BrandIndex

BrandIndex tracks 1,100 consumer brands over 32 sectors on a 7 point profile - ("Buzz", General Impression, Quality, Recommend, Satisfaction, Corporate Reputation & Value). About 2,000 British adults are interviewed daily. They say "BrandIndex takes high-quality, high-relevance data and puts it straight into the hands of decision-makers, so the reporting tool has been designed to suit the style of decision-makers: it’s clear, it’s easy and it’s instant. "

This is close to Value Management, but more like Image Management.

Their best brand booklet from 2007 (UK) is available here.

Community Value: OpenStreetMaps (OSM)

   

A terrific example of a community creating value, I came across yesterday, in looking for a way to use maps on my iPod Touch, while out and about.

I found the iPhone app (Cost: AUD4), OffMaps, which uses, Cloudmade route checking free protocols, on top of Open mapping system - OpenStreetMaps. A company which provides support (Itoworld.com) made a video showing how much data has been added to OpenStreetMaps in 2008. See below.

OSM 2008: A Year of Edits from ItoWorld on Vimeo.

Enjoy, and contribute.
Cheers
rf

iPhone 3Gs - price analysis - Australian Phone companies

I have analysed the iPhone 3GS against several price dimensions, including Provider, Monthly price, and Price per GB (gigabyte) of data (as at July 2009). A separation appears between the five phone companies, charging either low monthly price, and high data costs or high monthly price and low data costs.

A Value Frontier appears, that I have graphed.

The analysis has been distributed to a few phone companies, and iPhone retailers for comment. Feel free to comment below.

The summary analysis can be found here (link). Cost $500. Free to download (Donate requested). A fuller report can be obtained by donating $500.

A similar analysis of 3G Mobile broadband from 2005 - 2008 is also available, comparing 3G Australia prices to fixed broadband, and International Mobile broadband prices. Cost $500. Free to download (Donate requested). The mobile broadband analysis can be found here (link)[Appendix 11 of PhD].

Updating thesis - What is value? How does value work?

Jun 09 - Valuing is a process of examining our changing environment and circumstances, in conjunction with others, to drive our actions, strategies and attitudes, including innovator offers of new technology. Valuing involves making a value assessment, based on aggregating 12 value dimensions, which is stored and remembered as strong to weak, positive or negative attitudes. Consumers determine shifting coping strategies, based on their ongoing experiences, such as trusting, doubting and minimising. Value assessment strategies, include exploring, comparing, recommending, filtering and closing. Value elements are balanced in making a value assessment. Value elements are potentially limitless combinations of value dimensions, in a particular instance. A complex value assessment may typically balance between 20 and 30 value elements. Value dimensions are:

• individual (simplicity, new/known, emotion, beauty),
• social (duty, power, community/privacy, need/pleasure) and
• universal (price, function/fun, service/reliability, time).

Value dimensions are polar, and consumers may value either end of a pole, for instance - high price/low price, fast/slow, new or known.

Nov 06 -
Value explains consumers decision to adopt new technology. A successful technology, or innovation adds value. A failed innovation fails to add value.

What is value? We define value as :
the personal, individual, unique assessment
of costs, benefits and risks reflecting individual circumstances
that leads to a purchase decision / choice or attitude.

Value Propositions:

• P1: Value is dynamic


• P2: Value changes on the assessment of new information


• P3: Value is different for different people


• P4: The time to make an assessment affects value


• P5: Value degrades over time


• P6: Value is not measured in dollars; includes time, effort, hassle and pleasure and is measured in attitude, and purchase decisions


• P7: Value is path dependent


• P8: Value may involve input from others


• P9: Value causes purchasing

Assessing the Value of the Australian NBN (National Broadband Network)

Malcolm Turnbull (Leader of the Opposition)comments on the economics of the NBN today in the Australian - http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25329883-5015664,00.html
Since no comments seem to be making it in, here is my comment on the Opposition leaders assumptions.



