I would like to start with a disclaimer. I have long admired Apple designed products even though I have never owned an Apple product. Every time I would get an interest in buying one and come to a store to try them, I would find them disappointing, as very enthusiastic Apple supporters seem to create expectations, that are very difficult to meet. I am also an admirer of Steven Jobs, perhaps because I have never met him in person . However this writing is not about my personal opinions, but a comparative analysis of market intelligence produced by our algorithms, based on customer generated content or Word of Mouth, and some additional external information sources that will be specified as I sight them.

Two latest Apple products are generating a lot of press and some of it is decidedly negative – iPad and iPhone 4. This writing will focus on the analysis of the iPad devices. When you try do “comparative” analysis one starts with a list of products to compare and iPad makes it very difficult as it seem to be positioned to compete with e-readers as well as tablets. The tablets category definition presents us with yet another challenge, so for the purpose of this analysis I decided to compare iPad with popular e- or digital book devices as well as some tablet devices that do not have a physical keyboards. Some popular retail website offer a very useful hint to see what percent of people who looked at a product actually purchased it, and if not what was the product they did, however in the case of iPad or Kindle such information was thoughtfully removed from every site I have checked. I also am very disappointed not to find any customer reviews on the Apple store website. It is very hard to believe that none of over 3 millions of  iPad customers did not write about their product experience on the manufacturer store site. The only possible explanation of that can be found in accusations that Apple actually censors the iPad customer discussions the same way as they accused of doing for iPhone4 here and here. It is very disturbing if it is true.

So here is the list of products I have decided to compare in terms of them meeting their customers expectations. You can make it larger if you click on the report.

Here is the scale legend for better understanding of the report.

iPad did not meet expectations of their customers, who wrote the reviews with 53% reported negative experiences (0.91) related to Reliability, and 65% of comments about Support were negative (0.94). To be fair, the customers are overwhelmingly impressed with screen readability (100% rated 1.81)  and usability of the device (96% rated 1.53).

I know the Apple just reported 78% increase in profits, but with 63% of their flagship product customers reporting that its value did not meet their expectations (0.98), I can’t help but wonder how long it would take for Apple to start loosing it’s “freshness”.

Chris Haughey, The Amazing Marketing Machine, is testing and experimenting with our Market Intelligence Reporting to assess its methodology, accuracy and utility. He was very kind to let me publish his perspective on DVD/Blu-ray market segment.

DVD and Blu-ray devices analysis by Chris Haugley

This time we analyzed Blu-ray Disk Players. As of this date we monitor 56 products in this category and analyzed 6,482 reviews written by their customers. However some of these products have not accumulated enough reviews to produce statistically representative and accurate metrics, so we filtered them out of the competition. The second round disqualified any product that failed to meet Customer Expectations with its Functionality, Reliability or Support.

Sylvania NB530SLX Blu-ray disc player wins 2010 Piplzchoice Award

This week we analyzed Digital Picture Frames. As of this date we monitor 192 products in this category and analyzed 18,427 reviews written by their customers. However some of these products have not accumulated enough reviews to produce statistically representative and accurate metrics, so we filtered them out of the competition. The second round disqualified any product that failed to meet Customer Expectations with its Functionality, Reliability or Support.

Portable USA PU-10W
2010 Piplzchoice Award winner
26.8% above average Customer Satisfaction in its Category
The winners are chosen by their customers

Below is the list of the runner up products

2010 Piplzchoice Award for Digital Frames

and a sample of the Customer Satisfaction Index distribution from average for the best and the worst performers
Digital Frames Reputation – Deviation from average CSI

This week we analyzed Customer Reviews for Photo Printers. As of this date we monitor 180 products in this category and analyzed 14,627 reviews written by their customers. However some of these products have not accumulated enough reviews to produce statistically representative and accurate metrics, so we filtered them out of the competition. The second round disqualified any product that failed to meet Customer Expectations with its Functionality, Reliability or Support.

Piplzchoice award for Photo Printers goes to Canon IP90v

Your online reputation is always at risk! Whether you are protecting your personal “brand” or securing the reputation of a product or service you sell, the most significant “bang for your buck” can come from an unsolicited source; a link that surfaces in a trade-related blog post, a YouTube video that goes viral, or the complementary back link on a customer’s personal blog. Social network “market intelligence” has a significant and growing voice in advertising dialog; it is what people say about you rather than what you say about yourself!

Imagine a product review that shows 5% of your customers were reporting specific design issues with, for example, the battery compartment latch on an MP3 player you sell. Image a tool that would, in minutes, help you factor out this specific design issue, recalculate a customer satisfaction index, and project that your product would outscore the competition by 4.2%. Would an online tool like this help you manage your product and your career?

Several analytic tools and techniques on the market offer easy-to-use interfaces that offer multiple selections of key performance variables and listings of competing manufacturers. These tools can filter the number of sampled reviews and adjust ranges for different scores and indices. What should you look for in such a tool?

· Verify that data collection techniques are carefully performed. Are samples filtered for promotional content and duplication? Are they run on a regular recurring basis? We believe that, depending on the market, data over 30 days old is stale.

· Select a tool that provides multiple independent criteria for your product reputation metric. Make certain your underlying data sample reliably support variables. Look for robust reporting features that are easy-to-use and well-documented.

· Confirm features that allow you to export your data to ANY spreadsheet (using, for example, comma-separated variable, CSV, format).

