That's Great Idea. But I'd Rather Have One that Works

A nutritionist came up with the ultimate dog food and his co-workers liked the idea,
but it flopped. Nobody tried it on the dog.

You should shove a thousand pounds of opinions---“Hey that’s a great idea!” and
trade them for an ounce of behavior---“Yes, I’ll buy that.”

An article in the WSJ talked about some great new design successes, and they all
had one ingredient: they came from product users, not from an engineer’s dream:

Women said that a golf club maker’s six iron carried farther than their four
iron. So the line was redesigned so each club worked the way it should with
women - not with strong teen-aged men.

An auto maker discovered that the Chinese cared more about the comfort in
the back seat than in the front. They then reversed the priority in the design.
Some others are still learning.

Segway predicted sales of up to 100,000 a year, but they average under
10,000. “People found them impractical and couldn’t use them to replace
driving, walking or biking.”


The Susan B. Anthony silver dollar (1979) was supposed to replace dollar
bills, but no-one wanted to carry more coins. “That’s why people have
bowls full of change in their dressers.”

A dozen German car execs came over and virtually lived with American
drivers. They were astounded. We didn’t think of our cars as an ultimate
driving machine, but as our living rooms. Why? Because America is big and
it takes longer to get there. Voila, and duh!

I was asked by a restaurant owner to re-invigorate his sales plateau. I studied his
operation numbers, looked at his traffic patterns, and considered his attitude
research. I had no good ideas. So I sat in his place---ate, watched and listened.
Then the lights turned on for me. It had too many choices, and the essence was
hidden behind an abundance of signs and clutter. So my “marketing plan”
consisted of simplifying the menu, tossing ¾ of the signs, and having an intensive
effort against the hundreds of employees in the adjacent shopping center.

The sales took off to the point where the owner has enough revenue to attract a
buyer and sell the joint!

The point was he didn’t need a new product. He needed to sharpen the one he
had. He needed to define and build his brand.