October 23, 2005
Brand Madness
I discovered this gem entry by Tom Asacker about branding and how marketers need to move from mystery to madness. It comes back to the democratization of marketing into our consumer's hands.
We are moving into a wild west of marketing where the power of the individual may outweigh the power of massive corporations. Those companies that learn to partner with their consumers in the evolution of their brand will be those that are embraced, while those that try to use the old methods of brand advertising (dictation) will not. You may create an expectation of your brand but today's consumer will refine it through the powerful communication tools that they have. If you search ICP Solar on the internet, you can find many comments and personal webpages of experiences with our solar panels (on this Amazon.com page you note a number of positive comments but one negative. We tried to find Mr. Bloom without success to help him with his issue. Funny enough his address matches that of a competitor's but that must be pure coincidence). :)
Nothing speaks louder than a happy customer..actually one thing does...an unhappy customer.
"She told two friends, and they told two friends..."
Sass
Posted by sass at 07:29 AM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2005
Solar Suction
One of my pet peeves is seeing a whole bunch of portable solar chargers on the market for mobile phones that are designed without even a clue as to how the user will use them.
Somebody basically took two solar cells, put them in a case and added a connector. It reminds me of a trip I took to Asia years ago with the first prototype of our iSun solar charger. I was on a plane from Tokyo to Hong Kong and my Ericsson T28 phone was dead. So I took out the prototype and held it to the window of the plane while the phone was sitting in the pouch of the seat in front of me.
I must have looked like a clod! Sitting in my chair, holding the unit up against the window. Well you guessed it, that lasted all of 5 minutes before I got tired. Lo and behold, I had the first experience with our new product and I was frustrated. Imagine someone who just spent their hard earned cash on what seemed like a good idea. So we simply added suction cups. You heard it, simple solution to a simple problem. And yet our product management team had not thought of it.
This brings me to a point I've been debating. Where does product management differ from product development? In a cradle to grave model of business, it doesn't. The Product Manager in a consumer products company belongs in Marketing. In an industrial products company, the PM belongs in engineering. He/she understands the market and seeks out solutions. The PM in a consumer products unit engages a cross functional team to develop products, marketing campaigns and sales efforts that are coordinated. Some call it a Project Coordinator. In essence, its all about really knowing your customer's needs and wants.
All to come back to suction cups. If you don't hear the sounds of your customers, your products may sell, but they won't last.
Sass
Posted by sass at 10:12 PM | Comments (1)
October 15, 2005
Energy Crisis looming?
According to the President of Venezuela, one of the OPEC member countries, there is not much more oil that they can produce. In an article published today he mentions that "Venezuela is at capacity" and he actually promotes the development of solar as an alternative.
Muchas gracias is all I can say. When the leaders of oil producing countries are calling for other energies to be invested in, now there's a switch! However, if it has gotten to this point, we need to be concerned about what happens mid-winter when the heating furnaces are runnning full tilt.
I have a feeling that anyone with solar panel capacity is going to be plenty busy in the coming years...
Sass
Posted by sass at 03:49 PM | Comments (1)
October 13, 2005
Power to the People.
The democratization of marketing? Know what this means?
Essentially, it's about the fact that consumers are taking power and being handed power by smart marketers to help carve out what a brand will mean to them.
My buddy Mitch wrote extensively about it in his blog . He was also quoted in the Globe and Mail, a Canadian national newspaper.
Its all about giving people the power to decide what you actually stand for and then its your job to make that happen in your products. I strongly believe that when I created a slogan "Let our power give you freedom" I was inviting people, not pushing them. The "let" is about permission. The "freedom" is what I wanted our brand to represent. Whether we did a great job or not is going to be decided in the coming months.
It's said best in this book . I should say no more as compared to these guys, I don't hold a candle.
Give the people the truth about your offering. Make it about quality and make sure it makes their life better. "Let" them mold it into what they want. You will see the results. Part of our first lot of production for our new brand is going to Australia. We decided to launch there because its Spring time down under. Orders just doubled in five days. I guess we listened well for a change...
