The bundling framework for mobility changes
As technology has become the new catalyst for progress, every industry giant must innovate to find new technologies in order to keep growing.
This is especially true in rapidly changing industries such as the auto industry. Micro-mobility, autonomous cars, electric cars, mapping & navigation, vehicle marketplaces, and more have experienced massive change in recent years. These changes have “twisted the industries arm” into progress and forced automakers to confirm with trends. In this article, I will illustrate the idea of implementing new technologies in vehicles by using a bundling framework. The framework is called leaders, fillers, and killers. It works like this:
Leaders are the standard capabilities that customers require and are willing to pay for. They are must-haves.
Fillers are the optional capabilities included in a bundle but are not deemed influential enough to impact buying behavior. Customers would love to have them but not enough to pay more…
Killers decrease the bundle value from a buyer’s perspective. No one wants to pay for something they do not want or need. They may be nice but are considered an unnecessary cost included in the bundle…
Think about the value meal at a fast-food restaurant. The leader Is the hamburger. It’s what everyone wants and comes to the store to buy. All meals must include some variation of the hamburger…
The fillers are the fries and coke. They are sweetening the deal and creating more value to the consumer looking for the traditional sides to every hamburger meal. This drives additional sales and leads to higher average revenue per customer.
A bundle killer would be a coffee added to your value meal. As noted previously, people want their burger with the traditional sides (fries and coke). Adding a coffee might even turn people off from buying the whole meal. The customer might feel the coffee pushes the value meal to a price beyond its value and disregard the entire purchase. Consumers who do want the coffee can purchase it aside from the value meal in accordance with their preferences…
And now to the automakers:
The Leaders
The most important factors to the automakers are its connectivity, operational interface, and in-vehicle tech which means also “new safety”. Yes, it’s not sexy like car speed, engine, design, or cost efficiency (if we are thinking from the automaker side), but after COVID-19, most importantly, it’s what keeps us healthy and safe. We cannot just think about new braking systems or new airbags in relation to our innovation in safety. Sure, you can’t drive a car without these essential items but we already have many more ways to keep us safe. Today’s new technologies can help us prevent the next disaster such as someone suddenly moving between lanes, a kid jumping into the road after his ball, and the vulnerability from cyber threats. Cyber-attacks are now no longer confined to computer networks and mobile devices (that have the potential to become much worse). This is an example of what we can prevent by installing and using our tech leaders. The digital age has introduced connected and advanced automotive capabilities for consumers. Driver assistance, navigation, hands-free calling, and autonomous cars to name a few. But this also introduces new risks such as a hacker attack. Is your car able to be hacked? Cybersecurity researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek used the latest hacking techniques to hack into the electrical systems of a Jeep Cherokee. They were able to do this without direct physical access to the vehicle. They were able to gain control of the Jeep Cherokee giving them access to the Jeep’s entertainment system, enabling them to relay commands to its dashboard functions, steering, brakes, and transmission and they were able to do all of this remotely, 10 miles away from the vehicle’s location. Not to mention the very real possibility of other manufacturer’s models that are vulnerable to similar exploits. It is extremely important to both manufacturers and customers across multiple industries (auto, train, plane, etc.) as they all could be subject to an attack…
The Fillers
The ones who contribute to adding value for the manufacturers or consumers. There is a great amount of data through diagnostics, user tracking, and driver assistance systems. Big data provides information for the development of technologies. As transportation agencies collect and analyze data, questions will arise about how to use this data while ensuring the security of personal information. Who will collect the data? How will it be stored? Who can access it? How and when should the data be destroyed? This brings us back to our bundle leader.
The problem is when algorithms are used to make decisions about things such as bus routes and schedules. A lack of reliable data regarding these mobility patterns is bound to produce incomplete results.
Autonomous Vehicles bring an important contribution to traffic optimization and passenger safety. Autonomous vehicles also open a window of opportunity for on-demand services.
Despite driverless cars being expected to be available on a large scale in the near future, the automotive industry will take small steps in introducing advanced driver assistance systems, easing consumers into a world where a machine is behind the steering wheel.
While AI seems to be the future, no one can ignore it while discussing digital transformation. It identifies potential opportunities in the untapped markets and aims to enhance the ultimate user experience.
It is still unknown when autonomous cars will become mainstream due to the existing technology gap and regulatory framework. In the future, driverless cars will contribute to traffic optimization and passenger safety.
The Killers
I remind you that “The Killers” are not necessarily bad value technology but products or services that should be purchased independently. Augmented Reality (AR). For now, there are two main topics for AR technologies in mobility. The first one is holographic navigation systems that help the driver by paying constant attention to the road and providing all the necessary information about various locations. This mapping is possible with augmented reality through holographic navigation systems. The second is warnings & alerts that are capable of presenting warnings, alerts, and safety aids on invisible screens that are embedded in the vehicle’s windshield.
Looking forward, the need for safer, faster, and easier to use vehicles will only increase. So will the number of innovative solutions that will help us. In this world of endless changes, industry leaders must adopt innovation and new technology opportunities. Social distancing challenges and urban needs have brought a lot of new challenges and changes so the auto industry will need to be much more open to technology than ever before. The faster the industry will embrace its new technologies, the faster, we the people, will have a better, safer future…
