Creating value out of data

Abstract

This Master thesis is written to finish the Master program Strategic Product Design in collaboration with ARS Traffic and Transport Technology (ARS T&TT). The main objective is to create a product and marketing strategy for the data warehouse department of ARS T&TT. The design process the project went through is the fuzzy front end shown in Figure 1. In the beginning the direction was fuzzy, but in the end it was a clear direction. ARS T&TT is operating in the market of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), it is building smart solutions to improve the traffic flow. The department of Data Warehousing & Sensoring (DW&S) is responsible for the data coming from stationary sensors along the road side. Currently, the market of traffic data is changing, because of the emergence of in-car data such as floating car data. Next to that, there is no established approach for development of innovative products that will meet the requirements of the evolving ITS market. Further, there exists no insightful business modelling and marketing strategy such that the corporate can unlock all the business potential of the products. DW&S started developing a data visualiser to be more pro-active and invest in the business. The product is called a Traffic Data Warehouse Cockpit (TDWC). This viewer is the starting point of this project.To create solutions in this moving market a thorough market analysis is done. The analysis focusses on the company itself, the competitors, the context in which the problem is occurring and the customers. Three future directions emerged from the analysis. The directions are: market growth for ARS T&TT, the emergence of sustainable cities and the development of the technology around autonomous vehicles. Those directions are plotted into a strategic roadmap from now till 2030. This roadmap presents the technological developments in this time period, the market trends are plotted and the product developments of ARS T&TT are presented and aligned with the market and technical developments.Two product lines were presented in the strategic roadmap and next to that also the business models fitting these product lines are created. Future scenarios are made to do an in depth business modelling analysis for the future product portfolio of the data warehouse department of ARS T&TT. Business model solutions are presented for those scenarios and also a path to change the current business model into the future models is created. In the end of the project the marketing strategy for ARS T&TT is designed. This strategy includes the marketing goals, brand positioning, brand strategy and paths to reach the goals. Figure 2 shows those marketing building blocks in a visual. The Marketing activities are visible for external parties, but the other building blocks are under the surface. The final advice how ARS T&TT should set up their marketing activities is presented in three paths to reach the marketing goals. The first pathway is to increase the visibility for the potential foreign partners by seeking for new channels. The second pathway will make ARS T&TT not only being a supplier, but next to this also an advisor to its customers (the road operators). This will build trust and the customer get to know ARS T&TT better. The third pathway is improving the focus of the communication. The current communication is focusing on the features ARS T&TT is selling, but it should change to a benefit-focused communication to attract the attention of the customers. The final advice to the ARS T&TT are written in a strategic product road map and a marketing strategy to prepare ARS T&TT for the moving mobility market in the future.