Oui, vous avez bien lu, Uncle Bens la fameuse société spécialisée dans la vente de riz va lancer un smartphone. L'info provient du site de news The Onions. Le lancement de cet téléphone 4G qui s'appelera Basmati (ça ne s'invente pas !) est prévu pour le vendredi 23 Novembre. Cet appareil est emblématique de la volonté de Uncle Bens d'entrer dans le marché très lucratif (hum, qu'en pense Blackberry ?) de la technologie mobile. Comme le dit le communiqué ci-dessous, Uncle Bens sera la seule société au monde vendant à la fois un service international de téléphonie, d'accès Internet, GPS, broccoli rice au gratin, et téléchargement MP3 des meilleurs artistes"
HOUSTON—Hoping to boost profits by cutting into the valuable market share currently occupied by Apple's popular iPhone 4S, top American rice manufacturer Uncle Ben’s announced plans Tuesday to release its first-ever smartphone.
Uncle Ben's, a company traditionally known for producing white, whole-grain brown, and flavored rices, confirmed a Nov. 23 launch date for its new "Basmati" phone, a 4G-capable device expected to serve as the brand’s flagship product as the company makes its entry into the lucrative mobile technology sector.
"Whether it's instant rice, country-style rice, boil-in-a-bag rice, or smartphones, Uncle Ben’s has always been committed to innovation," a statement from the company read in part. "In 1942, we introduced the world to easy-to-cook parboiled rice. Today, we wish to introduce you to a new vision, one in which people can cook up some Uncle Ben's on the stove and, at the same time, be on their Basmati browsing our marketplace for some new apps and texting their friends with our Instant Rice Messenger."
"Our customer base is increasingly young, connected, and on the go," the statement continued, "and we're uniquely positioned to become the only company in America to simultaneously offer international phone service, Internet access, GPS, broccoli rice au gratin, and MP3 downloads of top recording artists."
Traditionally, the Uncle Ben’s company has been best known for manufacturing rice. As first reported by TechCrunch and the USA Rice Council, the Basmati will feature a 5.3-inch display with a density of 285 pixels per inch, a dual-core 1.5 gigahertz processor, and two gigabytes of RAM, as well as a "robust set of entertainment features" that includes a rear-mounted 8-megapixel autofocus camera, dozens of preloaded stir-fry recipes, and Adobe Flash support.
In addition, the Basmati will run on Uncle Ben’s proprietary Long-Grain Operating System, a platform designed to optimize graphics performance and speed using processes that, according to technical specifications released by the rice producer, "are entirely gluten-free."
"Uncle Ben's is a name Americans already know and trust," said company president Vincent Howell, adding that he hopes the Basmati will become the iPhone’s foremost competitor within three years. "When they see that face smiling up at them, they'll know they picked the right phone. It's time for us to build on Uncle Ben's success, and that means making a run at Apple. Amazon, Google—they're all in the game here, and if we don't get on this, we'll be left behind. Right now those guys are eating our lunch.”
"We have the brand recognition," the president of the rice company added. "So let's capitalize on it with this smartphone."
Many at the company expressed a like-minded confidence in the project, with one board member enthusiastically saying, “I think people are going to like an Uncle Ben’s phone even if they don’t like rice all that much.” Executives noted that their marketplace was rapidly changing, and whether they liked it or not, they would have to change with it.
"Rice just isn't going to cut it anymore," said Tim Snyder, Uncle Ben's vice president of marketing. "If we don't get a smartphone on the market soon, we’ll have nothing to offer the millions of consumers out there who are eager to shell out hundreds of dollars for the latest high-tech gadget, but who—let's face it—aren't nearly that enthusiastic about rice."
Reached for comment, experts in the rice and tech industries questioned the company’s strategy, noting that besides Apple and Google, Uncle Ben's will face stiff competition from Hamburger Helper, which unveiled its much-hyped "Helping Hand" smartphone earlier this year.
Inspirer le commerce par Frank Rosenthal - 101 cas inspirants mondiaux
Un des ingrédients majeurs de la réussite de cette gigantesque relance sera une créativité libérée. Tous ceux qui partagent cet objectif pourront trouver quelques inspirations parmi ces 101 cas observés dans 15 pays en 2019 et 2020.
Un vrai tour du monde de la créativité commerciale qui vous emmènera de la Chine aux Etats-Unis, en passant par les principaux pays d’Europe et particulièrement la France.
Ces 101 cas concernent tant des petits commerçants que des géants mondiaux du commerce comme Walmart, Amazon, Alibaba et d’autres… La période de confinement au printemps 2020 a été riche en innovations commerciales, les cas les plus exemplaires complètent donc utilement ce panorama global.
Enfin, pour faire de ce livre un outil de réflexion, les 101 cas sont classés en 10 chapitres regroupant chacun les principales tendances actuelles du commerce.
Frank Rosenthal est consultant indépendant, expert en marketing du commerce. Il a évolué pendant 20 ans dans le secteur de la communication, notamment dans les groupes de la TBWA France et HighCo, puis a fondé en 2008 sa structure de de Consulting Frank Rosenthal Conseils. Il est l'auteur du blog retail-distribution devenu un blog référent sur le commerce. Outre ses missions de conseil, ce livre est son 8ème livre sur le commerce. Il donne de nombreuses conférences et intervient régulièrement dans les médias, notamment sur LSA et sur BFM Business.
02/09/2020 dans Actualité, Actualité Marketing, Commentaires, Conseils, Curiosité, Gastronomie, Ils ont pensé le Futur, Le sens du commerce, Le sens du Marketing, Livres (Résumé à partager) , Publicité, Réflexion Marketing | Lien permanent | Commentaires (0)
Balises: commerce, coopérer, digital magasin, humain, innovation, savoir faire
Envoyer sur Digg