Technology

Today, the price cuts are the most common issue for every industry. What is described in one recent article from my friend John Mello of the E-Commerce Times is that by and large, reducing prices to attract customers is what most vendors are doing. It states in an Adobe report that such companies, more often than not, cut prices, albeit at a loss, just to dump surfeit stocks. The expectation is that the lower prices would result in enough sales to absorb the oversupply. But while it appears effective for the moment, it has its dangerous downside. Kink into price cuts downwards and soon enough will fade margins to nil-with the added bonus of creating a lower price expectation among customers already. This forms a vicious spiral where the price continues to drop until it might drive the company out of business due to lack of enough cushion to survive the bad stretch. So what alternatives have? Are there clear possibilities of sustaining the revenue stream without compromising the profit line? This phenomenon could consist of generative AI-the future for marketing and customer relations.The Price War DilemmaEconomic conditions always prompt firms to lower their prices- once the economy suffers recession, inflation or due to fear of going into default by the United States. Lowering the price would hither increase sales and reduce inventories. It is again a risky business. All players in the same market adopt the same strategy; this leads to full-blown price war. Price warfare pushes firms always to slashing prices until their margins disappear, leaving no winner.However, lacking strategic marketing knowledge aggravates the problem, and companies then resort to the old-fashioned price-cutting game. While it is easy to think that reducing price will sell more volume, experience teaches that the opposite could be true. All good competitors quickly react to lower prices flooding the market with reduced-value goods. Companies engaging in such competition without considerable cost advantages run the risk of being eliminated from the market altogether.Market textbooks usually recommend increased marketing spending to combat falling demand. This would entail putting demand generation campaigns in the field to attract potential customers via various promotional techniques. These could entail tying products together for purchases. The entire aim designing demand derives into sales.This looks easy in theory. In practice, however, contrary factors emerge. One is that the impact of the marketing campaign usually takes time to be realized, thus providing a much ineffective countermeasure to instant crises. Other reasons include the rapid fadeout of effectiveness of traditional advertisement channels, which are TV, prints, Google, Facebook, etc. Streaming and digital content change how consumers behave, especially the younger crowd that avoids any form of ad content, leading mush less reliable marketing through traditional channels.Influencer marketing, which was once touted as a miracle solution, has taken a beating in recent times from scandals and the overrunning of influencers. It has reduced the ROI of influencer-led campaigns. The sheer volume of options flooding the digital space and the loss of credibility in online ads has left several firms chasing after more effective ways to form audience engagement.Generative AI: The Solution for MarketingInitially, social networking seemed like the solution to a modern marketer’s troubles. Pages such as Facebook were supposed to have developed an algorithm that served ads only to those who were closely targeted to fit what would interest them. However, with the surfacing of fake news, fraud, and lack of trust in ads, companies have turned away from social media under the pretense that the latter cannot be fully depended on for distribution of advertising messages.Direct marketing appears, however, easy to do, though there are more than enough challenges awaiting the marketer. Building such infrastructure as call centers is capital intensive, and the outsourcing of operations to lower labor cost countries boomerangs when a customer feels isolated and frustrated. So, what is the solution?Generative AI may just prove to be the elusive breakthrough that the business world has awaited for long.Generative AI sounds like a pro at mimicking human interactions and sounding natural while developing relationships with customers at a larger scale. The beauty of generative AI is that it can personalize, have those connections beyond the ordinary, and make so much more out of a marketing perspective. Most importantly, by training an AI to understand requirements and preferences of a customer, one can shape meaningful experiences that feel more authentic and less transactional.Through the generative AI platform, companies can engage their customers in conversations on an ongoing basis. These interactions bring with them value, be it through helping with inquiries, providing personalized product recommendations, or simply offering a pathway out of a problem. When handled in the correct way, AI-oriented engagement will further give a feeling of satisfaction on the customer’s part, as it will strengthen their link to the brand-the stronger the link, the higher the purchase probability.In fact, AI-aided marketing can go further than customer engagement. AI can analyze customer feedback and preferences, helping the business to hone its offerings, prototype new ideas for products, and pinpoint issues before they bloom. Opportunities abound, and so does the potential impact on marketing and customer experience.Why Now for Generative AIGenerative AI is not merely a trendy future technology, but a practical technology that can assist businesses with current market impediments. With sustained economic pressures and a shift away from traditional marketing, businesses cannot afford to wait for generative AI to be normalized. This is the era to put in place this AI-generative tool for marketing applications.On top of that, AI may help companies in crafting far more personalized and effective marketing campaigns that will connect to the customers. This is the future of marketing, and it is now.Tech Product of the Week: Surface Thunderbolt 4 DockB. When I switch to the product of the week, my attention focuses directly on the Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock. The Laptop docks have come from a long way being mainly a security support in the past and keeping laptops from getting removed from