Whether you are a product managers or an entrepreneur, you need actionable insights to identify how well your product meets your customers’ expectations. Yesterday’s excitement becomes today’s expectation and tomorrow’s “must-be”. The ever-growing “digital word-of mouth” coinciding with the ebb and flow of social media phenomena like Facebook and Twitter can exaggerate shifts in perception and opinion over very short periods of time.

Customer satisfaction is no longer a simple statistic. Consider this key performance indicator of success as an aggregate of perceived reputation; your product’s functionality (its feature set), its reliability and its accessibility through support from you as the manufacturer, included documentation, and the friendliness of the user interface. One unexpected effect these “socially-shared expectations” have is the speed at which they can unpredictably change. Protect your product and your brand. Your online reputation and the reputation of your products need constant monitoring. Your livelihood probably depends on it!

This week we analyzed Customer Reviews for Computer Speakers. As of this date we monitor 136 products in this category and analyzed 10,265 reviews written by their customers. However some of these products have not accumulated enough reviews to produce statistically representative and accurate metrics, so we filtered them out of the competition. The second round disqualified any product that failed to meet Customer Expectations with its Functionality, Reliability or Support.

Logitech Z-3 Wood Grained 2.1 Speakers
2010 Piplzchoice Award winner
20.3% above average Customer Satisfaction in its Category
The winners are chosen by their customers

Below is the list of the top runner up products:

Logitech Z-3 Wood Grained 2.1 Speakers wins 2010 Piplzchoice Award

For full list of products in this category and Customer Reviews used for this research, select “Computers & Accessories > Computer Speakers ” Category in Product Reputation Market Intelligence Report.

Social media blogs and social networks of like-minded consumers and are not only reporting the latest buyer trends and behavior, they are subtly dictating a buyer’s choice. They publicize, for example, what customers can expect in current product features and services. This information acts like a “satisfaction driver” literally biasing the customer even before they go out to shop about the “must-be” parts of their purchases. If your product fails to provide what customers take for granted, your sales will drop and your product reputation will quickly suffer. Imagine that next blog posting that mentions your product’s features or support services in a negative way! You need to know what customers are saying about your product and your reputation.

Provide a venue and build a relationship

Is your product or brand associated with a social media website? A user forum? A company blog? Leverage the sense of anonymity an online forum offers. Encourage active participation with polls, surveys, and “The Most Burning Question?” submissions. When have you ever had the opportunity to so cost-effectively talk to a customer on a one-to-one basis? There is overhead in terms of administrative time but the benefits will more than likely outweigh the costs. If you offer and initially promise participation of management; keep your word! If someone posts a comment, make certain someone in authority quickly responds with more than just a robotic thank you. You don’t have to agree with comments but, you do have to prove you have read them!

Post surveys and polls about your product to encourage participation

Make certain you clearly state when and where results will be published. See if anyone is paying attention. When posting results of your surveys and polls, use the interest generated to ask visitors to respond to either another poll or a sign up email list. Give information before you ask for a name and an email address. Remember that negative criticism more often than not is more valuable than praise and fearless publishing it is a mark of transparency (good management) and character.

Grow your brand and tell people about it

Developing name and “brand” recognition by “spreading it horizontally” into collateral areas in your geographic community, on the websites and forums of colleagues AND competitors in your industry, and, most important, in your “virtual business niche”. Consider providing “expert”answers on public forums. Offer charitable donations both in your local physical world as well as in cyberspace. Charity builds your persona, your online reputation, and your brand recognition. Telling your customers about your charity is not blatant self-promotion; it can be a public announcement.

This week we analyzed Customer Reviews for 52-inch Televisions. As of this date we monitor 472 products in the Televisions category and analyze 36,475 reviews written by their customers. However some of these products have not accumulated enough reviews to produce statistically representative and accurate metrics, so we filtered them out of the competition. The second round disqualified any product that failed to meet Customer Expectations with its Functionality, Reliability or Support.

Samsung LN52A630 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV
2010 Piplzchoice Award winner
9% above average Customer Satisfaction in its Category
The winners are chosen by their customers

For full list of products in this category and Customer Reviews used for this research, select “Televisions & Video > Televisions” Category in Product Reputation Market Intelligence Report on this site.

Here is the list of runner ups.

2010 Piplzchoice Award for 52 Inch Televisions

This week I committed a double SNAFU, so I would like to apologize and to make appropriate corrections. Our selection process for the award needs some improvements and cannot be relied exclusively on semantic definitions of categories. Remote controls category happen to contain devices for TV, garage openers and other applications that should not be considered as competing products. I apologize and will update the selection process for the next week.

This is the correction

This week we analyzed Customer Reviews for Remote Controls. As of this date we monitor 90 products in this category and analyze 12,772 reviews written by their customers; however some of these products have not accumulated enough reviews to produce statistically representative and accurate metrics, so we filtered them out of the competition. The second round disqualified any product that failed to meet Customer Expectations with its Reliability or Support.

URC RFS200
2010 Piplzchoice Award winner
29% above average Customer Satisfaction in its Category
The winners are chosen by their customers

For full list of products in this category and Customer Reviews used for this research, select “Accessories & Supplies > Audio & Video Accessories > Remote Controls” Category in Product Reputation Market Intelligence Report.Below is the list of contenders
URC RFS200-2010 Piplzchoice Award winner/29% above average Customer Satisfaction in its Category