Case Memo

Case Memo 1: Ontela PicDeck (A) & (B)

Sree Dheeraj Karna

February 16th 2016

Summary

The mobile industry is a billion dollar industry that constantly grows and improves.  A start up company known as Ontela is creating a service that allows subscribers to seamlessly transfer pictures from their mobile devices to desktop, email, etc^[1]. Ontela’s goal is to sell this feature and gain profit while bringing more customers to the to the wireless handset company. In order to this, Ontela has to first find the most suitable market to target. Therefore, Ontela as developed a cluster analysis of customer preferences and demographic and media profiles to find a solution.

Recommendation

Sarah the mother of three is the best suitable customer segment Ontela should target. Using the cluster analysis, the most valuable segments that Ontela should focus on are based on convenience, speed, and the ability to transfer photos to different locations (email, computer). In addition the demographics aspect of the cluster analysis cater to the characteristics of Sarah’s market, making it look very suitable.

Analysis

Based on the Exhibit 1, targeting Regina could be the most favorable one. Regina is a young individual who is raised in the digital era, where technology only seems to be advancing as time goes on. On the other hand, Steve could be a potential market for the future since he’s is willing to adapt to newer technology. Steve could also be a very valuable customer in the future since he is not only looking for an upgrade in his service but in a new wireless mobile as well. This could be rewarding to both Ontela and the carriers. However, this isn’t the choice Ontela should to participate on. As promising as these markets seem, Ontela should target Sarah. Entering a new market such as Sarah’s could lead to more differentiated customers and lack of competition. Costs may be higher, but this will be more rewarding because it brings a range of brand new customers, resulting in a greater profitability. Markets like Regina’s don’t need much persuading and can be approached in the future.

Ontela has to beware that using segmentation research of customer personas, as target markets can be risky. Just because Regina represents the young generation doesn’t mean they all are as social or high tech as she is. There are also mothers who could be just as good in technology as Regina is. This results in an underestimation/overestimation in the amount of potential customers there are in each market. Therefore, it’s wise to examine the cluster analysis of customers to understand their preferences. In Exhibit 2, there are multiple questions with a rating of 1-5, 5 being the most you agree with. The graph below represents the average score for each question.