TiVo Case

Study Group 04
Ajinkya Ahire (20063)
Ganesh P Nikam (20076)
Riya Jain (20099)
Sakshi Verma (20101)
Vaishali Tripathi (20113)
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 History of
TiVo
 Founders - Jim Barton and Michael Ramsay
 Digital video recorder - Creator and pioneer
 Interactive television – Program your own network
 First shipment - March 31,1999
 Manufacturing partners - Philips and Sony

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CASE BACKGROUND
 TiVo Inc. was founded in August 1997.
 Product- Innovative feature and new appeal.
 Launch-42000 signed up subscribers.
 Initial rate- 14000 new subscribers per quarter.
 Feature- Pause , Replay Recording and Fast forward.
 Retail partners- Regional dealers, Best Buy, Circuit City and Sears.

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PRODUCT & SERVICES
Variants of TiVo black box
Variant Price Best High Medium Basic

           

"14-Hour" $499 4 hours ~7 hours ~10 hours 14 hours

box
“30 Hour” $999 9 hours 14.5 hours 19 hours 30 hours
box
           

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 CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR
• Average American household spent 7.4 S.No FACTORS %

hours per day on TV->average adult spent 1 Friends/Relatives 71

4.3 hours. 2 Publications & Advertising 56

3 Store Staff 40
• Due to Television’s limitations, people
4 Television Advertising 30
wasted time on watching favourite shows
on TV causing work neglect.

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 Befor  Early adopters
 Mostly young adults and
e men 
Convenience Seekers 70%

 People with middle to

Now upper income
 Families with children
Advanced Live TV
recording Pause and
features

Control seekers 30%

feedback feature
TV plus DVR Attracted to
Source of new technology
entertainment Favorite shows

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 Early adopters, for
Standardization
Befor creating a buzz
effect or word of
e mouth
Same product to different
segments
ARGETING

Convenience
seekers, to attract  Couch potatoes as well as busy
After more customers
than competitors
professionals
 Young adults as well as families

• Undifferentiated marketing or mass marketing

• Highly focused on “Create your own TV network”
• Inability to explain the product adequately
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 POSITIONING
• “Smart and friendly service that could improve customers’ lifestyle” .
• An expensive VCR with a monthly fee. 

Consumer analysis  Competitive analysis  Company analysis 

Competitors’ product Not very distinctive from Expensive product as
resonates more with competitor’s product  no reference point
public  available 

TiVo’s Road Rage ad vs Unable to leverage the Customer loyalty due

ReplayTV’s Pizza ad  first mover advantage  to high satisfaction 
 

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COMPETITIVE ISSUES
High initial
acquisition
cost

Low Strong
profitability Competition

Competitive
Issues

Lower impact
of
Slow
advertisement growth
Unable to
penetrate
the market
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SWOT ANALYSIS

 First mover advantage and  Highly priced product and

pioneering. complex to set up.
 Advanced and attractive  Retail Execution and
features. awareness of features.

 Strategic partnerships with  Quickskip feature of

networks and advertisers. ReplayTV.
 Customer loyalty and  Surf internet feature of
satisfaction. UltimateTV.

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 Alternatives to cater the
problems
Product direct TV would become an Equity partner.
Problems that could be catered:
• New entrant, no reference point.
• Improving TV viewing is not everyone’s priority.

Price 30 hour recorder price drop from $999 to $399 .

Problems that could be catered:
• Price too high.
TV- promote brand identity; Print - Features and benefits;
Communication Website- Tivo.com, deeper educational experience.
Problems that could be catered:
• Extensive explanation required.
• Training effects ineffective due to 50% salesperson turnover.
• Variance in way of selling.
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 Suggestions
✢Commoditize product and make money on service.
✢Rather than building brand image, focus on educating customers.
✢Emphasize the wow factor. (positioning statement)
✢Partner with internet or dish providers.
✢Facilitate easy ownership.
✢Referral discount.
✢Launch a low-cost version.

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�
� THANK YOU
RASHMI RANJAN
PARIDA SIR

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