congrats on the opportunity to lead one of most motivated, talented teams at google and launch a product that will change everything going forward.
I think there's a clear way to price, position and punt your way to success here. meaning:
1. price: you can get everything else wrong and still succeed with this one move. $199 glass. justify it to larry with three words: glass magnifies google. or try these three letters: LTV. need a few more? how about: "lovely loss leader locks in lookers" or the old favorite worth billions: "first mover advantage" seriously, if you run the numbers on total client/revenue capture it adds up like crazy, even without ads.
2. position: few things to get across lound and clear...
a. glass is far more powerful than it looks/works today
b. glass is amazing for ... (fill in the blanks)
some clues:
https://plus.google.com/111947415969911772648/posts/GkFj67morpo
or just start with travel, education, commercial use.
c. glasses can do things watches will never do. think power of the pov.
d. typical heart warming stories about how "glass magnifies life" are fine, but practical purchase triggers are key.
short term, that's tech junkies & commercial use but as a retailer, you understand christmas trumps everything.
with the right messaging & price point, you could move a million+ units sold as gifts & to parents wanting smarter kids (showcasing how johnny has a calc tutor looking over his shoulder from mumbai for $5/hr).
e. it's also worth SHOUTING that it's what's "behind glass" is what really matters - a truly amazing foundation of android, voice recognition tech, google now (increasingly wow), plus, hangouts/helpouts, maps/nav, gmail, voice, translate, drive, photos, wallet...ALL of it (loss leader pricing making more sense now?) shout loud enough and the total glassform (glass + platform) will be unassailable and worth billions. taken as a whole, samsung/sony/lg/htc/crowd don't stand a chance. regardless of when msft and apple get in the game, this multi-billion dollar ecosystem party is not one you want to be late to. think msft can get oakley to roll out window shades after they're all glassed up? good luck with that.
3. punt:
a. accept that there's a significant crowd that will
never take to glass, and just punt this bad boy over their heads, to the folks that really want it. who's that? try taking glass to
any school (kindergarden to college) & you'll see where the low hanging fruit is.
turns out that glass is not a device from our time. It belongs to the next generation, and they go nuts for it, dismissing any issues with the a blink of an eye.
b. hard to say punt on privacy & other issues, because clearly, you'll have to "address issues head on" respectfully increasing transparency & controls, but no matter what you do, it's a bumpy road fraught with peril. it will be rough going until the balance of risk vs reward hits a proper tipping point. celebrities will help here, so use them like crazy. "good enough for oprah" will win over a lot of paranoid moms and a victoria secret smart-is-sexy "girls in glasses" campaign couldn't hurt. the key is to work like mad to increase utility and accelerate acceptance with real utility while dangling shiny objects and fighting fires lit by the lunatic fringe. given enough time, the masses tolerate new technology once they see the benefits outweigh the issues.
c. want to really drive sales? screw the barges, and punt to the channel. direct sales will always PALE in comparison to what luxottica, safilo and marcolin can do. those monsters will move millions of pairs of beautiful, cool smart glasses that resonate with their fiercely loyal brand fans in ways google geekware never will. you literally can not do enough to support them, because the sooner you spin them up, the sooner you lock in a smart glasses platform & ecosystem monopoly worth billions.
fun times ahead.
p.s. want to know where this is all headed next? (perfect vision by 20/20), then check out the main AR/SmartGlasses conference in santa clara may 27-29 (
augmentedworldexpo.com)