Business of Metalforming

Few would blame your company for wanting to take advantage of Apple’s allure. Consider a creative approach employed by Hyundai as it recently announced that it will present a “free” iPad to buyers of the company’s new flagship luxury sedan, the 2011 Equus. While you may question whether the iPad included is actually free, the fact remains that the vehicle comes with an interactive, iPad-based owner’s manual. Hyundai’s App on this tablet also will serve as an interactive showcase, highlighting the features of the 378-hp V-8 powered sedan.

But it doesn’t end there, as the inventive marketers at Hyundai tuned the App to also be used by owners to manage and schedule service appointments.

Any edge that you create within your product category that adds real value or causes decision makers to gravitate to your offering can improve your position over competitors. So, while I’m not suggesting that including an iPad is an appropriate component of your deliverable, you can leverage other technology to creatively elevate your customer’s perception of your brand.

Case in point, last month I visited a client’s videoconference room for a meeting with a European division. The room featured a wall of high-definition monitors, multi-perspective cameras and a sweeping conference table adorned with laptop docks and microphones. When the call was initiated, something wasn’t working. In our impatience, we launched a WebEx meeting from our laptops, invited our European friends to join in and held the videoconference, shared desktops and moved forward using a far less glamorous system.

While it’s unfortunate that such a superior system failed, if not for our having a portable system in our briefcases we would have walked away with wasted time instead of completed action items. My point: As costs and learning-curve hurdles for acquiring and taking advantage of communications technology lessen, we as manufacturers need to adopt and adapt quickly to gain every edge possible over competitors, especially those in overseas, low-cost countries.

If you have plans to step up the way you present to prospects while streamlining communications within your organization, then consider adopting technologies that do so while sparking intrigue and “wow” factors with your customers. MF