How DJI Became Market Leader; a Hypothesis
- Thread starter PatR
- Start date
@PatR on your marketing comments... spot on! They have utilized consumer packaging, massive advertising and walk into any BestBuy and you'd think DJI was the only Drone sold. The Yuneec & Autel are shadowed to the space DJI receives. But, justifiably too... it's based the $Bucks$ and they're giving attention to the money makers.
On the packaging... I am impressed with the extra $100 FlyMore package.
For $100 more, 2 more batteries, a charger, props, misc extras and a full encased prop guards.
The Prop Guards impressed me... that will weigh them down, but to Parents of Younger Flyers...the fully shielded guards will appeal to them. Good Marketing point on their part.
Moving to a different product... once it's easily obtained.
The Skydio 2, I'm curious if BestBuy and other BigBox will market the Skydio2 as being the Fly itself, crash proof drone? They too have good packaging & advertisement... and I really like the Mag-Batteries.
The shielding has to be very good to use a Mag-Battery mount.
On the packaging... I am impressed with the extra $100 FlyMore package.
For $100 more, 2 more batteries, a charger, props, misc extras and a full encased prop guards.
The Prop Guards impressed me... that will weigh them down, but to Parents of Younger Flyers...the fully shielded guards will appeal to them. Good Marketing point on their part.
Moving to a different product... once it's easily obtained.
The Skydio 2, I'm curious if BestBuy and other BigBox will market the Skydio2 as being the Fly itself, crash proof drone? They too have good packaging & advertisement... and I really like the Mag-Batteries.
The shielding has to be very good to use a Mag-Battery mount.
Well, we know... It can't be the later... so it must be advertising, that they corrected in last few minutes!
I'm really not that arrogant, I DO make mistakes. Just ask my wife... umm, perhaps that was one of them
The masses fall for it, then they have a way to spy on your movements, I wonder why they haven't made it so it has to be left on when not in use like an Amazon Echo or similar, so they can tell what you had for supper, whether you swear and how many times you go for a leak! Don't know about ultimate flying machine, more like ultimate spying machine! Personally I believe the less the system knows the better and feel better not having to conform to the Dji persona.
As for the opportunities for consumer manufacturers other than DJI, in two words: be different.
Stop trying to chase DJI in a game of catch up. You can't catch up as you lack the budget, the engineering staff, and your government's support. You and I know that DJI is subsidized by your government, expanding their development budget and permits them to sell for a loss if and when necessary to maintain their market position. That support provides the funding needed to wage negative advertising campaigns against any new manufacturer or product that causes them a competitive concern. In giving the government what they want DJI can do whatever they need to in order to maintain their market position. You cannot compete at that level. The best you can ever hope for is to be one step, instead of many, behind DJI. By being different you will provide consumers a reason to look at models other than DJI, something they have almost no impetus to do now.
Instead of developing "new" platforms over and over again with the hope consumers will be excited to a level that will entice them to purchase new models, develop a couple of "base" platforms that will receive continuous expansion. Recognize that a large part of the Typhoon H 480's success was the fact the buying public KNEW it was being constantly improved. Develop a low level product that will suit people in the low budget, low skill level group to expand your customer base and help build capital, but focus on continuously improving the higher level product to maintain customer excitement and retain your customer base. Make sure you incorporate all the features that are considered "industry standards" with your new products. Leaving something out will cause people to look at other products that contain them.
I'll use an example from the government UAV sector. A certain Tier I, Group 2/3 UAV was introduced to our military in 2004 and remained in service in it's original form until 2018. That platform ended up in the service of governments all around the world, on land and at sea. and was copied by three countries. Fortunately the attempts to copy were relatively unsuccessful. What made this platform so popular and successful was the fact it was pretty reliable, the firmware was constantly improved, it was modular and easy to service, and new payloads were constantly being developed and distributed, and customer service was maintained on a 24/7 basis. No matter where you were or what time it was, there was and is someone to take the call and resolve problems. The customer did not need to buy 2, 3, or more different models, they needed but one and bought payloads appropriate to the mission intent. That platform cost in the area of $3-5 million per system and sold many hundreds of systems, taking the company from one having 3 guys working from their garage into a multi $ billion dollar company employing well over 1,000 people. It is still in use today while finally experiencing an airframe upgrade back around 2017. Versatility was and is a mainstay of it's attributes.
Regardless of what a consumer manufacturer comes up with, they absolutely must develop comprehensive documentation to support it and have that documentation ready at the same time the product is released. Spend some money on using "local language" tech writers to create documentation packages that translate correctly from one language to another. Create flow charts for firmware updates, Those update have to be simple and easy to install, repeatable in the manner of installation, and designed in such a way that even the terminally stupid can successfully install them every time.
Perform adequate functional flight testing of parts, systems, software, and firmware as many times as needed to assure correct function before releasing the product. Beat the product to death in extensive flight testing to assure your product will be a pleasure to fly instead of generating anxiety to fly. Know where the weakness are and have a plan in place to mitigate them before offering stuff for sale. Develop a brand name noted for it's reliability.
