This trend has led automotive executives to think of the car as more than a product—rather as part of a highly imaginative solution to the customer’s hassle map which defines all of the actual steps that characterize the negative experiences of the customer such as the emotional hot spots, irritations, frustrations, time wasted, etc.
In his new book “Demand”, Adrian Slywotzky explores the critical role of demand creation in today’s economy and analyzes how some companies’ products are doing exponentially better than their competitors’ by creating “magnetic” products and services. In an economy that’s increasingly demand-driven, understanding what Adrian calls the customer’s hassle map and creating a product that customers love, will be the key to a company’s success. For our title story, we applied his principles to the automotive industry and they have helped us to identify significant opportunities for reducing the customer’s hassle map when buying a new car, going for service and repair, and evaluating the evolving mobility services.
Another important topic in times of changing technologies: the growing relevance of electronics and software in cars. It is presenting the automotive industry—suppliers in particular—with major technical and strategic challenges. Although the suppliers’ management has largely recognized this, many of them believe that there is a significant need for action if they want to keep pace with new technologies.