   

Prime Minister Rudd, and Opposition Leader Turnbull.

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My assumptions are online at : https://web.archive.org/web/20120410065801/http://www.thejoie.com/welcome/docs/NBNcosts.xls (archive.org)

Background: Investment $43B, fibre to the home to 90% of homes, plus wireless to rest, giving 100Mbps to fibre homes, and 12 Mbps to rest. Prices, and consumer takeup unknown. Business case not provided. Announced here
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Mr Turnbull makes some good commercial sense in his article. I have made some estimates on prices and takeup, as well as costing the investment with interest and depreciation, and make the following comments.

MT assumptions:
Operating expenses 50%, depreciation 5%
Takeup of homes 50%, rest with competition
ISP $100pm, NBN (Ruddnet) 70% of $100pm : gives no economic return on investment

My assumptions:
Spreadsheet is online at: http://www.thejoie.com/welcome/docs/NBNcosts.xls.
Depreciation same, Interest as for depreciation
Takeup $200pm 10%, $150 20%, $100 30%, $75 40%, $50 60%, $30 80%

On these assumptions, even with no operating costs (and I think 50% is very high), interest and depreciation (5%) at $180m per month each, swallow the revenue of max $240M, leaving a shortfall per month of $120M plus operating costs, and excluding competition, and ISP profit.

Other benefits accrue to businesses, who also use the network. Looking at small, medium and large, I guess small might pay $200 20% takeup, $150 30%, $100 40%, and medium $2,000pm 10%, $1,000pm 20% and $500 30%, large $20,000pm 10%, $15,000 20%, $10,000 30%.

Even with business cost savings on Telstra prices of 50% for large, and 20% for small, and revenue expansion for large 5%, Medium 10% and Small 20%, the most extra revenue and benefit I can get to is about $80M per month.

Still a shortfall of $40M per month, plus operating costs, plus competition, plus ISP share.

So, there are a lot of variables here, and it is worthwhile to think through what they are, and what they are worth to us individually, as a family, and as a nation.

If a national project is worth $40M of national fervour (per month) then maybe it is worth it. If we can find another $40M of benefit elsewhere eg international reputation, proactive problem solving, then maybe there is value in the NBN.

Other downsides would include potential impact on other telecoms share value, to shareholders.

Long ago, Pliny once said: fortuna fortem favet, not long after Mt. Vesuvius erupted. Sometimes life is for living, and doing the big important things to make the world a better place. Fortune favours the brave. The NBN might cost us $40M a month ($2 per person per month), but setting an example to the world - PRICELESS.

Google : function vs aesthetics

Wired reports a clash in value dimensions - function vs aesthetics. A Google designer is leaving because the engineering data driven culture at Google is driving him mad.

Title: Google data culture drives designer crazy - and out here.

The comments are especially interesting showing the ongoing dimension clash between what works and what looks good. Google wants proof of what looks good, from user testing - the average best. Their data driven culture is good at answering what works fastest, but not so good at aesthetics. They tested 41 shades of blue to see which one had the best response from users.

Value dimensions are individual, and aesthetics perhaps more individual than function.

We are all equal, but some are more equal than others.

Fast Company 2009 Top 50 Most Innovative

Fast Company name Team Obama as the most innovative company in its 2009 list, beating out last years winner, Google #1, and Apple #2.

Team Obama is a value management case study - listen, respond, engage with your customers to deliver value to them. In return, they delivered their votes.

Team Obama is not a corporation, but an organisation, and value delivery does not need to be necessarily about profit, but it is all about delivering value. For Obama, this probably means - hope, the new, fresh thinking and approach. An ongoing example is the community consultation (see image top right) at www.whitehouse.gov, and the transition website at www.change.gov, and initiaitive like" Join the Discussion" - see here. See more on this in the NESTA Measuring Innovation Blog post.

Fast Company list is online here - here.