So What Does Nook Want To be When It Grows Up?

The news that Barnes & Noble’s losses in its Nook Media division will be higher than the previous year and that revenue projections for 2013 will come in significantly below forecast, raises the question of whether it is positioned to slug it out with the technology giants, expand internationally, or whether at some time soon it will have to exit the device market and focus on its content?

Only last year it secured an attractive partner and cash from Microsoft and later Pearson bought a 5% stake in Nook Media. So is this a blip, or a serious issue?

This dilemma was covered by the New York Times in their article ‘Barnes & Noble Weighs Its E-Reader Investment.’ They questioned whether the losses signalled ‘that the digital approach that Barnes & Noble has been heavily investing in as its future for the last several years has essentially run its course.’

The question is whether a move away from, what after all, was never their core competency or strength - technology engineering, to what is their core strength - trading content, will work with the market, their partners and the consumers?

If we look at the market Nook appear to have the bases covered with their platform and devices and content on offer, but have they?

First, we have said before that neither the Barnes and Noble or the Nook brand is well know outside of the US and their launch into Europe last year was too low profile and far too late. The ebook business is a global business and sitting in the US and expecting instant recognition could prove a fatal error of judgement.  If we were to ask consumers on the main city streets of Europe even today if the knew of Nook or Barnes and Noble, what would be the response? If we asked the same people the same question about Apple and its iPad, Amazon and Kindle and even Samsung and Galaxy the results are almost certain to be very different.

This would not be the same in the US, but although Barnes and Noble have dominated the book market, they have failed to dominate the ebook or device market. Is there any reason to believe that, if they can’t do it at home, they can did it abroad? Being a follower isn’t always good in a rapidly changing and costly market. Barnes and Noble are not technology innovators and also do not have the deep pockets of their competitors. Apple have their own environment which is constantly being fuelled by ‘fans’ and is about a family of strong global brands. They sell, or facilitate the sale of content and apps on the back of a robust end to end technology range. Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer of ‘stuff’ and have created an effective marketplace and service offer. They sell technology and services to effectively ‘lock in’ consumers to their ‘one stop shop’ marketplace. Samsung are like Apple, but are today’s leader of the significant Android pack and have yet to really score on the content side. They are clear leaders and are heavily tracked by a host of technology players. Blackberry and Sony are fast becoming an ‘also rans’. Microsoft have the ability, but often lack the execution. If the Slate would have been a full Windows 8 device and not yet another deviant the story may be different even today.

We must also remember that Barnes and Noble / Microsoft partnership which married an Android based technology Nook platform with a Windows 8 one with its own Slate device running under Windows 8RT. Not exactly a compatible marriage. Imagine feeding those profiles into an online dating agency and expecting to find the love of your life!

At the core of this turmoil is the reality, that even tablets as we know them today may well be transient. As the mobile range of devices continues to converge and more intuitive devices such as glasses and watches emerge to connect to mobile servers and the cloud, do we honestly think the Nook has the legs to compete as it stands today?

Nook Media needs to shift itself fully to cover what it says on the can – media. It is still in a strong position to build a retail, library, education offer that is device agnostic and free of the cost of competing with giants, yet agile and canny enough to licence and brand build a true competitor to Amazon. Consumers increasingly want a seamless one stop trusted shop that covers media.  

Although Kobo now has deeper pockets and is backed by a media giant it faces the same challenges and same opportunities. They do have a better global presence, but do not have the right market awareness and perception today. Consumers recognise that technology isn’t for life but they want to know that their chosen platform will be around for some time.

We hope that Barnes and Noble decide what they want to be when they grow up and effectively communicate it and take some fast and bold steps to set the on that path.