Customer Reviews

Marketing High Technology

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great guide to success in the high-tech marketplace. Although it predates Geoff Moore's model, it is completely complementary to Moore. Unlike Moore, Davidow goes into much more depth in terms of appropriate marketing activities. This is a useful book for all marketers, executives, engineers, and financial decision makers. It accurately portrays the dangers of making marketing decisions with an engineering mindframe instead of using business concepts.

Davidow's personal experience at Intel was invaluable in making compelling case studies.

and I have read a few! This is a wonderful, practical book laced with real-life experiences from someone who has been in the marketing trenches at Intel and is now a VC. It is free of consultant jargon and gets straight into pragmatic advice. My only (minor) criticism is that it does tend to assume you are in a large corporation rather than a start-up, but the lessons seem equally valid. So many business books are disappointing, but this one had something useful on almost every page. Well done William Davidow!

I was greatly impressed by the book. I really can't believe that what I have seen in the book is wriiten by a PhD in electronic engineering! William has no marketing expertise or experience before he join the company HP. Nevertheless, by his extremely strong observation and analytical mind, he had develop a excellent strategy to successfully market high technology. In addition, at the end of the book, he also added 16 factors to evaluate the high-tech marketing plan. As a marketing student, I must confess that, it is much more worthwhile to read this book attending hundreds of hours of lecture! Although one may thought that the book was written in 90s such that the thoeries should be outdated. However, I believe that truth remains true no matter how old it is. So, I will not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone (especially for marketing students)!

The book gives good insight into all the issues regarding marketing High Technology. If one were to think of interfaces, the Marketing <-> Customer interface is explained quite well. However, the interaction between Enginering and Marketing is not discussed in depth. Nonetheless it is a good read.

This well written book is a good source of classic high tech marketing principles. You should realize before buying that the book is 20 years old. There are many outdated statistics and anecdotes (and interesting prognostications) that while true at the time, seem a little irrelevant today. I found the history of the marketing strategy in the computer processor industry of the 70's and 80's to be fascinating. In the end, though, I wished I had looked at the copyright date of the book before purchasing.

I purchased "marketing High Technology" from Amazon not knowing much about it's author William H. Davidow. I am in the process of learning what are sort of best practices, etc. for marketing technology. So, as far as theory is concerned, I have little to know real knowledge of different schools of thought etc..

Fortunately, I was very surprised to see theory applied to real life. Yes, as many have noted, some of what Mr. Davidow talks about is dated. His was the world of computer chips and hardware... not the internet. Nonetheless, his hands on experience to marketing to this reader seem as timely as ever.

If there is one lesson I've taken from "Marketing High Technology" is that "a product" is created in the marketing department. With all the thought, sweat, etc. that goes into building a device, it only becomes a product until after marketing has properly positioned it within a defined marketplace.

Equally interesting is his understanding of what marketing is supposed to do. From doing the analysis, to the positioning, to defining the buyer, his total view of marketing is certainly timely. A flashy slogan does not suffice.

His approach is also enlightening. Marketing a product for Davidow should be like a crusade... and how you engage your competition is like warfare. After all, especially in the business Davidow thrived in (Intel), the consequences of failure are high.

There are a number of insights within the book. I was especially intrigued by his 16 questions when evaluating a marketing department. After reading them, I understand why he thinks most marketing deparments fail to be what he expects.

An interesting read, especially when he discusses his experiences with Intel, I highly recommend.

I first read this book when it was introduced. It was an eye opener, and I never found a better book since to introduce people - be they students or practitioners - to technology marketing. Davidow's definition and explanations of marketing are the best I have ever seen("Marketing must invent complete products and drive them to commending positions in defensible market segments"). It is one of the few that really captures the two side of marketing without verbose statements. His description of the complete product is a classic and the way he relates the program that lead to the victory of Intel over Motorola in the early days of the microprocessor should be a must read for any marketing manager. This is a classic and the fact that it is still in demand 20 years after its first publication is a testimony to its eternal value.

Davidow's insights on the marketing-distribution and the marketing-sales relationships are excellent. So too are his discussions on the costs of market entry and customer support infrastructure. Veteran or new to marketing, a must read.

This is the very best book available on how to successfully market high technology. (A successful product requires much more than technology.) If you only buy one marketing book, buy this one! Bill writes from his extensive experience as a marketing executive at Intel. His book is well written and its ideas are as true today as they were in 1986. Since writing this book, Bill has gone on to become a successful VC.

An excellent manual on marketing of ANY product/service, & not just high tech ones. The idea of the complete 'product' that caters to a targeted niche market or group is truly insightful but which also makes perfect sense. 'Devices' are abound in all markets but 'Products' that hit the proverbial market spot are more rare.

An good accompaniment to Drucker's 'Innovation & Entrepreneurship', published just a year before this one.