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Amazon's Alexa: Blue Ocean Innovation and Strategy

Alexa is the virtual assistant we all know, developed and distributed by Amazon. Innovating in the voice assistant industry allows you to operate in an untapped competitive arena, untainted by competition, where demand is self-generating. Let's see an analysis in this article.

The Alexa assistant is always ready to answer our questions, the need for fast and instant service, always staying online, connected and alert. In the age of smartphones, Amazon has designed a device without a screen, with which users can interact. The concept would seem unusual, but it has nevertheless been incredibly successful.

Features

Alexa's interactive skills involve the user in a unique way, a single platform where multiple brands can get in touch with the customer. The level of convenience and practicality in using the Alexa voice assistant suggests that in the future there may be improvements in performance and in the user experience. Both the convenience of access and the room for improvement of voice assistants like Alexa are a good basis for thinking that voice assistants like Alexa will overtake apps and website usage in the coming years.
Companies that will bring important innovations to the market in this sector will have a great advantage in attracting customers by providing a unique customer experience.

Alexa is also a conversational interface. Its services were designed with conversation in mind. Conversational interfaces are designed to enhance a personal connection as well
connection between man and service provider.
Alexa, the company's key AI tool, has created a Blue Ocean, previously unknown market hall where you create demand, while at the same time enjoying the cost/benefits of differentiation. Amazon articles prove that blue oceans build brands. The blue strategy is so effective that brand equity can still be built that will last for decades.
According to Collin Davis, general manager of Alexa for Business at Amazon said Amazon itself is using Alexa in 700 conference rooms. Nearly 70% of their meeting is initiated by Alexa
Alexa is bringing the human touch to technology. The purpose is to give a real person conversation feeling when the consumer will interact with the device. Brands can
improve customer interaction by adopting a good voice strategy.
The rules of Blue Oceans have not yet been established, so the rivalry is irrelevant and offers a
opportunity for new ideas and profitable development. A business must shift its strategic focus from competition to valuing innovation as an integral pillar of the blue ocean
strategy, in order to get rid of the less productive Red Oceans.
As far as long-term benefits are concerned, a business that has managed to dominate a new market may have to remain its leader before the new entrant enters the blue sea. an organization must create a blue ocean change to execute strategy: concrete steps towards moving from the cursed red oceans of competition to the unchallenged marketplace; choose the right place to start the initiative; move away from the current state; discover the sea for non-customers; recreate market limits and finally select and test your chosen blue ocean.

BLUE OCEAN strategy

A different point of view, provided by professors W. Chan Kim and Reneé Mauborgne (2005), the company
the environment has another dimension known as the blue ocean: a new, unexploited, uncontaminated competitive arena where demand is generated. As a result, the rules in the blue oceans have not yet been formulated, which makes the rivalry meaningless and presents an opportunity for innovative ideas and profitable development. To break away from the less profitable red ocean, it is crucial for an organization to change its strategic focus from competitiveness to value innovation which is a pillar of the Blue Ocean strategy. At the same time, companies wishing to thrive in uncharted waters of a new market must reject a traditional notion of trade-offs between value development and low price and focus on the pursuit of both differentiation and reduced cost
Traditionally, companies tend to focus on competition in order to increase their market share in the industry and increase profits. Firms, adopting generic Porter strategies outlined in his work “Competitive Strategy: Methods for Evaluating Markets and Competitors” (1980), thrive on gaining a competitive advantage in their chosen market area by opting for one of two lower cost or differentiation approaches . Thus, all businesses within a single sector appear to be fighting for a slice of a pie that is made up of the same consumers, limited income sources and benefits. Such a market area is known as the red ocean, where industry boundaries are well established and agreed upon, where competition rules are transparent and companies compete against each other for larger shares of known demand.
As far as long-term benefits are concerned, the business that successfully captured a new market would need to maintain first-mover advantage, if possible, ahead of new entrants.
unite and turn the blue ocean red again. According to the authors, to adopt the blue ocean strategy, a company needs to make a change in the blue ocean – particular steps to change from the red oceans of bloody rivalry to the uncontested industry: choose the right place to start the initiative; Get clear of the current status, discover the ocean of non-customers; rebuild the boundaries of the market and finally, choose and test the chosen blue ocean switch.
To keep their place in the business through the blue ocean strategy, the rivalry will be insignificant, and
many strategic methods must be used to develop the blue ocean

Product / Brand Analysis

Amazon Echo, Amazon Echo Dot, Amazon Echo plus e Amazon Echo spot are the products that arise from the experience of Alexa. Amazon Echo it is the most advanced product. They are priced differently depending on the size, features and quality of the speakers. Multi-mics are all built into Echo systems, so Alexa hears and responds quickly.
Echo, a smart speaker, connects to the Alexa-enhanced intelligent voice assistant, one of Amazon's most popular products. The system has a number of functions:

  • voice interaction,
  • music playback,
  • to-do lists,
  • alarms,
  • streaming podcasts,
  • playing audio books,
  • weather forecast,
  • traffic etc.

Echo is in continuous development and now it can also work as IoT, and as a domestic information provider.
Amazon Echo, Amazon Echo Dot (third generation), AmazonEcho Plus (second generation), Amazon Echo spot they are devices designed starting from the skill of Alexa.

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Amazon has released the Alexa Skill Kit to help business customers create their own skills and add them to Alexa.

Once you add an Alexa skill to your Alexa account, it is active and will work with your Alexa device. Different skills help the customer to buy services or things outside of Amazon. Users can find many smart home device skills, hobbies and interests skills, to-do help skills, recipe skills, etc.
According to the report of voicebot. aiAmazon announced in late August 2018 that there are 50.000 Alexa Skills and more than 20.000 Alexa-enabled products worldwide.

Competition analysis

In many industries, especially technology ones, the Blue Ocean strategy appears to be successful, but it's not flawless. It can be argued that modern notions such as 'non-consumers' or 'new market spaces'. mainly new methods of presenting old ideas, which Michael Porter and others have built in the past.
Another problem is that the life cycles of blue oceans could be shortened as new entrants emerge
due to advanced technological advances. This speculation could lead back to one of the goalkeeper's five powers: the threat of new entrants. In such an example, Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant is addressed in this situation.
According to Microsoft's 2019 voice report, It found that 25% of people prefer Alexa, 36%; people prefer Apple Siri and another 36% of people prefer Google Assistant and 19% prefer Microsoft Cortana as their digital voice assistant. Alexa is continually trying to develop and
apply the blue ocean strategy.

Customer value proposition, the advantages of the customer in using Alexa

  • Quick and Fast: Alexa acts as a smart home creator. A huge range of connection devices connect with your home with the help of Alexa. From light bulbs, fan, thermostat to coffee maker the customer can control all the device through Alexa via voice command.
  • Personalization: Alexa helps customer assist their daily life like set alarm clock, check weather update and news update etc.
  • Convenient: Alexa helps the customer get the information pass freely and quickly. Instead of searching for information by opening so many apps, Alexa brings ease of use into the customer's life by searching for information by voice command only. Customers get information in real time
  • Reminder: Alexa helps the customer in managing their appointment and calendar and the customer can also sync their Google or Apple calendar with Alexa. It's helps you remember from birthdays, anniversaries to filling groceries.

Ercole Palmeri

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