A number of years ago, Jell-O marketers were looking for a
way to expand volume for the brand's gelatin. The product
was one of the most profitable food products ever, but
volume growth was weak.
The marketers decided to follow gelatin purchasers into
their kitchens to see what they used the product for.
Undoubtedly, they expected to see moms and kids making
bowls of gelatin like their own moms once made for them.
Not so in some kitchens. Here, inventive moms put highly
concentrated gelatin into cookie cutter molds, and children
played with this new form of the well-known food before
eating it.
This investigation was the beginning of how the Jell-O
Jigglers promotion was ultimately developed. These
delightful edible toys made gelatin making and eating more
attractive for moms and kids, and helped the company by
encouraging a much higher use of their gelatin.
Companies that have active help lines and online bulletin
boards often get similar ideas from those sources. Many
businesses also hold customer councils of their largest and
most advanced users to find ideas to improve what they
offer. Be sure to also seek out nontraditional users to
find the most innovative opportunities.
Like the Jell-O example, some of the best ideas come from
trailing beneficiaries and customers around to see what
they do with the product and what other problems they have.
A patient was recently sent to the hospital for new types
of diagnostic tests. Settling down into a multimillion
dollar piece of equipment, the patient trustingly followed
the technician's orders to lie face down with a pillow for
comfort. Within 20 minutes, the pain in the patient's neck
became very unpleasant. Within 30 minutes, the patient was
losing feeling in the feet and legs. Within 40 minutes, the
patient asked to stop the test. Gutting it out for another
2 minutes, the test was completed.
The patient said that enough was enough. The technician
said that another 30 minutes was going to be needed
starting in an hour. The patient obligingly agreed to come
back as long as the test could be taken lying face up.
With that agreement, the patient came back and was told to
hold a certain pose while lying face up. Within 10 minutes,
new forms of pain came in waves. And so on. Face up was
even worse!
If any engineer had ever watched a patient suffer with this
expensive form of a medieval torture device, the engineer
would soon have figured out that no patient in his or her
right mind would ever agree to take that test again . . .
and would tell everyone to avoid that test like the plague.
Did any engineer ever try out this awful device? I doubt it.
Anyone who had ever seen a massage table would know that
great comfort can be provided for the face-down prone
position by putting in a cushioned holder that lets one's
face descend below table level while one's arms are either
prone next to the body or hang downward.
Such a solution would have provided blessed relief for
patients and probably boosted sales for the manufacturer by
hundreds of millions of dollars. Nonprofit
organizations can be equally insensitive.
In downtown Boston there's a homeless shelter that is open
during the days for women only. That rule is followed
because many of these women have been abused by men and
don't feel safe at shelters where men can come and go.
While visiting this shelter, it soon became obvious that
many women were reluctant to come in the shelter because
there were men lurking on the street near the entrance.
If the shelter's organizers had simply provided an imposing
female escort to help women enter and leave the shelter,
many more women would have spent the day inside on that
blustery December day.
Here are questions designed to help you uncover adjustment
opportunities for your offering.
What makes your offering
-boring?
-frightening to some people?
-painful or uncomfortable?
-embarrassing?
-sadden people?
-a needless expense for the user?
Act on what you find, and you can quickly expand the sales
or use of your offerings.
Copyright 2007 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved
----------------------------------------------------
Donald Mitchell is chairman of Mitchell and Company, a
strategy and financial consulting firm in Weston, MA. He is
coauthor of six books including The 2,000 Percent Squared
Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, and The Ultimate
Competitive Advantage. You can find free tips for
accomplishing 20 times more by registering at:
====> http://www.2000percentsolution.com .
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