Marketing Vs. Product: And The Winner Is...

...Marketing, of course!  (Okay, next time I'll try to give you a harder one.)

It seems that SolarCity Inc. has recently provided us with a prime example of the fact that innovative marketing can produce results far greater than innovations of the technologies to be marketed.  Taken to its next logical conclusion, the lesson here is once again that a combination of innovative technologies and innovative marketing can produce results that are quite spectacular.

SolarCity installs solar panels on residential housing units... nothing so technologically advanced about that these days, although advances in materials, etc. are indeed important in the solar panel business.

SolarCity recently announced that is will begin selling asset-backed securities that are based on its leases to its residential customers.  SolarCity's stock price surged more than 12% on the news, bringing its stock price to nearly six times what it was one year ago.

This phenomenal success is largely due to SolarCity's business model, which entails leasing its solar equipment to homeowners rather than trying to sell the expensive installations at a time when homeowners are hard-pressed to get loans.  Now, the newly created asset-backed securities present another means for SolarCity to make money... SolarCity has essentially created a lucrative new product for sale, which is bundled leases of SolarCity installations, sold as securities!

It of course remains to be seen how these securities perform for purchasers in the long term, but SolarCity is making out quite nicely in the meantime. 

I am not suggesting that you enter the risky world of high-finance, but I am suggesting that you consider implementing innovative marketing if you really want to bust out!