People
Originally uploaded by The Kids and Kahlie
Some years ago while working on some training on advertising, I used to talk about how there is roughly 365 new skincare/ personal care products and extensions launched every year. This meant that on average your new product or extension would only be new for a day. As within 24 hours there would be something new. I realise now that this was a silly fact, as latest data shows that (despite the tough times) that some 850 new personal care products were launched a year. That means you are only new for less than half a day if you are lucky.....
And if you launch in the mass market channels in most countries, the launches are crammed into 2 launch cycles in most cases.
So when agencies talk about clutter, they really mean it. Not only is there clutter in the amount of messages but also the amount of news and new things for people to explore. No wonder the beauty care business can be so volatile...
But it does mean that whatever you do, you really do need to stand out and be noticed. Think about rush hour and the volumes of people getting on and off the Metro, the tube, the trains. The volume of news is like rush hour every day. You need to be able to be noticed and stand out in that sea of grey and similarity. Just like in rush hour, everyone tends to be very similarly dressed and deck out in whatever the latest colour and fashion is. This is what we all do when launching and marketing in our categories, we tend to feel most comfortable sticking with the trends, what the competition are doing. What has worked in the past..
To really stand out, you need to be different. Different enough to be noticed. But not different enough to not be appealing. A tough balance. But it has to be done. Especially when the other scary statistic is that up to 90% of new launches fail or fall well below expectations.
You need to be noticed in rush hour, as it is rush hour every day, twice a day when it comes to beauty care!
0 comments:
Post a Comment