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Hit the Market with Everything You've Got!
Part One
September 2008
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In this issue
-- "It's all in your mind."
-- Positioning a Frog as a Prince
-- Moral of the Story.
-- Revision and the Ford Edsel -- Where Does Your Innovation Fit? -- What is a Great Product? -- How is your product or service going to reach the customer? -- How many versions will you offer? -- One Brand Name or More? -- How about packaging? Will the packaging be as innovative as the product? -- How do you package a service? -- Installing an elevator in an old building? -- Exercise
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"It's all in your mind." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's all in your mind." That statement is
especially true when it comes to positioning
in marketing; how customers and prospects
perceive your offering determines their
feelings about them. Notice I said
"feelings" rather than "thoughts." Why?
Because, no matter how intellectual or
presumably logical the buying decision may
seem to be, the bottom line is that it is
primarily emotional. Determine how you
want your product or service to be perceived
then appeal to the corresponding
emotions. The following story
illustrates that point
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Positioning a Frog as a Prince ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two young women were backpacking through a
beautiful forest. As they came around a bend
in the trail, they came upon a lovely pond.
Sitting at the edge of the pond, however, was
the biggest, ugliest, meanest-looking frog
they had ever seen. Before they could react
to it, the frog leapt into the arms of the
nearest woman, smiled and said, "KISS ME.
I AM A PRINCE!"
With one hand, the young woman raised the frog up to her face. With the other hand, she slowly reached behind her shoulder and opened her backpack. Then quickly, she put the frog into her backpack and closed it! Stunned, her companion asked, "Aren't you going to kiss the frog? After all, he is a prince." "No," the young woman responded. "Princes are a dime a dozen these days, BUT A FROG THAT CAN TALK --- WE CAN MAKE A FORTUNE WITH THIS!!!"
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Moral of the Story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The frog did not position himself
properly; he misinterpreted the young
woman's dreams and priorities. He was
pitching an outdated romantic image; she was
seeing economic opportunity and the luxurious
lifestyle she might enjoy by marketing a
talking frog.On the other hand, the young woman might have done the frog a favor by positioning him economically rather than romantically. As a prince, he would have been exposed to court intrigue, plots, and possibly a violent "coup d'etat." This way, at least, he would be well cared for and protected economically for the rest of his life. Bottom Line: It is amazing what the right positioning can do. He should have offered her a job as his Marketing Manager.
"Revolutionary products don't fail
because
they are shipped too early. They fail
because they aren't revised soon enough"
After "The Three T's of Innovation: Test! Test! Test!" comes "The Three R's: Revise! Revise! Revise!" What good is testing if you don't use the feedback to revise and shape the final features and benefits of your innovative product or service? The customer is your best guide as to what will work or won't work in the market.
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Revision and the Ford Edsel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the most prominent new product
failures of automotive history was the Ford
Edsel. Actually, it was a very nice car,
and might have sold better under another,
more attractive name. What most people don't
know is that Ford Motor Company tested the
market extensively beforehand by conducting
extensive opinion surveys of a list of
possible names. They were able to narrow the
list to about 20 really hot names; in fact,
they were so good that Ford executives
couldn't make up their minds as to which was
the best. Obviously, that name was not on the list of suggested names from the survey. Further, the name was not tested in the market, so there was no feedback that might have indicated its lack of oomph and the need for revision. On September 4, 1957, the Edsel was launched with great pomp and bombast. It bombed, and the rest is history.
"To improve is to
change; to be perfect is to change
often."
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Where Does Your Innovation Fit? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In which quadrant does your product fit? The
competition's products?Note: Dots represent positions of competing products. 
It is important to determine how your
innovation products or services rank in terms
of their importance to the customer, and how
much they appeal to customer emotional needs
and desires. As you evaluate the feedback
from testing and analyze revision options,
your decisions should match customer
expectations.
As you look at the quadrants above, you may
also be able to identify gaps in the market
for additional innovative products and
services. You should also consider what
perceptions you wish to create in the
customer's mind, and how your revision
decisions might impact them. Depending on
which quadrant your product occupies, you may
wish to emphasize its importance in terms of
economics or quality of life. On the other
hand, if your product or service is purchased
mainly on appeal, you may want to concentrate
on increasing its attractiveness and even
sub-conscience influence.