While the first hype for hydrogen-powered vehicles dates back almost two decades, it is now being amplified by serious contenders like Honda, GM, and Toyota through collaborations, new tech, and retrofitting initiatives that keep making headlines. However, hydrogen does not promise any form of an alternative future for promise-inducing emission impermeability, as it stands firmly on top of the throne in today’s world, boldly leaving many wondering if their electric counterparts will ever cease being left out by hydrogen-powered vehicles. The Hydrogen Initiative: Big Plans-Huge ProblemsTo top it all, hydrogen promises superiority over electric vehicles in some key respects. Hydrogen-powered cars are being developed jointly by Honda and GM, while the most active proponent of hydrogen technology-Toyota-is intensifying its drive for finding new, innovative avenues for making hydrogen engines commercially viable. Some would even consider retrofitting existing gasoline engines to run on hydrogen; that option has been partially explored in Europe through conversion kits.So far, however, these hydrogen-powered conversion kits fall much short of meeting expectations. Many drivers report that their converted vehicles lose reliability; they prove moody in the performance stakes. This is in sharp contrast to generally more dependable electric vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells, a technology which novices have proven to be rather more robust. While a new hydrogen engine from Toyota promises enhanced reliability over retrofitted gasoline engines, it lacks any of the performance advantages that fuel cell systems possess.Although hydrogen-powered vehicles have witnessed some advancement in the technology, they still face enormous challenges. Among the challenges that such vehicles face is the lack of an infrastructure for hydrogen refueling. Hydrogen cars can only run on a network of fueling stations, which right now is very limited. In the U.S., there are only 58 hydrogen refueling stations-most of them located in California. This starkly contrasts the huge number of over 53,000 EVs charging stations, which are being built every day.Turning the hydrogen-powered vehicle into a practical alternative to EVs would require enormous changes in the current infrastructure. Such construction costs would be enormous, and without such automakers as Toyota, Honda, and GM securing significant national government support or funding, the road ahead for hydrogen cars does not seem promising.The EV Advantage: Increasing Liveliness of EcosystemIn terms of installing, EVs are at an advantage. Tesla is in reality the most concrete example of that growing ecosystem for electric vehicles. It didn’t make cars, only a charging infrastructure all across the country, which makes owning an electric car all the more convenient. And Level 2 home chargers (available under $600) and increasing numbers of public charging stations are enabling millions to have access to EV operation.Public charging stations for electric vehicles are proliferating as a mushroom, and by 2022, it has passed a significant milestone of over 53,000 locations in the US. This expansion is a continuous endeavor, especially with plans to build an additional 500,000 EV chargers by 2030. This endeavor further benefits electric vehicles with the improving affordability of charging systems where owning an electric vehicle becomes increasingly attractive.For contrast, hydrogen-powered cars are a niche product for an individual in particular areas of hydrogen stations. Home charging is another big plus given to EVs. It usually costs about ten dollars to charge an electric vehicle at home compared to around seventy-five dollars to fuel a hydrogen car. Home hydrogen generators also cost well above twelve thousand dollars, making the home hydrogen fueling virtually impossible for the average consumers. EV owners could very well charge at home without having to spend too much on the initial setup.Is the cost of hydrogen infrastructure too high to overcome?Actually, the main issue of hydrogen-powered cars is not the cars themselves, but rather the infrastructure supporting them. Building a hydrogen fueling station costs around $1.9 million, and it’s very expensive. The entire cost becomes really incredibly high, even if these stations are imagined in place of existing gas stations. For hydrogen vehicles to really take off, it would need 53,000 refueling pu linger stations in the USA, amounting to jaw-dropping $58 trillion in infrastructure costs. Meanwhile, building up an EV charging network would require only about $7.5 billion.While hydrogen seems a promising technology for vehicles, it just does not pay off economically. Sure, some government subsidies may help, but hydrogen still has a long and difficult journey ahead of it. By contrast, EVs are being showered with investments, where the likes of Tesla and others are blazing the trails in expanding charging networks.Toyota’s Hydrogen Engine: An Interesting But Limited Approach to TakeToyota has been considered the biggest supporter of hydrogen technology, and their development of a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine (ICE) is an interesting take on the issue. While the engine will be more dependable than converted gas engines, it will not possess the same efficiency and performance as hydrogen fuel cells. Also, internal combustion engines are quite complex and less dependable than electric motors, which are simply and comparatively more reliable.For those who miss the sound and feel of a traditional gas-powered engine, Toyota’s hydrogen ICE could offer an appealing alternative. But for most consumers, the simplicity and performance of electric vehicles will outweigh a desire for an engine that replicates ever-so-poorly gasoline-powered vehicle behavior.Hydrogen for customers: is it a viable option?At this time, hydrogen clearly stands no chance against outgoing electric vehicles in the consumer market. While hydrogen vehicles could theoretically give even more impressive range-sometimes better-still, it does not have any thorough infrastructure to support wide-scale adoption. Then, there is always the infrastructure and fueling station building cost consideration that makes hydrogen lose global price value on the competitive scale.The future of transport certainly looks electric; the treasury companies keep innovating to expand the EV ecosystem. The better battery technology becomes, the more efficient electric vehicles become, granting even longer ranges and lowering costs. In the meantime, hydrogen vehicles might only target certain niche applications, such as long-haul commercial vehicles or vehicles that operate in countries that have such a hydrogen infrastructure, like Japan.Conclusion: The Future