Promoting Patented Technology: “i-Schwab”
Along with the Talk to Chuck Campaign, another alternative is to invest in market research of how proprietary software technology strategies can strengthen brand-value and differentiate the company from other brokerage service firms to attract new clients and retain current customers.
Currently, Schwab is “stuck in the middle” between full service and discount brokers. The market research will provide a benchmark to see if heavily investing in technology strategies will give the company the differentiation it needs from full-service brokerages, and separate itself from the growing pack of deep discount/online brokerages.
The research analysis may show if certain technologies can offer unprecedented value to the customer and increase its brand strength and brand value through innovation. For example, promoting a patented e-commerce software package called “i-Schwab” may offer rich features such as equity research technology, investment analytics, and electronic trade operations software programs through a single portal providing convenience, collaboration and speed to information for its employees and customers.
The “i-Schwab” program may serve the organization by leveraging the capabilities of the company to supply its customers and business partners with a strong, differentiated, unique, and most important, innovative service offering that are unmatched in the industry. The patented technology may even discover potential business efficiencies to lower costs, increase business opportunities, and stimulate cooperation and collaboration among employees, independent sales managers and current gold and platinum customers by providing timely investment and equity information and grouping them into a single source.