Each day a company will launch a new product, but is the product just a variation of a current concept or actually new and exciting?
You dream of becoming a great success story, but more time than not, products that are a variation of another, successful results do not always follow.
What problem will your product solve?
- There are numerous reasons a company will invest in development and marketing of a new product, here’s a few:
- Increase product capacity in a facility to realize reduced cost
- A certain category is trending and wants to enter the space before it no longer popular
- Current product lines are generational and losing sales ground to newer products
- A product is requested by a very large and loyal customer
- Is unique and solving a problem
In my opinion, the last one is what can cost the most in the launch and advertising support, but being a trendsetter product for others to copy will offer the greatest potential of investment return and potential to be purchased by a company.
It’s easy to simply clone a popular product and market it as different, but at the end of the day it’s what I call “simply another vanilla ice cream”.
Why are there more copycat products than innovative ones?
Basically, it can boil down to the amount of funding it will take to market until it catches on. The overall risk v. reward outcome over a period of time.
Let’s look at what I consider innovators of the time and many before social media assistance:
- Häagen-Dazs – 1976 – super premium ice cream with a catchy name without meaning
- Snapple – 1980’s – upscale fruit and tea beverages to be an alternative to soda pop
- Red Bull – 1987 – marketed as a energy sport drink to enhance performance
- Famous Amos Cookies – 1975 – good cookies promoted by the owner and various celebrities
- TCBY – 1981 – frozen yogurt shops as the alternative to eating high fat ice cream
- Halo Top – 2012 – low calorie dairy dessert alternative to high calorie ice cream
- Talenti – 1990’s & brought to the US in 2003 – considered the creator of gelato, a fresh product later developed for grocery sales to enjoy later
- Tofutti – 1981 – soy based frozen dessert as an alternative to dairy based desserts
In the past called innovators, is now termed a disruptor. Call it any marketing term you want to, but what did the innovators have in common?
Introduce a product that cannot be compared to another, brilliant then and still brilliant today.
Just when you thought a product concept was exhausted, another is announced.
Beyond Meat is a prime example of creating a category within a category. Meatless products were already leading in the space such as the Veggie Burger, but Beyond took meatless a step further, by creating a product with the texture and flavor of hamburgers.
Red Bull is an example of launching an innovative product but pushed with a unique marketing strategy. Instead of meeting with grocery buyers, the company targeted college parties, libraries, coffee shops, bars, and other places where 18 – 35-year-old males hung out and provided free samples, “they placed a new product right in the target consumer’s hand”.
For retail stores, they approached large drug store chains, offering a small countertop refrigerated case to display the small cans and came with support management by the driver 1 – 2 times per week.
Instead of waiting to be worked onto a display planogram, they created their own space using a 24 sq in cooler, that could be placed anywhere in the store wherever an electric outlet was available. Brilliant!
If you look at the Halo Top model, a mediocre product was created but took specific nutritional values like calories per container and prominently placed front and center on the front of the container.
Prior to this, calorie, fat, and other nutritional information was located on the back of a container, but with new label laws coming out requiring manufacturers to list values per serving and per container, so took the premise to a new market level.
Race to the Bottom became a tagline, suggesting eating the entire pint without guilt because you know the total number of calories. Brilliant!
I want to be as successful as Ben & Jerry’s!
A statement made by almost every start-up.
In today’s marketplace with overnight expectations, I seriously doubt today many would make the investment in time and dollars that B&J did to become a household name. For them, it took many many years of hard work, much rejection, and thousands of dollars to later become a known brand.
A Myth – Success is not an overnight endeavor.
If you don’t believe me just read about Sara the creator of Spanx.
“Find your why.” “Don’t be afraid of failure.” “Persistence is key.”
If you have a product that will disrupt the market or be an improvement of existing ice cream or non-dairy frozen products, contact Darryl.
He can help you achieve your dream come true in a realistic period of time.
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