Communication is all-to-often the reason that products don’t make it across the chasm. Yet this is under-reported in the literature, perhaps because it’s easier to blame the technology. Or because the steps taken to redesign a product are concrete while communication is abstract.

I know, also, that too many companies have been burned by dumping big bucks into wrongly conceived communication campaigns. This is unfortunate because done right, communication brings companies the ability to gain control of the market response to their product.

Here’s a post I recently wrote for TheShelfPotato.com. It took smart marketing, communication, and merchandising by DirecTV to avoid becoming an enthusiast only product.

Many Google efforts also fail to cross the chasm – primarily because Google fails to communicate their value as discussed here.

So if you have a tech product that spends lazy days sitting on the shelf, maybe the right communication could bring it alive like TV did for WebTV.

Copyright 2010 – Doug Garnett