Visual mapping for product, brand and service benchmark

I was quiet amazed with the results on social trend mapping and like to share it with you.Let me start the discussion by giving a brief introduction to visual mapping for the benefit of those, who understand visual mapping for first time.

What is a visual mapping?

A visual mapping helps in representing the market position of several products, services or brand experience in a single window. It helps business decision maker in understanding their products and services position on the market and the opportunities for untapped markets. At Kovent we have been using visual mapping to position web design identity and social trends as it is illustrated later in this post.

Suppose you are making a visual mapping of “soap”

You may place the soaps packaging in the grid according to your visual perception of the product. More the soap looks High-tech more it would go up in the axis and more it looks Basic more it come down along the axis. Similarly more the soap looks Fashion more it would go on the left side of the axis and more it looks Traditional more it would go on the right side of the axis.

A visual mapping can help you to identify untapped market in your business line. Thus it is important that you take the help of an expert for making it. Also, it is not required to have large member focus group to make a visual mapping. Two or Three trends passionate are more than enough, provided they can be objectives in judging the products.

Two common mistakes people do in executing a visual mapping.

1.) Missing objectivity and over estimating their products. By default categorizing own products into Fashion and High-tech trends and competitor products into low-tech, traditional trends.

2.) Categorizing the products according to what they know about it rather than what they see. A visual mapping is all about what we see and not what we know about the product, service or brand.

Now let me share with you some of the interesting findings about our social trends mapping of India.We have been traveling all over the country to interview more than 200 people about the way they live think and see their future. All this is to identify leverage keys factors of social trends in India for implementing successful business innovation. Details of this research can be found on Kovent’s trends reports.The below visual mapping illustrates 34 social trends present in North and South India.

Among these 34 trends 8 are common to North India & South India (National trends). 13 are exclusive to North India and 13 are exclusive to South India.Let’s analyze the mapping in more details National trends – (8 common trends to North India & South India)This first mapping illustrates the 8 social trends that are common to South and North India. Unsurprisingly, the position of these trends is on the upper and left side of the visual mapping were social trends are tending to be Fashionable and High-tech.

The reason is simple. Common trends to North India & South India can also be called as National trends (Vs. local or regional social trends). They are more like to be found among Indians who have higher income, broader cultural outlook and international exposure. They can afford a more sophisticated lifestyle and quality technologies.

South India trends – (13 Local and regional trends exclusive to South India)This mapping represents the 13 social trends specific to South India. The most interesting observation is that these trends are concentrated on the down side of the mapping, in difference to the 13 trends specific to North India (previous figure) which are concentrated on the upper side of the mapping.

The reason could be that South Indian culture has been protected from foreign and western influences, which stands as one of the explanation for today’s South Indian behavior and tradition. South Indian social trends are built-up with values of simplicity, functionality and tradition. These values are reflecting on consumer behavior. Like it is shown in the visual mapping there is a quasi absence of social trends reflecting the notion of Fashion and High-tech in South India.

North India trends – (13 Local and regional trends exclusive to North India)Reversely in this last figure we can see that North Indians are much more receptive to Social trends that reflect the notion of fashion and technology with a quasi absence of social trends that reflect the idea of simplicity, functionality and tradition. It is a fact that historically North India has been very much influenced by foreign culture what may have been influential in shaping their consumer’s attitude.

This research revealed significant behavioral difference between the South Indian and North Indian consumers. Kovent’s trends report helped the businesses world to re-define their marketing strategy and thus identify key factors to address innovation in the rural consumers.

Present ecosystem of innovation

Designers want to innovate but rare are those who question the way we does it.I am not questioning the innovation process but the innovation framework. My views on innovation strategy is radically different; more focus on prosumerism than consumerism. I believe that the largest challenge companies are facing today is not about "innovation strategy" but "innovation framework".In this Blog you can understand the basic fundamental of a prosumerist approach of business innovation. Here is well know schema; heritage of the industrial revolution.

Consumer pay business & society to generate value they benefit from. The consumer is mostly inactive in the process of value creation, value generation. It is the basic principle of “Consumerism”

"Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-increasing rate“

Victor Lebow, Economist 1955

Corporate innovation ecosystem

I believe there is a necessity of re-framing the ecosystem of innovation for corporate and society. In this blog I share my research in various fields of innovation leadership.The fact is that...

•The present ecosystem of innovation is an heritage from the industrial revolution and that we need to think if that same system is still optimal today.

•I believe it is time to accept that the socio-economical context of innovation has changed from the origin of the industrial design revolution. It maybe time for us designer to reevaluate our role as designer.

•I believe in People and the fact that people should take full control of their economy to make it optimal. Let's call it an achievement of  modern democracy by design... This is fare from "charity" It is an humanistic vision compatible with capitalism. You ll find a lots of information in my blog that work in that way.

•We also need to realize the thunderous business opportunity offered by a prosumerism approach of business innovation. Here are some research we did to understand the present ecosystem of innovation and how the future will be: