The innovators and entrepreneurs among us know that a great idea for a product sometimes fails to realize its potential. Anyone who has come up with, designed, or developed new products knows this only too well. The product may function precisely the way it is supposed to; it might look great and fulfill a useful purpose; but if the marketing campaign used to promote the product is flawed, the product may as well be relegated to the dustbin — or to an advertising museum dedicated to fabulous flops.

You may say that this hardly seems fair, and you’d be right. Why should a great product fail simply because the advertisements used to market it fail to resonate with consumers? Are faulty packaging and promotion really enough to derail an otherwise superior product?

You bet they are. Just ask the people behind Betamax.

Why Product Launches Fail

It’s easy enough to visualize a small company having this kind of difficulty. Smaller companies generally do not have the deep pockets of larger organizations. As a result, their advertising and marketing budgets are smaller and they are less able to saturate the market with news of their brilliant innovation. Maybe they don’t have the funds to do adequate market research before launching their product. Perhaps they skipped earning a marketing degree for other, much less educational exploits. Whatever the case, smaller companies should never shy away from their innovative ideas. The product they develop may very well become the next big thing, and if it doesn’t they will be in very good company.

New Coke Spawns New Troubles for Coca-Cola

That’s because sometimes the really big companies fail spectacularly with a new product. And occasionally failure comes with a new version of an old product. Cast your mind back to the banner year of 1985 and the launch of the new Coca-Cola beverage. The powers that be at the soda pop powerhouse had noticed in recent years that their share of the market had been steadily slipping. Pepsi was breathing down their neck with campaigns like the Pepsi Challenge that were winning over consumers.

Coke started scrambling for answers and finally hit upon a solution: New Coke! The new product hit shelves in late April of 1985. By mid-June of the same year devotees of the brand were engaged in widespread boycotts. People were hoarding “old Coke” against the day when the original formulation would no longer be available. In some circles the taste of New Coke was being compared to sewer water and worse. New Coke was an unqualified disaster.

Coke might have fared better with their reformulation had they taken a different marketing approach. As a company that produces products often associated with nostalgia, Coke might have been able to succeed with New Coke if they had marketed it as the drink of choice for up and coming generations. Instead, tinkering with a sentimental favorite caused an unfavorable uproar among the brand’s biggest fans. Their take on the whole debacle was: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

Baby Food For Adults and Yogurt for Hair

Of course, Coca-Cola isn’t the only well-known brand to ever have a product fail big time. Ever heard of Gerber’s Singles for adults? Imagine an entrée, like beef burgundy, served in a jar that is reminiscent of those used to hold baby food. Then plaster a label across it that loudly proclaims “SINGLES.” It turns out that consumers resented being reminded of their singlehood, and the idea of eating out of a baby food jar just wasn’t as appealing as Gerber thought it would be. Go figure!

And what about Clairol’s Touch of Yogurt shampoo? It debuted in 1979 and was almost immediately taken off the market. It seems people just didn’t take to the idea of spreading thick white yogurt on their scalps, no matter how beneficial it might have been. Some critics suggest that with a different name the fate of the yogurt-based shampoo might have been vastly different. Unfortunately we, and Clairol, will never have the chance to find out.

Good Product, Bad Marketing

The list of mega failures goes on and on. Once there were Polaroid Instant Home Movies and quadraphonic audio equipment. At one time you could buy a brand new DeLorean or a Ford Edsel. You might have watched a few games of the World Football League or even considered buying IBM’s PCjr. Each product had major companies behind it and each one failed in grand style.

In most of these cases, however, there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the product. Sometimes the problem was a confusing or unappealing name. Other products suffered from packaging debacles or advertising campaigns that were directed at the wrong market. So for anyone who thinks that marketing doesn’t matter or that advertising is all just a bunch of hogwash, think again. A smart marketing campaign, a lot of product research, and some forethought given to product naming and packaging just might save your new product from going the way of the dinosaurs.

Andy Wallner is a freelance writer and web developer that specializes in providing information to students considering a marketing degree, or interested in online and offline marketing information. In his free time, Andy enjoys kayaking, playing trombone in a local jazz band, and learning CSS.

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Image credit: http://www.businessinsider.com/major-food-flops-2011-1?op=1

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There are certain situations when a firehose makes sense. Like when a building is in flames. Or when a new inmate just needs the initiation of being blasted with prison water.

Of course, in those situations, you don’t worry too much about the collateral damages. Furniture gets drenched. Floors get flooded. Prisoners feel the stinging pain of pressurized water.

Marketing With a Firehose

You’ve heard the term “drinking from a firehose,” yes? It’s not a good idea. And yet it’s often the default choice of promotional communication we marketers take. Huge event launches. Super Bowl ads. Crazy Twitter campaigns. We focus a year’s worth of effort on a week’s worth of launch.

And then we just hope it sticks.

Maybe your marketing communication needs more dripping faucets. Constantly, consistently dripping.

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I’ve been a part of lots of product launches. Over the past six years, it’s safe to assume I’ve helped launch more than 50 new products, and about the same in campaigns, promotions and sales initiatives. 

Most companies focus on the launch. They pour months into it, resources into it, and hopes into it. Then, they take it all away about two hours after the launch, and start working on the next big thing. 

Why do we do this? I think there are four main reasons:

1. We expect a return on our investment way too soon. 
2. We (the launchers) get bored with the whole thing by the time it’s launched. 
3. We launch way too much stuff. 
4. We assume our customers will get it right away. 

This is why Advertising frequency is king. No point having a big launch campaign if our prospective new customers aren’t looking on that occasion. For entrepreneurs, the big launch concept is a hoax – It’s unsustainable. Like an exercise regime- it’s far better to do an hour workout everyday, than to do a 5 hour gym session on a Saturday.

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Since starting my new job with NCH Corp. back in July, I’ve primarily had one major responsibility: The Skeeter Defeater Mosquito Defense Unit. I haven’t been able to fill any of you readers in on it until now, so I wanted to take the first opportunity I had to introduce you to the best mosquito killer on the market (yes, I’m biased).

The launch has had more obstacles than the Eliminator on American Gladiator, and there have been more lessons learned than Bill Nye the Science Guy could’ve ever conjured up. And there’s still a lot more to go. For one, I’ve never done much work with retail before, so interacting with buyers and manufacturer’s reps has been amazingly tedious and occasionally difficult. But we’re getting there.

Quickly, here are the main points about the Skeeter Defeater:

1. It’s a mosquito killer, not a mosquito repellent. There’s a big difference there, as you can read here at SkeeterDefeater.com.
2. It sprays automatically at dusk and dawn. The Dispenser incorporates a DUSK/DAWN sensor to actually measure the sunlight every day, spraying when mosquitoes are the most exposed – at dusk and dawn.
3. It kills mosquitoes on contact using pyrethrin, a botanical insecticide.
4. It covers up to 300 square feet, perfect for porches, patios, decks, etc.
5. It’s portable and battery-powered. You can take it just about anywhere – can’t say that about the big systems.

Obviously, you can read all about it on the website, and contact me or leave a comment with any questions. This year will be a limited launch, with most of our focus being in Texas, learning what we can so we can really launch nationwide next year. However, you’ll find it in random hardware stores all over the country currently, and in SkyMall magazine (if you ride American, you’ll see it on the cover for another month).

While I’m definitely proud of the work that’s been done on it so far, there’s still a long way to go. If you’ve got feedback or ideas, you know I’d love to get it. Drop me a line, tell me what you like, what you hate, and what you don’t understand.

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Steve makes three solid points that are Post-It Note worthy. It’s an excellently succinct philosophy.

The one that made me really stop and digest was this one:

Perfection does not exist . . . only chasing it does.

I’d add to it that you can’t possibly know what perfection to even chase until you’re in the middle of the chase, not before. 

Jump in, make changes and repeat.

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If you’ve ever read much Seth Godin, you know how much of a fan of Little Miss Matched socks he is. And he writes about them here in a way that can really clarify the beauty of a niche and the danger of mass popularity.

His key points on product marketing/development:

• The product is the marketing.
• Choose a hive of people who seek out products like yours and then talk about them.
• Be true to what you stand for.
• It’s okay not to be serious, especially if you’re selling a want, not a need.
• Be patient. The market will find you.

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Found a great new blog today with a post focusing on “Is find a need and fill it bad marketing advice?”

This post really takes the same slant as my Need vs. Want post from a few weeks ago, but I think it might clarify the point a bit more.

Here are my favorite points:

• “Find a need and fill it … that is the key to successfully marketing a business.” – Someone who needs to be slapped around a little bit.

• People price shop for what they need, and even that makes them grumpy. People pay premium prices for what they want, and they love it.

