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Worried your product will be a bore to consumers who think they've seen it all before? A good marketing strategy will let you rest easy.
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Just because you think of a stellar idea doesn't mean
potential customers will embrace it. Inventors face many hurdles
bringing their products to market, especially when it's already
flooded with similar ideas. If you want to succeed, you've got
to convince buyers that your bright idea is better than the
products your customers already know and use. Linda May, 44, faced this situation when she and her partner,
Bob Kloczkowski, 50, introduced the "Save My Face!"
Pillow. Because so many other pillows had hit the shelves during
the past decade, the market first viewed May's creation as just
another therapeutic pillow. "[It's] actually a beauty
product," she says, "but people weren't seeing that
at all." Instead of providing neck comfort, the "Save My
Face!" Pillow promises to minimize facial creases. Now that
she's communicated that message to buyers, May's garnered
business from a profitable market segment: middle-aged men and
women nationwide who yearn to hold on to their youth as long as
possible. The Studio City, California, former massage therapist initially
met with resistance. Sales were only $40,000 in the first six
months of 2000. By the end of that year, however, sales rose to
more than $200,000. Part of that success resulted from getting the
"Save My Face!" Pillow into numerous catalogs, including
SelfCare, Solutions and Home Recovery. May has also
been able to position her product as an innovative new item by
selling through specialty outlets. Content Continues Below
Originally published in the February 2001 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine
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