2018 Woman Influencer Anneliese Olson continues to take steps in the right direction.
During HP Inc.’s (HPI) Annual Reinvent Conference in Houston this past spring, I caught up with The Cannata Report’s 2018 Woman Influencer Anneliese Olson, general manager and global head of home printing solutions at HP. The engaging and conversant Olson and I chatted about what she’s been up to since we first met in person on the set of last year’s Women Influencer shoot.
It all started with a focus on the gig economy, which ultimately resulted in Olson, her colleagues, and HP team developing and launching the HP Tango, the world’s first smart home printer last fall. While reputable media sources ranging from the Atlantic to Entrepreneur to Forbes and beyond have different perceptions regarding the gig economy, most predict it will comprise somewhere between 33% to 50% of the workforce by 2023. With Olson’s leadership, HP developed and launched the Tango in large part to serve this segment.
Prior to Tango’s development, HP orchestrated its largest customer segmentation effort. Over the past seven years, representatives from the company have spoken to 22,000 customers and examined how they were printing, what they were printing and what documents they were using. Based on the resulting data, HP developed a strategy anchored by three pillars of innovation: design, experience, and simplicity.
Tango’s design component encompasses sleek style and compact configuration, along with modern touch and interfaces. The printer’s experience component pertains to how the device makes a user’s life easier, for example, how the device saves users time and money.
Lastly, Tango’s simplicity component encompasses features such as instant ink. With this component, the printer automatically orders supplies for users. They simply sign up, and Tango orders ink at a pace aligned with individual user tendencies. Another more substantial aspect of this value proposition is that the program reduces user printing costs by half.
As opposed to some algorithm of U.S. data, “…it has AI, and over time, it learns [user] behavior [so] you never run out of ink,” Olson commented. “Ultimately, Tango reduces tasks for our customers by 50%, because it [serves as their] admin, IT, office manager, assistant, and much more. If we’re going to say [Tango] is Smart, it has to work. [That] means behind the scenes, it’s always self-healing. It’s Wi-Fi [and] always online. It’s an IoT device. It’s a secure device.”
According to Olson, Tango’s simplified value proposition is really resonating with customers.
While Tango certainly may not make sense for a conventional or evolving dealer model, dealers should be aware of the statistics and predictions pertaining to the gig economy, as well as the type of technology HP has developed, as they continue to position themselves for the future.
In closing, Olson added, “We continue to grow market share around the world, so you’ll see a lot more from us soon!”
Based on Olson’s solid reputation, all of us in the imaging industry can continue to learn something of value by following strategic developments she will continue driving at HP.