If you want to over load your customer service departments with bricked flight controllers and RC units, just keep doing what you are doing by failing to provide system and set up documentation or inconsistent firmware update performance. Understand that 80% of your customers are not technically oriented. They lack basic flying skills. They require simplicity and automation if they have any chance of success, and their success is your success. Recognize that high customer service costs are not the fault of the customer service department. Those costs are the fault of the system design and marketing teams. Their failures end up being amplified by the labor and parts expenses required for the customer service team to correct them.
Get busy with third party or in house App development. People want "easy" and anything they can obtain that makes what they want to do easier is something they will quickly migrate to.
Maintain a constant line of communications with your customer base. If your customers aren't hearing from you you customers are forgetting you. Nobody waits for the person you never hear from.
Recognize that if your want customers to invest in you, you first need to invest in yourself. A process of constant contraction only weakens customer confidence.
Stop trying to chase DJI in a game of catch up. You can't catch up as you lack the budget, the engineering staff, and your government's support. You and I know that DJI is subsidized by your government, expanding their development budget and permits them to sell for a loss if and when necessary to maintain their market position. That support provides the funding needed to wage negative advertising campaigns against any new manufacturer or product that causes them a competitive concern. In giving the government what they want DJI can do whatever they need to in order to maintain their market position. You cannot compete at that level. The best you can ever hope for is to be one step, instead of many, behind DJI. By being different you will provide consumers a reason to look at models other than DJI, something they have almost no impetus to do now.
Instead of developing "new" platforms over and over again with the hope consumers will be excited to a level that will entice them to purchase new models, develop a couple of "base" platforms that will receive continuous expansion. Recognize that a large part of the Typhoon H 480's success was the fact the buying public KNEW it was being constantly improved. Develop a low level product that will suit people in the low budget, low skill level group to expand your customer base and help build capital, but focus on continuously improving the higher level product to maintain customer excitement and retain your customer base. Make sure you incorporate all the features that are considered "industry standards" with your new products. Leaving something out will cause people to look at other products that contain them.
I'll use an example from the government UAV sector. A certain Tier I, Group 2/3 UAV was introduced to our military in 2004 and remained in service in it's original form until 2018. That platform ended up in the service of governments all around the world, on land and at sea. and was copied by three countries. Fortunately the attempts to copy were relatively unsuccessful. What made this platform so popular and successful was the fact it was pretty reliable, the firmware was constantly improved, it was modular and easy to service, and new payloads were constantly being developed and distributed, and customer service was maintained on a 24/7 basis. No matter where you were or what time it was, there was and is someone to take the call and resolve problems. The customer did not need to buy 2, 3, or more different models, they needed but one and bought payloads appropriate to the mission intent. That platform cost in the area of $3-5 million per system and sold many hundreds of systems, taking the company from one having 3 guys working from their garage into a multi $ billion dollar company employing well over 1,000 people. It is still in use today while finally experiencing an airframe upgrade back around 2017. Versatility was and is a mainstay of it's attributes.
Regardless of what a consumer manufacturer comes up with, they absolutely must develop comprehensive documentation to support it and have that documentation ready at the same time the product is released. Spend some money on using "local language" tech writers to create documentation packages that translate correctly from one language to another. Create flow charts for firmware updates, Those update have to be simple and easy to install, repeatable in the manner of installation, and designed in such a way that even the terminally stupid can successfully install them every time.
Perform adequate functional flight testing of parts, systems, software, and firmware as many times as needed to assure correct function before releasing the product. Beat the product to death in extensive flight testing to assure your product will be a pleasure to fly instead of generating anxiety to fly. Know where the weakness are and have a plan in place to mitigate them before offering stuff for sale. Develop a brand name noted for it's reliability.
If you want to over load your customer service departments with bricked flight controllers and RC units, just keep doing what you are doing by failing to provide system and set up documentation or inconsistent firmware update performance. Understand that 80% of your customers are not technically oriented. They lack basic flying skills. They require simplicity and automation if they have any chance of success, and their success is your success. Recognize that high customer service costs are not the fault of the customer service department. Those costs are the fault of the system design and marketing teams. Their failures end up being amplified by the labor and parts expenses required for the customer service team to correct them.
Get busy with third party or in house App development. People want "easy" and anything they can obtain that makes what they want to do easier is something they will quickly migrate to.
Maintain a constant line of communications with your customer base. If your customers aren't hearing from you you customers are forgetting you. Nobody waits for the person you never hear from.
Recognize that if your want customers to invest in you, you first need to invest in yourself. A process of constant contraction only weakens customer confidence.
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What? You didn't know... they've formulated the fuselage into a low voltage battery and cloaked in light collecting generator. IT is always ON, and it's collecting constantly... I swear at times it even tries to move closer to me or turns for better video and sends sublimino messages to us all to talk in our sleep. Those 15 minute back yard sessions just aren't enough anymore!
Mavic Mini... marketing, now even as a Center Piece!!