Sass
Posted by sass at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2005
$$$$ down the drain...
So you've bought $3K worth of solar panels and the salesperson now wants to sell you a charge controller worth about $100 to monitor the battery state and prevent overcharging of the battery by the solar panels.
Now they tell you that their controller is 30Amps. Would you question it? Nope. YOU TRUST THEM! He or she goes about installing your system and yet each time you are in full sunlight, the controller "pops" a fuse. To remove it, you have to gain access to the controller's back circuit (if it's not auto-reset). Now why would it act like this if indeed it was the right unit for your needs?
Well, check the controller's specifications. Did the manufacturer write "30AMPS for 60 seconds" in small print? So what is the true rating of this controller? Likely about 21Amps.
Now if the controller should be able to handle 21Amps (about 300W) why is it that when the panels are not in full sunlight, the controller still pops? Once again, truth in advertising would force any knowledgeable vendor to tell you that you need a buffer between the rating of the controller (at its CONSTANT maximum rating) and the total power of the solar panels.
OK, now let's throw in one more tidbit just for fun...the controller he has sold you is not PWM based, which is just a fancy way of talking about monitoring and pulsing the charge to the battery so that it gets maximum power. A battery is like a sponge my buddy Randy once taught me. You can blast water into a sponge for the first 90% but for the last 10% you need to stage it in otherwise the water (aka power) will just bounce back. So basically, if your controller is not PWM based, then you could be losing 10% of the value of your solar panels. Take that $3K you just invested in solar panels, and write off $300. Tough luck!
This is the prime reason that during the past season, my company, ICP Solar, has been talking to industry leaders and technology developers. We have gauged the wishes of the consumers and compared our old offerings to new ones. So we partnered with a German firm over the summer and will be offering ONLY PWM controllers under our new brand..set to launch next month. You won't see them on our website until the official launch though, so please be patient. In the meantime, there are other companies from whom you could buy a very legitimate and high grade PWM controller like Morningstar or Specialty Concepts.
Therefore, if you are being offered a non-PWM controller, stop and think about how much the salesperson really knows about solar. Mass merchants may drive volume, but eventually you need help to understand such complicated systems. And if their salespeople have not been trained properly, then more often than not, you will get wrong advice. To buy a non-PWM controller for up to 5Amps is perhaps OK (your total loss would be $50). But lose $300, what a shame that would be...
Sass
Posted by sass at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)
October 09, 2005
iSolar Nano or iNano Solar...
Everybody's gotta have one..an ipod Nano. Nano is the new thing. Small is the new big.
In solar, many are chasing "nanosolar" technology. In New Mexico a recent announcement of yet another "breakthrough" where they believe they will soon achieve a 10% organic cell.
The promise of disruptive technology is the one wild card that could change the whole supply chain bottleneck issue in solar today. Yet with each announcement, not a single plant has gone up in the past year which has achieved true production efficiencies sufficient to disrupt much. There are a few to watch on the horizon, yet these are still years away from mass production. By that time, I expect the silicon based industry will have caught up. Or will it?
It takes a hundred million dollars to plunk down a new silicon feedstock facility. To spend that you need to be assured of a large and sustainable market. What if tomorrow someone really can make a nanosolar organic solar cell for $1 per watt with no silicon? An entire industry is shaken up.
I suspect this can be one of the reasons that the silicon feedstock makers like Elkem have been so slow to react to the huge uptake in demand in solar power's workhorse, the silicon-based solar cell. They are taking a cautious approach realizing that this is an industry in its infancy despite several decades that still has some shaking out to happen. They don't want their investments to be the crumbs left on the floor.
I don't suppose you'd have a hundred million dollars lying around to invest in a new feedstock facility, would you?
Sass
solar panel
Posted by sass at 12:47 AM | Comments (1)
October 07, 2005
Solar Salespeople need not apply here...
Went to Washington today to attend Solar Conference seminars and trade exhibit. Met tons of people that we work with, worked with or may work with in the future. I love networking.
