Background and Challenge
A company owning a novel, best-in-class digital media recognition technology asked L.E.K. Consulting to assist in its go-to-market business strategy. The company wanted to explore opportunities to monetize its capabilities in both consumer electronics (CE) and business-to-business (B2B) markets. As a technology with potential across multiple market segments, the company needed help identifying how to best apply the technology – and the proper go-to-market strategy for each end-use segment.
Approach and Recommendations
Our team developed a detailed strategy that encompassed the unique challenges and opportunities across two very distinct markets (CE vs. B2B). To inform this strategy, our team examined each market to:
- Quantify the market value and likely returns on the company’s technology for a variety of applications
- Assess the competitive landscape and their related technology capabilities
- Measure the company’s ability to successfully pursue various go-to-market strategies
- Identify appropriate marketing partners, if necessary
In the CE market, our team recommended that the company pursue a deeper relationship with an existing partner. While there is significant demand for the technology, the company lacked a consumer-facing brand to successfully pursue these opportunities independently. In the B2B market, however, our team recommended a two-pronged approach. For applications where the company had the ability to develop internal capabilities rapidly, our team designed an actionable go-to-market business plan to monetize its technology directly without partners or intermediaries.
Results
The client is moving forward with our recommendations and is evaluating the key opportunities identified during the project. Furthermore, B2B customers have been raving about the proposed service offerings that the company is developing. In total, the combined incremental profitability from our recommendations could reach up to $20 million.
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