Comments on: Kobo in Canada: A Triumph in Marketing? http://www.teleread.com/ereaders/kobo-in-canada-a-triumph-in-marketing/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:23:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Running Man http://www.teleread.com/ereaders/kobo-in-canada-a-triumph-in-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-1224932 Running Man Fri, 21 Dec 2012 06:30:58 +0000 http://www.teleread.com/?p=75261#comment-1224932 Kobo makes a decent product and has a decent ebook store. I am happy that Kobo is the dominant player in Canada. Amazon is very overrated by you pundits out there in USA. Also,the Sony Ereader is strong in Canada. Not everything revolves around USA. Kobo makes a decent product and has a decent ebook store. I am happy that Kobo is the dominant player in Canada. Amazon is very overrated by you pundits out there in USA. Also,the Sony Ereader is strong in Canada. Not everything revolves around USA.

]]> By: devini http://www.teleread.com/ereaders/kobo-in-canada-a-triumph-in-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-1222075 devini Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:21:31 +0000 http://www.teleread.com/?p=75261#comment-1222075 I'd like to know if Kobo is also paying those other companies like Amazon to stay out of the Canadian market. And, if Kobo is in collusion with the Canadian gov't to keep those other companies out of Canada. Just curious. I’d like to know if Kobo is also paying those other companies like Amazon to stay out of the Canadian market. And, if Kobo is in collusion with the Canadian gov’t to keep those other companies out of Canada. Just curious.

]]> By: Alexander Inglis http://www.teleread.com/ereaders/kobo-in-canada-a-triumph-in-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-1222010 Alexander Inglis Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:43:05 +0000 http://www.teleread.com/?p=75261#comment-1222010 Nope, you're not the only person who knows flyers are funded by product vendors. It's a meaningless metric to judge marketing success by. But it is a very good measure of the commitment Kobo has to spend so much to remain top of mind. But it doesn't deflate the core argument: in Canada, Kobo has the market to itself because Amazon does not sell here (and made only a single half-hearted attempt to seed the market at The Source) except through its US website (not available at amazon.ca); Barnes and Noble does not sell Nook in Canada or even to Canadians; and Sony is an increasingly less funny joke when it comes to its withering remnant of an e-reader business. Kobo is sensibly filling in the vacuum. It helps that the products continue to evolve and deliver to customer expectations in price, book selection, dedicated device software and cross-functional apps. Pursuing international markets has given it a leg up in many different markets and helps fund further development and expansion. To date, Rakuten seems quite content to continue investing in the platform. If you've used the Kobo Glo or recent Android apps, you'll see how strong a product it is. Nope, you’re not the only person who knows flyers are funded by product vendors. It’s a meaningless metric to judge marketing success by. But it is a very good measure of the commitment Kobo has to spend so much to remain top of mind.

But it doesn’t deflate the core argument: in Canada, Kobo has the market to itself because Amazon does not sell here (and made only a single half-hearted attempt to seed the market at The Source) except through its US website (not available at amazon.ca); Barnes and Noble does not sell Nook in Canada or even to Canadians; and Sony is an increasingly less funny joke when it comes to its withering remnant of an e-reader business.

Kobo is sensibly filling in the vacuum. It helps that the products continue to evolve and deliver to customer expectations in price, book selection, dedicated device software and cross-functional apps. Pursuing international markets has given it a leg up in many different markets and helps fund further development and expansion. To date, Rakuten seems quite content to continue investing in the platform. If you’ve used the Kobo Glo or recent Android apps, you’ll see how strong a product it is.

]]> By: Lucy http://www.teleread.com/ereaders/kobo-in-canada-a-triumph-in-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-1222003 Lucy Mon, 03 Dec 2012 20:31:08 +0000 http://www.teleread.com/?p=75261#comment-1222003 Erm...am I the only person who knows that marketing execs at Kobo PAY those retailers to have that much space in the flyers? Just like food company execs pay grocery stores for prime shelf space, electronics companies pay for flyer space. I'm not really understanding how more flyer space = KOBO is the #1 e-reader in Canada. That's like seeing BMO sponsor the Argos and thinking, "Boy, the Argos must really love banking with BMO." Erm…am I the only person who knows that marketing execs at Kobo PAY those retailers to have that much space in the flyers? Just like food company execs pay grocery stores for prime shelf space, electronics companies pay for flyer space. I’m not really understanding how more flyer space = KOBO is the #1 e-reader in Canada. That’s like seeing BMO sponsor the Argos and thinking, “Boy, the Argos must really love banking with BMO.”

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