segway: when remarkable isn’t enough
October 31st, 2006
Pundits who claim to know a thing or two about marketing - yes, I’m one of them - preach the virtues of being remarkable on an ongoing basis. In a world of information overload, creating products and services that others talk about is the surest, most efficient and inexpensive way to make it big.
Unfortunately, even remarkable doesn’t guarantee victory.
Take the Segway. I can still remember the hype around the awkward personal mobile device. Hype that foreshadowed a world where every college student, mail deliverer and city slicker effortlessly traveled from point A to B. To its credit, the Segway is still featured in popular culture.
However, amidst all that word of mouth and press, the Segway is not the huge success many predicted.
According to its Web site, the company has put out a recall of all its units. And in this recall, revealed is the fact that only 23,500 Segways have been sold since the company launched in 2002.
The company predicted sales of 50,000 to 100,000 in its first year alone, according to Business 2.0. With that kind of expectation, the company should be closing in on its 250,000 sale by now.
Twenty-three thousand is a far cry from a quarter million. And I guess remarkable can sometimes be a far cry from success and profitability.
October 31st, 2006 at 6:55 pm
Interesting point, Joel. And true enough. One would have thought from that initial mountain of buzz that millions would have been sold by now. That number of units sold is indeed shockingly low. So I learned something valuable today. Thanks.