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How not to market a product 101

In today's Advertising Age, Al Ries writes a great article on how many marketers focus too much on a product rather than the consumers' perception of the product in the market as a whole.  Ries refers this broad approach as an "holistic" approach gives some great examples that really got me thinking about our own approaches to products:

Tiger Woods
Do you really think a guy who made $115 million last year drives a Buick? Based on the fact that Buick's sales have dropped each of the past five years, my bet is that you think Tiger probably drives a Merc, a Cadillac, or probably a Bentley. Great spokes person, wrong product for him.

Coca-Cola
Coke gives you a big refreshing punch of sugar and caffeine. Diet Coke gives you no calories but makes you think you are getting a big refreshing punch. Coke C2 gives you... what? I'm not sure, and based on sales, nor are you.

Red Bull
Do Red Bull drinkers care about calories? Doesn't "energy drink" stand for "massive dose of calories" (i.e. sugar)? That's the reason Red Bull sold in small cans, because its syrup and caffeine, right? So what do you think the market demand is for Sugar-Free Red Bull? And for the not so swift consumers out there, humm, if there is a sugar-free Red Bull, how much sugar is there in regular Red Bull? Hey, this stuff isn't so healthy.

Campbell's Soup
Same problem here, if there is a Low Sodium soup, then the regular soup must contain an entire salt-lick. If there is a "chunky soup" then the regular soup must be thin. Mmmm mmm good, thin soup.

Charmin
We have the softest toilet paper. "Squeezably soft," remember. Oh wait, we lied, that regular stuff isn't so soft so we created "ultra soft." What's next, super ultra soft?

TAKE-AWAYS
Really think about your entire market or product line when you do a line extension. Are your spokes people or reference cases credible? Does your new product fit a customer need in you product line, or does it just cast doubt on the strength of your your old product.

Again, what a great article.

posted 7:27AM 10/02/2008 by Erik Nilsson

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