Marketing that Matters: Transforming your ideas to income (Part 2)
MaRS Centre
101 College Street
Toronto
With the pace of innovation today, ideas have become cheaper than ever. Everybody has them. Your big idea in a crowded market is worth nothing... until you figure out how to competitively differentiate your product and connect with a market that cares.
MaRS Advisor Peter Evans joins us to discuss the very important topic of marketing. This session focusses on the unique marketing challenges faced by early stage technology companies. It also provides you with proven and practical principles for visioning new products, breaking into a market and building a sustainable business venture.
In this session you learn:
- Why marketing effectiveness often matters as much today as pure product innovation
- How to identify key market trends and better connect with the real needs of potential customers
- How to use “value innovation” methods to competitively design a product as faster, cheaper and better
- Pragmatic ways to position your product and quickly build market acceptance
- How effective marketing must connect to focused business development and sales channel efforts
Whether you are just starting out or fine tuning your marketing strategy, learn how marketing plays a key role in your venture.
Homework assignment
Don’t forget the homework assignment Peter gave at the end of last week’s lecture which could win you one of three prizes he brought back from CES. (Hint: Watch last week's video for a reminder - the assignment is near the end.)
To be eligible to win, you must select one of three product failures Peter showcased in Lecture 1 (Segway, Apple Newton and Pets.com) and speak to why they failed to launch successfully in the market. Be sure to apply some of the concepts discussed last week in your answers. Please submit all entries by 3pm Wednesday, January 20, to pevans@marsdd.com to be eligible. Good luck!
Downloads & Resources
About The Speaker
Peter Evans advises entrepreneurs and high growth companies in ICT markets, specializing in strategic planning, research, product management and channel development.
He brings to MaRS over 15 years experience working in early-stage venture-backed technology start-ups and publicly traded companies in the software, Internet services, online media and telecommunication sectors. Previously, Peter worked in major accounts sales, product management, research and senior marketing roles in the telecom industry and with Sympatico, FloNetwork (acquired by DoubleClick in 2001) and PlateSpin Inc. In his role as a consultant since 2003 he has worked with over 100 clients throughout North America from early stage ventures to large corporate clients such as Telus and DoubleClick (just prior to its acquisition by Google). He serves on the board of directors of Sitebrand in Ottawa and is an angel investor in a number of early-stage startups.
A noted speaker on strategy and marketing he has spoken at major conferences throughout North America and Europe in addition to being a guest lecturer on marketing at a number of universities. He was educated in cognitive psychology and telecommunications management at the University of Toronto (Ontario) and Ryerson University (Toronto) and holds an MBA from Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario). He is currently completing the Certificate Program in Strategic Planning & Innovation at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management (Cambridge, Massachusetts).
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