A Marketer's Ability to See the Future

As the caption says one needs the ability to see and believe in the future, that is an ability which a marketer needs. In the book 'Made in Japan' it says Akio Morita declined to sell unbranded electronic goods to a major US retailer, and said he would sell it only with the name Sony on it , and these were the initial start-up days when no one even knew about Sony.

I was reminded of this need to be able to see the future when I see the Volvo Buses plying in Bangalore. When the Volvo started its operations in India in early 2000 I was one of those skeptics who never believed that it had a market in India, at best maybe a niche market, but today they are the most sought after services in the state and private transport. A detailed article in Business World gives the current status and demand for the bus, link.

We tend to underestimate how consumers tend to assess value, and how much they are willing to pay for the value that an air-conditioned, reliable and comfortable bus service.... Many years back when Reynolds first came in with its pens in India, n the late 80s or early 90's, most of the pens which were available in the market were priced 1/4th of Reynolds, but once the consumer used a Reynolds he would come back and buy only that .....

But the point which I want to make is how would Volvo know that its buses would be well accepted 8-10 years down the line, one needs to be able to have a faith in its products and understand the market and stick to ones plans (though a fair bit of research is an essential part of backing up certain decisions ), and ample risk appetite..

PS: I find the bus service between the new airport in Bangalore and the city is picking up , when the airport was opened in May end the buses were plying empty now they are quite full...food for thought you provide good reliable services to people, they are willing to try it ....