Capturing new markets and revenue for a leading provider of smartphone software, trade-in, and upgrade services
Developers launched more than 26,000 new mobile applications in February 2022 alone. With so much new mobile technology introduced to the market every day, very few innovations stand the chance of making enough money to survive. But for technology leaders that can successfully navigate and monetize their solutions, the rewards are significant.
A leading innovator that partners with major phone manufacturers to facilitate their trade-in and recycling programs found itself in an enviable position: The company had developed proprietary damage recognition technology that they used internally for years. They knew that the technology could be leveraged to create additional revenue streams but they didn’t have the resources or skill set in-house to execute the strategy. A B2B company, they had never taken consumer technology to market and knew the high rate of failure. But, they also wanted to test the model and knew success could attract potential acquisition partners.
Service Line:
Growth & Innovation
Industry:
Mobile
Region:
North America
Goal:
Create new sources of revenue
Strategy:
Develop a new business model by vertically integrating proven enterprise technology in a consumer application
Results:
Successful acquisition
The company turned to Manifold to help execute on a brand new D2C business model that leveraged their internal technology. As a longstanding strategic partner for the company, Manifold rose to the challenge of delivering a transformative solution that accelerated innovation for the brand. Manifold’s agile software methodology and digital marketing tactics provided impressive opportunities for acceleration. In addition, Manifold had relevant experience launching new businesses using existing technology, D2C, and go-to-market strategy implementation.
The development process began with discovery, including expert interviews, competitive review and journey mapping. Manifold quickly became experts on the industry and understanding its consumers’ needs and, was able to clearly define, build, test, and implement a solution that aligned with the company’s business goals and market needs.
With Manifold’s Idea to Value design and launch process, the internal technology was successfully launched as a digital-only, D2C offering which included a mobile-first marketing site and a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use, native mobile application that integrated scheduling for repairs or replacement. It also included account and policy management. By leveraging the company’s device diagnostic SDK, Manifold’s highly skilled team of product designers and engineers embedded the damage detection technology that the company had previously only used in its lab directly into the application. This feature allowed users to quickly self-test for a range of screen and internal damage with unparalleled accuracy, an innovation unique to the application.
Seizing another market opportunity, Manifold also developed and implemented a B2B offering for corporate IT device management. By integrating the front end into an insurance backend, Manifold enabled the company to generate quotes specific to risk profile, device type and state.
By vertically integrating the company’s proven enterprise technology in a consumer application, and quickly taking the technology to market, Manifold helped the company maximize its impact in a crowded space.
As a result, the company captured new parts of the value chain and created significant new revenue streams within a few years, after proving product-market fit in less than a year. With an attractive balance sheet, the company was ultimately acquired by a large warranty firm for hundreds of millions of dollars.
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