8 February 2009
The Golf and the Allegro: a parable on the value of product features (and what killed the Allegro)
A product features is a something that a product does to make you like it. Product features can be obvious and glamorous (iPod’s Genius playlist creator) or mundanely practical (the BlackBerry’s full Qwerty keyboard). And know-how updates have features too: headlines, summaries, related items, checklists, dos-and-don’ts, ask-a-question buttons.
Know-how updates need product features just like anything else. But what’s striking is how often – as the old song very nearly says – that they’re not there.
Better product-features make your message – and your
thinking – clear to clients
Many of the improvements we make to law-firm updates and newsletters are made by improving or adding product features. Our top three are:
- A two-part headline that shows what the development is, and then suggests an impact or implication.
- An up-front summary that focuses on the likely implications for clients.
- A ‘related items’ box that explains the context: how we got here; what might happen next.
…
A product-feature parable: the Golf and the Allegro
Here’s a short slideshow (under two minutes) that tells the story of the respective fates of two cars launched in the mid 1970s, the Golf and Allegro. One is a by-word for the failure of the British car industry, the other is still going strong.
No prizes for guessing which is which, but can you guess what the killer product-feature was?
Well, as I always berate expert-authors for leaving a question hanging, so I have to tell you it’s a hatchback. British Leyland felt a hatchback was a pointless expense as they were in such a dominant market position. Tellingly, they took this decision in the face of evidence that consumers really, really liked hatchbacks.
Volkswagen went with the hatchback. The rest is history: the average annual sales of Golfs since the launch in 1974 (760,000 a year for over 30 years) is more than the total of all the Allegros sold over its ten-year production run (640,000).
Click the ‘play’ button in the picture to find out which product-feature
did for the poor old Allegro.
mnmnmn
Look for features in your firm’s updates – they’re not there…
You’ll find basic features like headlines and a ‘contact us’ link, but does the headline tell you what happened and what the implications are? Is there a 75-word summary that explains who should take note of this development, and what they should do? Is there a ‘related items’ feature that helps to explain the context?
Mostly these kind of features are either missing (in the case of related items), or poorly and inconsistently used (often the case with headlines), or borderline (summaries).
And are text tables that compare current rules with the new rules a rarity, or a pretty standard feature in your law-firm’s updates?
Product-features create client-friendly updates. If they’re not there, then you’re making your reader (a valued client or prospect) work harder. And you’re increasing the risk that they’ll move off from reading your update to do something else. Like read your competitor’s update on the same topic.
The really bad news – poor features and content
in your updates put your reputation at risk
We’ve asked clients about whether or not they notice helpful features. They do. The features they recall range from online seminar materials with CPD points, to updates that they can forward to business colleagues without having to rewrite them.
To find out more about the risk that your updates pose to the firm’s reputation click here.
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