Ontela PicDeck (A): Customer Segmentation Targeting and Positioning Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Introduction

Ontela started its operations in the year 2006. The company was established in Seattle. The primary business of Ontela was to offer a technology service to the customer which would allow the users or the subscribers to transfer pictures and other data from their cell phones to their computers, laptops, email inbox and other storage devices. The technology was well received in the media where the service was labeled as “helping bridge the gap between phone and computer”. Basically Ontela offered its customers with the value to the end users or the wireless subscribers by actually providing them with a rather easy to use mobile imaging experience.

The company was expecting that the new technology will help to increase the client base for Ontela. The business model for the company encouraged customers to transfer all the pictures from their mobile handsets which was encouraging in terms of increasing the usability of wireless carrier services. The technology of convenient transfer of pictures through cell phones was sold to wireless carriers by the company Ontela who was actually responsible and liable for branding the newly launched product and for its pricing in the market.

The business model made the subscribers to pay a monthly fees to the carriers for using PicDeck service. PicDeck was the first offering or the initial product developed by Ontela. Basically PicDeck is a software/application that transferred pictures from the mobile device to the computer or laptop at home without a lot of efforts and time.

Problem Statement

The case “Ontela PicDeck (A): Customer Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning” basically wants to identify the customer segment it needs to target for the service of PicDeck where the company needs to create a positioning strategy to promote its newly launched service.

SWOT Analysis PicDeck

Question 01: Based on the three customer personas, which customer segment should Ontela target?

Customer Persona Analysis

Demography	Sarah	Steve	Regina
Age	42	27	16
Gender	Female	Male	Female
Occupation	Housewife	Real Estate Agent	Student
Product Usability	Take pictures of children and family events	Take pictures of houses to show it to clients or send them	Take pictures to upload on social media websites
Mindset	Not fond of technology	Inactive in using technology	Accustomed to using technology
Customer Needs	Simplicity	Convenience	Control

Steve the real estate agent

Based on persona analysis of the three factious personalities, Ontela with its product PicDeck should target Steve initially. The reason to target the young professional is solely based on the considerations on the basis of the company and the wireless carrier simultaneously. Since the primary goal for the company is to create opportunity of targeting that customer which can be the most beneficial for the company.

Steve in this regard is the most appropriate target for the company because Ontela can focus on those individuals and personalities who are not technology driven, but for various purposes such as, business need to use it. Steve being a real estate agent needs to send pictures to the customers to show them the apartments and different houses. Along with this, Steve will also need to upgrade his mobile handset where he will need to subscribe with the data services that will have better or the higher margins. This will again be a positive thing for PicDeck to actually focus on targeting on Steve in the initial phase.

As the case states, Steve is not a technology driven person, in fact he is someone who uses technology for professional use therefore, and PicDeck would not need to upgrade its services on regular basis. If the company would have targeted Regina initially, they would have required to integrate new technology rapidly because today’s teenagers like innovation where they do not stick to one single technology for a long period. Keeping this element in mind, Steve become a reasonable option because he does not need innovation regularly, secondly he is someone who needs this service because of the timing issues, where Steve needs to work on weekends also.........................

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Ontela, technology start-up company, introduced an innovative service called PicDeck, which improves images for mobile wireless subscribers. Ontela PicDeck sells wireless, which in turn are private-label services to their subscribers. Ontela must decide which customer segments it should target the maintenance and creation of positioning strategy and marketing communications plan to promote it. You should also consider the value proposition PicDeck services for wireless carriers (its direct customers) who need to be convinced that the service will increase the average revenue per user (ARPU) and / or an increase in customer loyalty. Part of the case provides qualitative information on the customer characters that represent different segments of customers. Students are asked to develop guidance and positioning strategy based on this qualitative information. Part B contains quantitative data on customer preferences, which can be used to identify a response based on customer segments, as well as demographic and media habits of information that can be used for profiling segments. Students are asked to review their recommendations based on additional quantitative data. "Hide
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