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Why
good products fail
Skimping
on market research can prove a fatal flaw
By Robert
Weisman, Boston Globe Staff
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How
the microwave oven became a super success
Rob Weisman's
Boston Globe
article begins with his introduction to the microwave oven:
"Raytheon
Co. reapplied its radar technology after World War II to invent the
microwave oven. But the original model was a clunker ... Though
innovative, Raytheon's original microwave oven was too bulky to find a
market"
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What he didn't tell
you was how the microwave oven became a super success. From
1944 to 1965, Raytheon's RadaRange was engineering directed:
-
It
sold for $50,000 (2006 $)
-
used
special 220 Volt wiring
(needing an electrician)
-
and
was water-cooled
(requiring special plumbing)
Like
the proverbial 800-pound Gorilla:
Weisman
concludes, "Engineering firms neglect marketing at their own
peril."
Raytheon's
RadaRange suffered from an M/E Ratio™ of 0.033.
The
microwave oven began life as Raytheon's largest commercial failure.
Photo
courtesy of the Spencer Family Archives and Rod Spencer, grandson of Percy
Spencer, inventor of the microwave oven. |
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Recognizing
that they needed to dramatically increase the Marketing investment, Raytheon bought
Amana Refrigerator in 1966 for
their Marketing expertise.
Amana
raised the M/E Ratio™ to 1.
Amana's
Marketing directed their engineering effort and the RadaRange microwave oven to success:
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It
must sell for <$500
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be
portable to the countertop
(can be lifted by a woman)
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uses
standard 110 Volt wiring
(no electrician needed)
-
and
air cooled
(no special plumbing)
Furthermore,
it came with a home economist. Literally, when you purchased an Amana
RadaRange, a professional home economist, hired by Amana, came
into your home and taught you to become a successful microwave oven user. The
picture below was scanned from the cookbook brought into my home in 1972 by
Amana's home economist when I bought my first microwave oven. The
difference was dramatic. Just look at the two images: |
Raytheon
RadaRange |
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Amana
RadaRange
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- Unappealing
box of electronics.
- Put
our food into a black hole?
- Are
you buying a black hole?
- Where's
the beef?
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Inviting,
hot, hearty meals!
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See
a reflection of the food.
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You
are buying the food, not the hole.
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Romantic
hot Cocoa with marshmallows, wake-me-up bacon-and-eggs breakfast with
down-home raison-bread toast, piping hot biscuits, steaming baked potatoes with melting
pats of butter, hearty pork chops, and a delicious casserole!
Which
would you rather purchase? The microwave oven is now the world's
largest selling home appliance, an incredible success.
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Read Robert Weisman's story on
the Grabowski Ratio™.
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