I work at a company that markets nutritional supplements. You can imagine how many products that all of us feel people need, but they still aren’t great sellers. I’m convinced everyone on the face of the planet needs calcium supplementation, but it’s not really something most of us want, right? However, give people something that burns fat and allows that to eat whatever they want and they won’t gain weight, and they’ll go crazy for it. Cuz they want that.

Answering the question of “Will people want this?” is one of the fundamental gatekeepers of any product development strategy.

Thanks to David for pointing the way on the batch of links that included this little morsel.

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It is much harder to market something people need versus something people want. For most people, need isn’t enough to convince them to get what you got. They must want it. And it works best when it’s their idea that they want it.

If you can make a product that people already want without you having to convince them, you are light years ahead of the game.

Similarly, if you can effectively engage an audience that already wants your product rather than target an audience that requires you to educate them on why they need it, you’ll save a lot of time and have a much better return.

Who wants what you’ve got? How much time are you spending with them? Do you even know how to find them?  

Update: Seth says it very well with his post on finding the people who naturally want to say “YES!”

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Do you notice how often we love to respond to situations with “No news is good news”?

Discontinue a product, turn over a creative brief, launch a new product, write a press release. Then, after talking to your sales force or customer service folks, you find out you really haven’t received any feedback, and, more times than not, we’ll respond with “No news is good news.”

Then we’ll move on to the next thing, assuming all is well, sticking to the time-tested, age-old adage that no feedback is the same as good feedback. I mean, only the complainers give you feedback; those pleased with what you’ve done live on in silent bliss, right?

Wrong.

No news is never good news. Especially in today’s culture. Especially with blogs, youtube, myspace and all the other Web 2.0 stuff that’s enhancing business.

Here’s how I’ve seen it work (a.k.a. the mistakes I’ve made):

You’re a designer. Your client/boss gives you direction. You run with it, and like your idea so much that you don’t touch base with client, mainly because you really want to see this one fleshed out all the way, and really wow them on presentation day. Only problem is you will inevitably miss something big (or at least misinterpret direction), and the price for not touching base along the way will now become a huge issue.

You’re a manager. You turn over a project to a direct report, directing them to ask for help if they need. Otherwise, you look forward to a good job done on the deadline. You hear nothing, so you assume all is well (“no news is good news, right?). Then when the project is turned over, you find out your employee was either too scared or too inexperienced or too proud or too lazy to ask for help before, and now you’re stuck with what’s close to exactly what you did not ask for. Mainly because you did not inspect what you expect.

You’re a preacher. You give a sermon, and no one responds with comments as they’re leaving the church. You don’t get any nasty “I don’t agree with that doctrine” phone calls during the week. So you assume that no news is good news. Is it?

You’re a marketer. You launch a new product or service, and at the same time discontinue another product. You have your direct mail, your word-of-mouth, your brochures, everything lined up. You get decent sales to start, but no feedback. Customer Service isn’t getting any angry calls. So you assume that no news is good news. Is it?

You’re a blogger. You write, and read, and comment, and do everything a good blogger is supposed to do. You get some good traffic, but not too many comments. But that’s OK, cuz traffic = readers, right?

Here’s the bottom line: If what you’re doing doesn’t have people talking, then it’s not worth talking about. And no one sets out to create something not worth talking about. And if you’re not getting feedback, that is NEVER a good thing. In today’s society, there is a conversation going on about you and/or your product and/or your company. Just because they’re not telling you doesn’t mean it’s not happening. So we can’t stick our heads in the sand. We can’t lean on the assumption that “No news is good news.”

We have to find the conversations, and ultimately, partake in them. We have to offer something worth talking about. We have to facilitate the feedback.

Let’s stop fooling ourselves; no news is never, never, never good news.

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If your new product, new service, new book, new blog post, new whatever can’t make someone respond with “Holy Crap!,” then don’t expect big things out of it.

Does that mean you shouldn’t launch it at all? Lots of times it does. But not  always.

If it doesn’t ellicit a Holy Crap moment from your audience, just know that ahead of time and be content with the fact that your product is serving a purpose other than making you or your company noticeably better. These types of ideas have their place, but over time, if there’s never an idea that brings out a “Holy Crap!”  from your fans, then they will have no other choice but to start ignoring you.

Update: Here, Seth Godin has a great point from his Jan. 30 post about someone who’s not getting “Holy Crap” out of their audience. The best quote? “People don’t get laid off for messing up the planets. They lose their jobs because of boring marketing.”

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