Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Frito-Lay Lemonade. Noxema Solid Anti-perspirant Deodorant.Ben-Gay Aspirin. Surprised you've never heard of theseproducts? You shouldn't be--after less-than-phenomenal sales,these name-brand products were shelved for good.
If a huge company with a famous name behind it can't launcha successful product, what does this mean for you, the independentwho doesn't have millions to back your product? According toRobert M. McMath, author of What Were They Thinking? MarketingLessons I've Learned From Over 80,000 New-Product Innovationsand Idiocies (Times Books, $23, 800-733-3000), anyone launchinga successful product should have an original idea, be prepared todo a lot of research and be ready for a big struggle.
As founder of the New Products Showcase and Learning Center inIthaca, New York, a product-consulting firm that's amassed anextensive collection of grocery-store products spanning 30 years,McMath has witnessed the rise and fall of thousands of products.Here's his take on the most common mistakes new-productentrepreneurs make--and how to avoid them.
1. Good product? I can do it better. No, you can't,cautions McMath. "Too many `me-too' products is the mainreason so many products fail." During the mid-'80s, asmall company introduced California Coolers on the market. Soon,McMath recalls, there were more than 150 companies marketing winecoolers. How many do you think were stocked on supermarket shelves?Hard to tell, but you can bet it wasn't 150. Find out whatpeople want instead of what they already have. Get off the"trendwagon" and create your own product frenzy.
2. No, really, we're the first. "[Entrepreneurs]aren't doing enough research. They don't know what'shappened in the past," says McMath. "We're seeingpeople launch products that were done 10 years ago with no ideathat anybody had ever done it." If you research your productcategory, you may find your "unique" product is alreadyout there or maybe did poorly in a previous incarnation.
3. What do you mean, margins? McMath recalls anBIZ Experiences looking for advice on selling his sports-equipmentinvention. McMath asked him what he was charging for the product,and the young man said $15. How much did it cost to make? $11."I said, `Don't you know anything about margins? In asporting goods store, they'll expect [about] 50 percent of the$15. [To profit,] you'd have to charge $30 or $35. Will yourproduct support that price?" The BIZ Experiences didn't knowbecause he'd never researched the product's viability inthe sporting goods market. "You should be asking what[customers] expect to pay for it, where they expect to buy it, andwhat the margins will be," he says.
4. Trademark? What's a trademark? At a trade show,McMath told an exhibitor she was advertising with anothercompany's trademarked slogan. Yep, you guessed her reply:What's a trademark? Apply for a trademark and patentbefore you start marketing. McMath advises hiring the bestattorneys to ensure you get a strong patent that will hold up incourt if ever challenged.
5. Sure, I'll send you a sample right away. McMathestimates 95 percent of the companies he requests samples fromnever send them, missing out on the free publicity he offers byusing product samples in his articles, speeches and showcase.Follow up on your leads, and make sure your marketing materialsinclude all the pertinent contact information so you can be foundif you do "forget" to send the sample.
6. No, I've never sold one, but it's a fabulousproduct. Prove yourself before you try to meet with largedistributors or buyers. Sell your products in local stores, set upa Web site, create a catalog. Use these sales to prove there'sinterest in your product. (Who knows? You may even make enoughprofit on your own to ditch the whole distributor/major-store routealtogether.)
Some 25,181 new consumable products were released in 1998,according to Marketing Intelligence Service, a new-productreporting service for the packaged-goods industry. McMath estimatesthat the average supermarket stocks between 10,000 and 15,000products.
Releasing a new product takes more time than you'll everimagine and more money than you want to imagine. But thatdoesn't mean it can't be done. So remember, if you want tostand out in this enormous crowd, you've got to have a uniqueproduct, a creative marketing strategy and a savvy businesssense.
Contact Source
New Products Showcase and Learning Center, http://www.showlearn.com
