Product Category Cross-Over
Sometimes a product is developed for one use and consumers find a new, completely different use for it — one which the original manufacturer never considered. This is known as product category cross-over.
I witnessed a unique example of the product category cross-over phenomenon, sighted at a local public market. The product was initially developed for small children, however, in this version it is used for small animals.
Customer is king, so he can decide to use the product however he darn well pleases. I couldn’t help thinking though, if dogs weren’t meant to walk, how come they come with four feet?
PS: Do you think his shirt intentionally matches the dog carrier?!
Marketing Used for Evil
I know a few people think marketing is evil because it’s designed to influence behaviour. Usually I disagree with them, though not categorically.
Marketing can be highly positive where it’s used as a tool to educate people about important issues, like back when we found out that eating a medium size bag of movie popcorn and a soda is equivalent to eating three McDonald’s Quarter Pounders and 12 pats of butter. That’s a good thing to know and educating the movie-popcorn-buying public resulted in immediate changes in how movie popcorn was made. Hurrah marketing.
Or the recent Method cleaning products commercial that educated while making us laugh and squirm, just a little.
Sometimes advertising — mistakenly equated with marketing — IS plain dumb, I’ll give you that. And dumb ads give all advertising, even the clever ads, a bad name.
But sometimes marketing and advertising go way beyond dumb. Take Dace, a local fashion label. Their new anorexic paper doll campaign is sure to be a winner. You can go to their website, download an anorexic paper doll, and then download a set of three fashion plates for your emaciated, famine-ravaged doll to wear.
I’d like a moment with the brilliant minds who ran with this idea and encourage them to give their collective heads a shake. In fact, I sent them an email:
“I’m appalled at your recent anorexic paper doll promotional campaign. Here’s something you may not have considered when you made that choice. Paper dolls are for little girls. Little girls are inundated with images telling them normal size is too big. Little girls grow up into young women who carry those beliefs with them. Are you hoping to reinforce the message?”
Dace blew a really great opportunity to showcase beauty, rather than an impossible beauty standard. I’m pretty disappointed that they haven’t moved beyond that whole illusion and taken a more enlightened stance. Instead, they are using advertising to perpetuate outdated views about beauty.
Two thumbs down for Dace.
If you want to give Dace two thumbs down too, you can email them at info@dace.ca, tell them on Twitter @daceclothing, or let them know via Facebook under “dace clothing.” Oh, and then there’s the old fashioned phone: 1.604.694.2442.
Make Learning (and Earning) More Fun
So far we’ve learned that ongoing learning is a MUST for business success.
- There are some things you’ll learn by trial and error and there are some things you can learn from other people’s mistakes. This is good, it saves you time and heartache.
- Knowledge comes in many different learning formats and flavours. Fantastic, variety is the spice of life.
- The more you know about your subject matter, the better decisions you’ll be able to make. Excellent, we want to make good decisions, see item 1 above.
Yes, you’ll need to learn stuff. But it may surprise you to know that it doesn’t have to be painful. Here’s how you can make your “lessons” a lot more fun than your high school English teacher ever thought possible:
- Choose to have a positive attitude and embrace that you don’t know. If you can let go of your (completely illogical) need for perfection and immediate competence, you might be able to lighten up and actually enjoy the process. Take a lesson from the way kids naturally learn when adults don’t get in the way. They explore, immerse themselves, and absorb knowledge while they play.
- Embrace your inner Curious George. Remember him? The monkey that got into trouble all the time? Well, note to self: he always managed just fine in the end. Take another lesson from kids and embrace your sense of wonder, no matter what the subject matter. Keep asking Why?, Why?, Why? and How come? and watch your innate sense of curiosity begin to wake up and embrace the joy of learning.
- Embrace the world as your classroom. In fact, get out of the classroom, your office, and the coffee shop altogether. For me, trips to my local farmers markets, artisan craft fairs, and cultural festivals are a great way to learn about consumer trends and see things from a new angle. I am always amazed, delighted, and inspired by the unending creativity I find there. Plus, I get to shop at “school”.
- Tap into new ideas and perspectives that challenge your usual way of thinking. It’s easy to get stuck doing the same old, same old. But there’s more than one way to do anything. Seek out alternatives that offer you a fresh outlook and a broader perspective. Find a website, a blog, or an alternative magazine and be open to acknowledging if not fully accepting others’ points of view. (TED Talks are a great place to start.)
You can ignore or fight the need to learn but it’s you and your business that will suffer. Instead, embrace learning but do it your way, in the kind of classroom that works for you.
Know Your Decision Maker
If you want to earn more, you’ll need to learn more, especially when it comes to your customer. It’s not even optional.
I don’t like when people who’ve only just met me make presumptions. They learn something about me and decide they know all about me. Doesn’t that just bug you?
One of my favourite stories happened when I was in my early 20′s and at a new job. A few weeks in, the gal training me said (word for word), “Wow, you’re blonde and you’re not even dumb!” As it was a new job and I wasn’t past my probation period yet, I refrained from stating the obvious comeback.
The presumptions that woman made were way off the mark, though at least she had the decency to ‘fess up and adjust her views. I am sometimes reminded of that incident when I ask myself what presumptions I’m making about a situation or when I’m looking for a solution that is not immediately obvious.
Don’t make assumptions about your customers! Even if you used to know what they wanted, when was the last time you really nosed around to confirm what your customers need and want NOW? And how could knowing more, NOT help you in making better business and marketing decisions?
The more you know about your customer, the more you can meet their specific needs. And people are willing to pay for solutions.
