Tivo 2002 Case
CBE, Qatar University
12
Case Report: HBR TiVo in 2002 (Consumer Behavior)
Marketing Management, Fall 2012
Eagles Team
1. Introduction: This brief report attempts to tackle the HBR TiVo in 2002 case study. The report highlights the main issues facing the company in 2002 and then proceeds to analyze the internal and the external environments around TiVo at the time with a special focus on relating the analysis to consumer behavior. The report finally ends with proposing a number of solutions that can be applied by TiVo to resolve the issues at hand based on a better understanding of TiVo customers’ buying behavior. 2. Background on TiVo Inc.: * TiVo Inc. was founded by Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay in 1997 * Under the brand name “TiVo” The co-founders developed and marketed a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) that digitized video onto a hard disk * The first TiVo DVR shipped in Q1 1999 and was capable of only digitizing analog TV feed. Later on, new models that recorded from digital video sources were eventually introduced by the company * To differentiate its product from other DVR offerings, TiVo heavily invested into R&D to build up sophisticated software that automatically records programs based on user requests and interests (based on actors, directors, genres, season ... etc). The software also offered a superior Electronic Program Guide (EPG) * TV implement a patented feature TiVo calls “Trick Play" that allows the viewer to pause live television and rewind and replay up to a half hour of recently viewed television * TiVo DVRs were initially offered as “standalone” hardware directly sold by TiVo, but the company later on opted to license its software to third party manufacturers and cable/satellite operators * TiVo DVRs have further evolved today into “HD Smart DVRs” that record HD content and connect to the Internet to provide access to multiple Video-on-Demand (VoD) services such as YouTube, NetFlix, and Hulu
12
Case Report: HBR TiVo in 2002 (Consumer Behavior)
Marketing Management, Fall 2012
Eagles Team
1. Introduction: This brief report attempts to tackle the HBR TiVo in 2002 case study. The report highlights the main issues facing the company in 2002 and then proceeds to analyze the internal and the external environments around TiVo at the time with a special focus on relating the analysis to consumer behavior. The report finally ends with proposing a number of solutions that can be applied by TiVo to resolve the issues at hand based on a better understanding of TiVo customers’ buying behavior. 2. Background on TiVo Inc.: * TiVo Inc. was founded by Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay in 1997 * Under the brand name “TiVo” The co-founders developed and marketed a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) that digitized video onto a hard disk * The first TiVo DVR shipped in Q1 1999 and was capable of only digitizing analog TV feed. Later on, new models that recorded from digital video sources were eventually introduced by the company * To differentiate its product from other DVR offerings, TiVo heavily invested into R&D to build up sophisticated software that automatically records programs based on user requests and interests (based on actors, directors, genres, season ... etc). The software also offered a superior Electronic Program Guide (EPG) * TV implement a patented feature TiVo calls “Trick Play" that allows the viewer to pause live television and rewind and replay up to a half hour of recently viewed television * TiVo DVRs were initially offered as “standalone” hardware directly sold by TiVo, but the company later on opted to license its software to third party manufacturers and cable/satellite operators * TiVo DVRs have further evolved today into “HD Smart DVRs” that record HD content and connect to the Internet to provide access to multiple Video-on-Demand (VoD) services such as YouTube, NetFlix, and Hulu