Sea of the Same

So, one way to reach new audience is to launch new products to attract this new audience.  But there are countless problems with line extensions.  First of all, how uniquely different is this offering from the existing offering?  Is it truly attracting a new audience, or are you just asking your existing consumers choose?  For example, there are 62 different Oreo products, according to company website.  Does each one of these 62 product serve a specific purpose to attract a specific set of consumers…?

Worst yet, if the choices are not vastly different, you may be asking consumers to choose base on value.  For example, if your “new and improved” formula is not truly differentiating to your consumers, they may pick the cheaper “original” version.  In another scenario, if all SKUs look the same anyway, consumers may just pick up whatever is on promotion.  This trains consumers to shop on deals, which reset the price your brand is able to command.

So, the question becomes how to provide real choice to consumers?

 

 

This post was in part inspired by Tom Fisbourne’s post last week.  But I thought his Marketoon from 2003 illustrated the point even better.

Let’s get the discussion started.  Here are some tweetable bits:

Are you providing a real choice to your consumers?  http://bit.ly/w8cFKM @jeannie_chan

Are you seeing a sea of the same on shelf? http://bit.ly/w8cFKM @jeannie_chan

How to find more lovers?

I have been toying with an idea: a new direction for this blog.  Thus far, this blog has been random observations and lessons.  But a central theme in marketing has been resonating with me, and perhaps it’d be a good idea to have more posts surrounding this central theme. 

What’s this theme, you ask?

Love the Haters.

Since a brand cannot be everyone to everyone, by definition, it’s going to attract some people, and repel some people.  You know that you’ve achieved this if you have people who loves your brand AND if you have people who hates your brand.

I love this quote from Sally Hogshead, author of Fascinate:  “If you’re not generating a negative reaction from someone, you’re probably not fascinating anyone.”

But then… the question is… how do you grow?  If haters are supposed to stay haters, how do you attract more brand lovers?

Seth Godin today proposed the following:  “And the best plan for the insurgent brand? To find a smaller tribe, become the presumed winner there, and scale it up across tribes.”

The trick becomes how do you identify the next tribe…? 

That’s one of the many questions I’ve been pondering.  This blog will continue to explore this subject.  In the meantime, what do you think?

Let’s get this discussion going.  Here are some tweetable bits:

Love them brand haters.  http://bit.ly/Anhni0 @jeannie_chan

Where to find brand lovers?  http://bit.ly/Anhni0 @jeannie_chan

Photo credit: Nancy Everson

What does Occupy mean for marketers?

Occupy Wall Street has now been going on for a month and it’s still going strong. 

What does it all mean?  Hardly anyone knows.  My favorite sign was “We’re here.  We’re unclear.  Get used to it.”  (I wish I had a photo, but that particular protester was sitting on a main street which means no stopping for photographs.) 

Let’s have a look at the “official” definition of this event:

Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.

So, how is the rest of the world (or may even be part of the 99%) supposed to respond to this?

As marketers, how can we do our part to address the 99%?  99% is a lot of people.

The change this movement is looking for requires changes at the most fundamental levels of our government and economy.  It’s not going to happen overnight.  It’s also likely changes that most marketers have little power to actually influence, assuming you’re not part of the 1%. 

Basically, OWS wants a better government.  A better economy.  Or simply said, a better America.

Long term changes will take time.  But there are things that marketers can do in the short term.

Focus your messages on how your products make for a better America.  Chase cards have their call centers not in India but in Springfield (according to their recent TVC on talking to a live person and not a machine).  Auto manufacturers tells us they make their cars in the USA (even if they had traditionally been an importer). 

If your product is not making for a better America, well, you’re in trouble.

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