Unfortunately, there is a rather depressing feeling in the air when a bunch of salespeople are in the same room yet have nothing to sell. Everybody sold out. 2008 relief is when they think it begins to balance out. Wow! Two more years of this shortage stuff. Hey I'm not complaining because I secured supply for that time, but many others are up sh**s creek. Yet NOBODY has pricing security. That is one thing that this industry simply can't predict. It's like a serious commodity futures industry. You place your bets, you takes your chances.
Well there is one shimmer of light...the sun will come up tomorrow and the solar panels out there will create power! Other than that, the salesguys were all commenting on how rainy it was outside. Or was that just projecting what they were feeling inside?
Sass
solar charger
Posted by sass at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)
October 06, 2005
Reach for the solar sky...and never look back!
Has anyone ever told you that the goals you set were simply too high? I was once told that I could never be a "Warren Buffett". Well, if I accept that as a premise, how will my kids ever be able to be one (if they so wish?). Whose job is it to give them the opportunity and who am I to deny them the "light" that says "you can"?
We often hear of parents who "sacrificed for their children". I have nothing but the utmost respect for them. What I would throw in, is that if they are willing to risk failure just to show their kids that they should not be afraid of trying, then isn't that a tremendous gift to their kids? Perhaps the parent will succeed in reaching the goal, perhaps not. The key, I believe, is that they will have showed their children that chasing dreams is a worthy endeavour. It may often not be in the end that we find redemption, but in the road through which we seek it.
We may see an ultimate goal without understanding all the benefits which may come from simply attempting to reach it. Let's take for a moment the premise that I don't come from "Warren Buffett" stock. So how will my children ever feel that they have the opportunity to mimic that most successful of business persons? Is success measured in business by the legacy you leave behind, the effect you have on an industry, the money you have made, the money you have spent?
I would put forward here that business success is measured ultimately by your ability to create value. There are many models through which to do so. You can make millions working alone, yet not many have made billions working alone. Bill Gates doesn't have to give millions or billions away to have created a legacy of value for hundreds of millions of humans on this planet who use his company's software each day. Microsoft would easily survive his moving on. He's created a market leader like few in the world.
My summary message. Don't accept what others tell you are your "limits". Test them yourself. If you have a dream chase it. You may not achieve it in the time you wished, but I bet that you will learn and win in the path that takes you there. I have learned a lot from successes, but I have learned a lot more from failures.
Ethan, Justin, Joshua and Emma,I want you to aim for the sky..if you only hit the top of the Empire State building, that will still be much higher than I will have dreamed or achieved...well, so far that is!
Sass (and Dad)
PS. Its late and I'm going to go jump over the pile of leaves that autumn has deposited on our lawn. My goal for tonight is to give my kids a good laugh when I fall smack in the middle of them...
Posted by sass at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
October 05, 2005
Will Congress give a solar hoot?
Following Kenya's decision to require IEC certification for solar panels to have access to its "off-grid" market, the USA is now looking at PV product certification in a much more serious fashion. Seminars are being held this week in Washington,DC at the Solar Power Conference to discuss the state of affairs in certification in the USA and how the industry will affect change at the federal, state and local levels. This seminar relates to issues which have been pressed by several legitimate solar panel manufacturers, including ICP Solar. I could not attend due to personal obligations, yet we do have access to what is being discussed and determined today.
While setting aside the subject of the relevancy of watts for battery applications, it all comes back to the simple truth of stabilized/minimum ratings vs. "initial" power. As my readers know by now, ICP is the first company worldwide to incorporate both maximum and minimum power at Standard Test Conditions in its new labelling for retail programs for thin-film products. It is indeed a major change for our company, yet its in keeping with our corporate values and quality-standard requirements. We are using an "evolving" rating system rather than completety dropping initial power simply because the market has not yet fully recognized that truth in advertising for solar ratings is imperative for the market to gain the confidence of its consumers (West Marine was the first retailer and they deserve kudos!). The solar associations are going to make this all moot when they get authorities to enact laws governing such claims. All "initial" power ratings will be forcibly dropped. This is not as far in the future as some people think (or would like) so I have prepared my company for this eventuality by starting the move towards stable ratings.
