Start by Knowing Your Customer

How Customer-Derived Brand Benefits Drove the Megahertz® Business Success

Give the people what they want. No, I don’t mean if they say they are hungry feed them a burger. I mean if they say they are hungry feed then the most satisfying meal you can muster.

Did the market want another PC Card modem? No. Did the market want hassle-free connectivity? Absolutely. Yes.

I had the distinct pleasure of managing the Megahertz® brand, the world’s best selling PC Card modem. The Megahertz brand story is about knowing one’s customer and hewing to that knowledge to drive product development and brand satisfaction, top to bottom. Delivering hassle-free connectivity was an imperative to Megahertz engineers, marketers and sales people. It stood for three key things that customers wanted: compatibility, reliability and ease of use. The ingenious XJack® connector was the beginning, that little spring-loaded phone jack eliminated the need to carry (and lose) proprietary cables. Mobile professionals loved it! It helped carry Megahertz to the top of the market, past dominant players like Hayes.

As you can expect, many products and innovations followed, but the XJack connector was our ace in the hole – the obvious proof of hassle-free connectivity. But much more was provided with focused product development, like ease of installation, compatibility and reliable connectivity.

The best brand stories seem so simple, and in part they are. Find a need. Fill it. The filling is all the fun – what you cook up for your customers, and how you persuade them to choose you over the competition is where life gets satisfying.

The Megahertz brand was a division of USRobotics when it was purchased by 3Com. After the acquisition, several different PC Card brands became a part of 3Com. Customer research showed that the market preferred Megahertz over all other brands, and thus all PC Cards were transitioned to “3Com Megahertz”.

Start by knowing your customer.