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What is a Great Product? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As you conduct this analysis, think in terms
of what could make your product great one;
here are some of its qualities:
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How is your product or service going to reach the customer? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will you
Why not several of the above?
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How many versions will you offer? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Small, medium and large?Premium, mid-price, and economy? Professional, home, student? Beginners, proficient, expert? Local, regional, national? East, West, Mid-West? City, County, State? Consider establishing different versions of your innovation; that's what Microsoft does, and so do many other companies in a wide variety of industries.
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One Brand Name or More? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will you have only one brand, a separate
brand for the premium product, or separate
brands by type of distribution and region?
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How about packaging? Will the packaging be as innovative as the product? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remember, first contact comes through the
senses. What qualities, features and
benefits should your packaging offer? Do
everything you can to make that first
impression truly impressive!
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How do you package a service? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may ask, "But how do you package a
service?" Again, first contact is
important. If the service is personal,
appearance counts. If it is by
telephone, quality and tone of voice are
major factors. If it is by mail or
online, design can have an enormous
influence.
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Installing an elevator in an old building? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A famous American resort hotel was built
before elevators were available. In time,
however, despite its beauty, splendor, fame,
and wonderful location, customers began to go
elsewhere because they didn't want to climb
several flights of stairs to get to their
rooms. Engineers were called in to design a viable elevator system that would take care of the problem without any major restructuring. The engineers concluded that the only solution would be to destroy a complete block of rooms to make room for the elevators and their equipment. The hotel owners declared such an approach unacceptable; it was too costly and would detract from the elegance and style of the hotel. Yet, a solution was found. Can you guess what it was? (The answer to the elevator question appears at the end of the newsletter.) I strongly suggest you try the following exercise; it will help you to truly think out of the box.
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Exercise ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Years ago, a professor at MIT challenged
engineering students to design a vehicle for
aliens who physically resembled long-legged
birds. The winning design was an
"Eggmobile,: a car that had physical and
psychological characteristics that made it
attractive and gave comfort to bird-like
creatures. This exercise is designed to get you thinking differently about things that are conventional. Think through the following question then apply the lessons learned to your product. What qualities, features and benefits does an egg offer as a package? Write down your thoughts; you will be surprised by how many things you never thought of become vital to the egg performing its job.
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IMPORTANT FOR THE HEALTH OF YOUR IMAGINATION. From time to time, we all have problems creating new ideas, concepts, products, and services. There is no fertility pill that will help with " Creatile Dysfunction." However, there is a cybernetic equivalent of one. It is called 71 Creativity Triggers, a wonderful creativity stimulus and e-book that you can get by clicking here. The 71 Creativity Triggers are designed to help you break out of your creativity block, or Creatile Dysfunction when the imagination just plain refuses to produce new and exciting ideas and alternatives. Each of the 71 Creativity Triggers will get your imagination going by giving you a new way of looking at the problem you are trying to solve. Want to come up with lots of ideas? The 71 Creativity Triggers will open new doors and windows to different and better ideas. The more you use them and practice the suggested techniques, the more creatively productive you will become. They work especially well when you are trying to brainstorm with others. The 71 Creativity Triggers will not only arouse your imagination, but you won't have to consult a doctor if the stimulus lasts more than four hours. I know because I use them myself (testimonial). But wait, there's more! As a special bonus for purchasing the 71 Creativity Triggers, you can download a FREE E-BOOK, INNOVATE!!! 10 Keys to Successful Innovation. This Free E-Book will take you through the 10-step process that leads to wonderful new ideas and products. As someone once said, TRY IT - YOU'LL LIKE IT... and it's free!!!
As the hotel owners and the engineers were arguing while trying to find an acceptable solution to the elevator installation problem that wouldn't eliminate valuable room space, a hotel housekeeping employee was mopping the floors nearby. Hearing the discussion, under his breath he said, "That's dumb. Why don't they just put the elevator on the outside?" He was overheard, and that turned out to be the solution. If you visit the hotel today, you can see that the solution still works. Did the employee receive a reward? Nobody knows
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Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:
mykwyn@aol.com
phone:
(630) 420 2605
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