What US market studies are revealing is that the predominant issue is in the "off-grid" segment where retailers are most active and that is where the greatest lobbying efforts shall be expended. IEC is not currently required by retailers, although other users for off-grid applications of industrial nature which do not connect to the grid are demanding IEC certification for products. With the issue being mostly in the "under 50Watt" sector, it has not to date received much "air play". However, when a company from China is identified as falsely rating its panels in Kenya, then proceeds to dump hundreds of thousands of panels into the US and Canadian market, American industry's ears pop up. Isn't it ironic that what is now banned in Kenya is allowed in the USA and Canada?
I guess in the end, confidence comes from knowledge and comfort, but it is something that you have to build. The flipside is that once is it lost, it's hard to get back. A great salesperson can fake it only so long for their company. As with all things, accountability starts at the top.
Sass
PS. If you are interested to know more, contact your local solar association or take a look at this document which reflects the agenda of today at the conference's seminar on this topic. solar energy
Posted by sass at 08:58 AM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2005
The month of many...
October is the month of thanks for Christians, renewal for Jews and Moslems. It is probably something to others as well (please let me know!). Why October? Well, if we look at the month objectively its a month of change, no matter where you live in the world.
In the northern hemisphere, October is the month where it gets colder, while in the southern, the season changes to greater warmth. For many the change of seasons is a time of renewal, giving of thanks, forgiveness and cleansing of our sins. To all of you who celebrate October in whatever fashion, my wish to you is that it brings you the peace, health and happyness which you seek.
I'm signing off from my solar blog for two days for the Jewish New Year. These lead up to the day of penitance of Yom Kippur. I've often wondered why fasting was the order of the day on that ultimate day of atonement. The religious authorities will tell us it is an act of cleansing of the body in addition to our cleansing of the soul, but I wonder if it could not be more of a "secret diet thing" to help us shed the pounds gained in festitivites of the days prior? :)
Whatever you celebrate, enjoy and be well.
Sass
PS. I wonder if writing a solar blog counts as atonement for owning a gas guzzling SUV?
Posted by sass at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
October 02, 2005
"Too much is like not enough"
How do you feel about Instant Messaging? Its also known as Skyp'ing, MSN'ing, ICQ'ing, IM'ing.
Today's craze is to have your IM open on your computer all the time. If you have teenage kids or work in a company, you know what I mean. IM is all the craze in school. Teenage girls and guys don't have to go through the embarrassment of calling each other on the phone and getting some angry parents...(What, just because its midnight and the younger kids are asleep!). They now reach each other anytime they are connected without bothering a soul, or any parent knowing.
Same goes for work. Have you ever tried to get something done with your supervisor constantly bothering you with his/her latest "great idea"? Fellow ICP'ers, I do mea culpa here as I am one of the greatest users of IM for work. And when you turn it off, we wonder where you are!
All to say that I'm not so sure that IM is the "greatest thing since sliced bread". Sure the instantaneous nature gives you an answer immediately, but isn't that perhaps the greatest challenge? What if the teenage boy isn't ready to say "I love you too" at that moment? I supposed the challenges remain the same no matter the communications medium. How do you differentiate "what's urgent" from "what's important", if "what's urgent" is constantly nagging you through IM?
I need to learn to lay off it, and to not use it for ANY topic which is too serious. Frankly, I'm just starting to appreciate how un-productive and sometimes downright destructive it can be. And if we are challenged in such ways, how about our kids? How could they possibly control themselves better than us?
As my wife often has told me, "too much is like not enough". I suppose this applies to the instant communication craze as much as anything (including solar blogs!). Well, maybe not chocolate cake. That should be an exception from EVERY rule in my opinion.
Sass
Posted by sass at 09:21 PM | Comments (1)