194 THE CREATIVE INVESTMENT TEAM
- Pokémon trading cards.
- Palm Pilots.
- MP3 portable music players.
Then extract from your list what the benefit from each product is
and what feature provides the benefit. Example: downloading music
from the Internet. The benefit is convenience and customization.
No longer do you have to go to the mall, park, walk, and stand in
line to buy a CD with 2 songs that you like and 10 that stink. Now
you can go to sites that design custom CDs with the songs you
want. How does this feature relate to investment products and
services? How does this feature relate to existing companies and
industries? Will some firms become obsolete? (What does Encarta
Online do to encyclopedia sales? Whoa!)
The key: Work with products and services that already exist
and practice making associations.14-25 ware 194 1/19/01, 1:16 PM