The story of how an idea and a dream can change direction within two years
This is my Story
THE EVOLUTION OF A ONE-PRODUCT WEBSITE INTO SOMETHING MUCH GREATER!
This is the story of iTS COOLER, of how an idea and a dream can change direction within two years. I have been living in Thailand for seven years, to retire and take life a little bit easier after a lot of major personal changes. However I found the reality of changing from working fifteen hours a day and more to doing nearly nothing , very difficult. For nearly four years, I could live with it, and I met some great new friends from all walks of life. The days were punctuated by Starbucks sessions where we would all just meet, gossip, and catch up. But it did get somewhat boring and repetitive, and I started to get itchy feet, and to look for something to get involved in. One day, a good friend of mine asked me to help build a website to promote his product to a consumer market. It was called Nekooler. Although not the greatest of products, it did get my brain into gear, and I began seriously thinking of what I could do. Over a long business life, I had been involved in several innovative, major projects and I felt the adrenaline returning.
Soon, I came up with a concept to build an online retail platform for Thai nationals and expats living in Thailand, offering products which were not easily or readily available within Thailand. Brand products, personal delivery, without consumer worries of duties, taxes, import protocols, customs etc. By so doing, I am addressing two needs: helping brands target a new market in a very cost effective manner; solving the desires and problems of expats and Thai consumers who would like to easily buy from UK, Europe and the US.
So, we had the new product called Nekooler, and my longstanding company called iTS Trading. My idea of a simple fit was, drop the Nek, add the iTS, and hey presto, iTS COOLER was born. Development commenced of a luxury online department store offering luxury brands from Thailand, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and USA. In the fashion, homeware, beauty, and lifestyle sectors, from new and existing brands not easily available in Thailand. The shopping experience is to be fresh, exciting, relaxed, and supplemented by informative easy-reading newsletters, blogs and other marketing initiatives. And, we did it. We built a terrific app featuring extreme technology. We built the website. We attracted 30 or more top brands and put together a small dedicated team to raise awareness among more vendors and consumers.
However the reality was that this market was extremely hard to break. There is the reluctance of the brands coming on board to access a new market on a new platform.Then there’s the brands already represented in Thailand in a limited way, who are contractually not allowed to sell online. And the brands asking how many users do you have, how many brands do you have ? So much reluctance, so many objections, so many ‘chicken and egg’ conundra. However I tried to break these barriers down, I was hitting a brick walls. Although iTS COOLER is a fantastic sales platform, and an innovative marketing tool, gaining sufficient brand and consumer traction were proving steps too far. Also, we marketed the platform to brands only, not third party retailers or traders to maintain product standards. That didn't help. Unfortunately, the jigsaw that was to be the sum of it’s parts, never quite fitted together.
The vision I started with ten months earlier, and into which several investors had bought, was proving very difficult to put into practice. The main issue I was facing was: “ how can I attract users to iTS COOLER with limited brands to draw them in, and how could I do this in a cost-effective and sustainable fashion? ". There was no way I was going to spend cash on big advertising which I knew would prove to be a real waste! We had come so far – the app, the website, the 30 odd big-name brands. I was not going to to just let it die. And this is how an original idea can change direction.
One day back in September/ October 2017, I was looking at the platform considering the dilemma. I had what I believe was a flashbulb moment that will change the course of iTS COOLER: to bring in mass users from an associated but independent innovation, and link those users to the sales/marketing/shopping platform. The innovation was a website to incorporate all social media, newsfeeds, YouTube onto one page, one platform. I gave my designer Neil a call and said “I have another mad idea, what do you think?” And soon after, the concept called iTS COOLER+ was created.
The simple idea is that by building the iTS COOLER + users, I create the traffic. The brands like the traffic and come on board. Hey Presto, the jigsaw fits together. But as so often, one idea, one innovation, leads to another. The response to iTS COOLER +, and the natural evolution of the platform, has taken many twists and turns. The initial marketing of this new ‘ ALL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ON ONE SCREEN, ONE PLATFORM’ delivered high interest levels, and was worth pursuing. At the same time, the problems of adapting APIs and integrating Social Media apps was time consuming, complex and difficult. And then, at exactly the wrong time, the Spring 2018 data misuse scandal broke, coinciding with the new GDPR legislation.
Again, we found ways to adapt, make progress and hone the site towards beta readiness. We added multi-screen options, so users could have a mixture of videos, newsfeeds, Social Media, and other applications all showing at once. We added the Google browser. We are close to integrating a cloud TV platform, Instant Messaging and other AV apps.
Over a two year period, Nekooler morphed into iTS COOLER. This bore iTS COOLER+ , which has evolved from ‘all social media on one screen’ to a MULTI SCREEN, MULTI MEDIA, MULTI APP website. The first! And frankly, if we can pull this off, it will do much more that simply add users to the original iTS COOLER app. It has great potential, and was recently described by a prominent industry blogger who had a sneak preview, as possibly the ‘next gen web browser’. iTS COOLER + is now live in beta form, with around 100 focus group users from 14 nations worldwide – from The Americas, to Europe, Afghanistan and Asia.
What I have learned from this project is to be flexible, adaptable, forward and lateral thinking, and never stick to one direction when you need a new route to make your product a success. iTS COOLER and iTS COOLER + is not yet a success story. It is an evolution that has taught me much about keeping a very open mind! It is a metaphor for life! One thing I know, succeed or fail, iTS COOLER & iTS COOLER + has been the most amazing experience and has made me feel alive again.
I look forward to next part of the journey of iTS COOLER and iTS COOLER + . Please register to join our first 100 users and be part of my story!
www.itscooler.asia/plus
I look forward to next part of the journey of iTS COOLER and iTS COOLER +
Please register and be part of my story www.itscooler.asia/plus
Or Join my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/itscoolerplus/ or follow me on Twitter : https://twitter.com/ktiplc
I hope whoever reads this has enjoyed my little story.