Emotiv
Case

BACKGROUND: By October 2007, Emotiv Systems Inc. had developed a mind reading device called EPOC, which had the ability to process brain signals in order to measure 30 different mental states. Founded in 2003 (with $1 million in startup money from four partners and $17 million in additional financing mainly from Technology Venture Partners and Epicure Capital Partners), the company's research and development team incorporated existing electroencephalography technologies to introduce a relatively inexpensive and effective cognitive and emotional recognition system. Management at Emotiv believed that video gaming applications represented a solid opportunity for the EPOC technology. EPOC would allow gaming users to move …show more content…

EPOC also had favorable reviews at industry tradeshows. To gain more exposure, I would advise Emotiv to continue to appear at various tradeshows across the nation, and maybe even host their own conference. The high-profile 2008 Game Developer's Conference was five months away. Emotiv should use the event to demonstrate their breakthrough product and create enthusiasm by announcing a launch date. The holiday season would be strategic time to launch, as discretionary consumer spending increases during that time. Management's plan was to release EPOC for the 2008 holiday season, and I would encourage Emotiv to stick with that idea. As the company generates attention and increases awareness for EPOC, it will likely gain a partnership with a major console as they had been seeking. At that time, Emotiv could move from the niche hard-gamers segment to a mass marketing strategy that would also target casual gamers that play for entertainment and fun. The inroads created by their initial strategy can help the company achieve this goal. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION: The PC gaming market provides a solid first step for the company. There are significantly fewer barriers to entry in this market. Customers in the PC gaming market tend to be hard-core gamers that spend thousands of dollars upgrading their computers. As such, hard-core gamers would likely be the early adopters of EPOC anyway. In fact, the prospect of a brain