced with an easy to use streaming video devices. As the online video libraries grow to include more content, eventually streaming set top boxes will provide this functionality, without the need to schedule recordings or manage space used by previous recordings. One additional advantage, often referred to as TV Anywhere, allows viewing of online content from a variety of devices, as long as an Internet connection is available. Now the real motivation that drives many Americans to consider these alternative options is money.
Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix headquartered in Los Gatos, CA, began the company’s operations in 1997 after receiving an enormous late charge from a movie rental he returned long overdue. However, Hastings had the desire to be different than traditional movie outlets; whereas, customers had to drive to the location, pay a certain amount for each movie they rented, and were given a deadline in which to return the movie. Instead of using a method established by other video markets “to attract customers to a retail location, Netflix offered home delivery of DVDs through the mail” which eventually led to a booming business towards streaming forms of entertainment (Shih, Kaufman, & Spinola, 2009, p. 3). Today, Netflix exists along with several competitors; however, offers the most streaming content available for viewing, and continues to grow its subscriber base both domestically and globally. Although, direct and indirect competitors, acquisition costs, and several barriers present a financial threat for Netflix, the company has managed to grow with the acclamation of partnerships, expand to international territories, and vastly increase its price in shares of stock.
The idea inspired Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, and then they founded Netflix in Scotts Valley, California in 1997 (Netflix, 2014). The company comes into play by developing a subscription-based streaming platform for movies and television shows. Unlike the traditional movie rental businesses such as Blockbuster and Redbox, Netflix’s innovation offers service via Internet, and it does not have any physical stores but instead delivers DVDs through postal mail in the U.S. Since then, Netflix has become the world’s leading internet television network with constant growth of customers to over 48 millions members in more than 40 countries in the North America, Europe, and the Latin America (Netflix, 2014). In this analysis, the main focus is examining the current market environment for Netflix. It identifies the type of market structure that Netflix is currently competing. The analysis also expands on the competitions, product differentiation, pricing strategy, and measuring the level of easy entry-and-exit.
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