Recently, I have encountered two seemingly unusual examples of businesses trying to provide additional value to customers in some rather surprising ways.
The first would be the funerals market (you might have already seen it on the Jimmy Kimmel show last week). What can possibly be innovated in this market ? Well, in Compton, California, the Robert L. Adams Mortuary are now offering a new product: a "drive-by mortuary" - you can drive-through near the open casket of the deceased and depart from the beloved one, all that without even having to leave the comfort of your car.
The second innovator would be McDonald's, that are now offering wedding packages in their branches in Hong-Kong. Apparently, this allows many Hong-Kong citizens the opportunity to get married at reasonable prices, as compared to their other options. McDonald's even offer to supply wedding gowns, made out of balloons, for the happy brides.
So next time you're eating a Big Mac in Hong-Kong, be careful with that ketchup - a bride in a white dress might be just behind you.
Both cases, while probably being rather amusing for a person coming from a different cultural background, are actually great examples of "thinking out of the box". Both are created in rather traditional businesses, they seem to create additional value for their customers and thus increase revenues, without any substantial changes or investments in their business core. So you have to admire the creativity of the marketing and product managers behind these offers.
Makes you think what kind of "additional value" can you create with your software products, with some very little additional investment in development...
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