Now this one takes it... reminds me of an older style clock under glass dome.
For $40 bucks... ya got a Mavic Mini Under Glass...
Now how Cute is that... eh!!!
store.dji.com
Now this one takes it... reminds me of an older style clock under glass dome.
For $40 bucks... ya got a Mavic Mini Under Glass...
Now how Cute is that... eh!!!
Buy Mavic Mini Charging Base - DJI Store
Shop for Mavic Mini Charging Base on the official DJI Online Store. Find great deals and buy DJI products online with quick and convenient delivery!
store.dji.com
Whew!! You're either thinking this Mini is much smaller than I'd assume, or there's a Big A$$ in this story line.
Ummmm... just sayin!
One more comment about the Mavic Mini's weight classification. People that add the propeller guard or make use of the trim options will cause their registration exempt aircraft to instantly become registration mandatory. You only have 1 gram of weight latitude to work with. The registration requirement is established by weight "ready to fly".
FlushVision
Premium Pilot
Hmm. Just got an email from dji about the Mavic mini. From £369 it says. Only under 250g so long as you've not attached anything to it including the prop guards. Up to half a hour flight time it says (where have I heard that before?).
I gotta say it, though. I'm reluctantly impressed! A fairly good machine that negates the need to register (though I'll still need to register if I want to continue flying my TH). My P2V+ looks to have had it's day: I put the sd card back in it all wrong last week and it's jammed in in such a way that it won't record video. I've yet to try a repair on it through the lack of me being able to readily put my hand on the necessary tool. But my P2V+ is old anyway and has been out of production since summer 2015. I was thinking of retiring it even before the sd card issue. Maybe the Mavic mini is just the thing to replace it with.
As a commercial operator I've always been of the opinion that operators such as myself should always have at least two aircraft available...a back up available if, for some reason, the primary aircraft is unavailable. Looks to me that the Mavic mini would fit that requirement at least in my case. I'll wait a few weeks to see feedback before I jump, though. I'm not in a rush since I don't have much in the line of commercial gigs lined up at the moment, and my web site will be closed in the not-to-distant future (I got my renewal quote recently and they hiked the price so I'll be going to another provider once my current contract has expired).
One thing I can say is that at £369 for the basic package (of course I'll get the fly more option if I jump that way) I'm seriously tempted. No, I'm not jumping the Yuneec ship. I like my H480. It does the job for me. But this Mavic mini ticks so many boxes for me if I look at it as a back-up option.
I gotta say it, though. I'm reluctantly impressed! A fairly good machine that negates the need to register (though I'll still need to register if I want to continue flying my TH). My P2V+ looks to have had it's day: I put the sd card back in it all wrong last week and it's jammed in in such a way that it won't record video. I've yet to try a repair on it through the lack of me being able to readily put my hand on the necessary tool. But my P2V+ is old anyway and has been out of production since summer 2015. I was thinking of retiring it even before the sd card issue. Maybe the Mavic mini is just the thing to replace it with.
As a commercial operator I've always been of the opinion that operators such as myself should always have at least two aircraft available...a back up available if, for some reason, the primary aircraft is unavailable. Looks to me that the Mavic mini would fit that requirement at least in my case. I'll wait a few weeks to see feedback before I jump, though. I'm not in a rush since I don't have much in the line of commercial gigs lined up at the moment, and my web site will be closed in the not-to-distant future (I got my renewal quote recently and they hiked the price so I'll be going to another provider once my current contract has expired).
One thing I can say is that at £369 for the basic package (of course I'll get the fly more option if I jump that way) I'm seriously tempted. No, I'm not jumping the Yuneec ship. I like my H480. It does the job for me. But this Mavic mini ticks so many boxes for me if I look at it as a back-up option.
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It's really a good model to extend the pilot enter level, and more guys will enjoy the fly.
I wonder if the government will change the rule to forbidden such drone.
Other company still can provide full features products since Mavic min still lack some important features for instance track/HDR/Panoramic.
How do you think Yuneec? Should be able to enhance Typhoon series as a platform just as you mentioned before. But for mantis series, maybe is hard unless they could provide a Mavic 2 Pro matching product.
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It would not surprise me if the FAA issues a revision dropping the weight limit to 200g. Marketing the drone specifically to avoid registration is just begging the FAA to do this.
I would not get too concerned with possible FAA registration rules changes. By now they should have figured out their drone registration requirement was a dumb and useless act with no means to enforce it.
The FAA is tasked with flight and public safety and has already determined sub 250 gram drones are not a threat to either. A drone in the sub 250g weight class is also so limited in payload capability that it would be effectively useless as a weapons delivery system.
The FAA is tasked with flight and public safety and has already determined sub 250 gram drones are not a threat to either. A drone in the sub 250g weight class is also so limited in payload capability that it would be effectively useless as a weapons delivery system.
FlushVision
Premium Pilot
In the small print of the email from dji about the Mavic mini
9. Accessories must be under 30 grams. Make sure the Snap Adapter and connected devices are properly attached before takeoff.
