What is it?

You might be aware of the Mr. Clean AutoDry Carwash System.  Well, Mr. Clean Car Wash I am talking about here is not a product.  It is an actual car wash service that P&G opened up in Ohio.  Two locations have been opened so far, one in Mason and the other in Cincinnati.  Besides this innovative brand extension, it has also been reported that P&G is opening up Tide-Y dry cleaners in the Kansas City area.

Why is it a good idea?

(1) Household products are a highly-saturated market.  Branching out from the product market to services opens up a whole new set of opportunities and revenue potentials. As an added bonus, the services area is also highly fragmented competition-wise, unlike the product market.

(2) A physical shop gives P&G an opportunity to put a face to its products. Managed well, this can lead to more intimate and meaningful customer relationships.

(3) The shops can serve the function of advertising and publicity for the physical product/brand.

(4) Having first-experience with people’s carwashing and dry-cleaning behavior can give P&G valuable market research information.

Small Print

Sometimes an idea is so pioneering and unusual that it naturally comes with some risks. For P&G, the biggest risk is in its ability to execute these service shops well.  Being a consumer packaged goods company, it is not exactly an expert on services marketing and service logistics.  If not done right, bad customer experience from the physical shops can have a damaging effect on the core brand.  I suspect this is partially the reason why P&G has been very cautious in this area, so far keeping a very low key, only experimenting with the idea in selected local areas and possibly rolling out nationally if the experiments prove successful.

Starting with this entry, I am adding a new feature called “Best Practices” to my blog. Entries in this category will discuss in a succinct way some of the best business and marketing strategies in the current market. These discussions are meant to help both practitioners learn from others and to offer business educators current examples to use in the classroom. Today, I would like to talk about the Cisco Learning Network.

What is it?

This is a social learning network by Cisco. It allows IT professionals to share professional knowledge, network with others, and learn new professional skills. Read the CCNA blog to get more background information about the network.

Why is it a good idea?

The Cisco Learning Network is a good idea because it creates values for both its customers and Cisco itself in a clever way.

Benefits for customers (i.e., IT professionals):

(1) More targeted social/professional networking than generic sites such as LinkedIn;

(2) An opportunity for self-promotion to peers and to the source (i.e., Cisco);

(3) An opportunity to learn from the source.

Benefits for Cisco:

(1) In a helpful kind of way, Cisco Learning Network builds brand awareness and loyalty among IT professionals, who are Cisco’s target market;

(2) The Network creates an IT talent pool and helps identify influential IT professionals. Cisco can then draw from this talent pool at time of need, which is essential in the relatively tight IT market.