On Sunday the much hyped "The Sun on Sunday" launched in the UK. This was News International's entry into the competitive and important Sunday newspaper market after they closed down the market leading "News of the World" due to the scandals and backlash to the phone hacking dramas.
By all accounts, the launch week was a great success with a claimed 3 million in sales. But should we consider this a success?
I think the launch is a good reminder of some of the important and key principles and things that marketers need to remember always as they work on products, and especially on new products and extensions. A sober reminder of some of the experiences in my career too.
The fact is that: it is relatively easy to get trial of something new. People are inherently curious and like to experiment and try out new things. And when there is huge hype, news, publicity and big offers and deals (like the 50p price of The Sun versus the normal £1 in the market) - people will likely flock to try it out.
If you throw enough money and get your message out there with the promise of some innovation, new benefit or new experience and have the distribution so people can access it - you are likely to get great trial.
This is not really a success. As they say, you can take a horse to water (but the key is can you get them to keep drinking it)..
The real success is if you can get repeat purchase once all the buzz, newness and excitement of trying something new passes.
To do this you need to have a great product that delivers (or exceeds) what it promises to deliver - and does it better or differently enough to the competition to make people want to keep coming back. Without this you are doomed.
I have to admit that there are a string of products that I have worked on over the years that we were able to create excitement for and we saw a booming uplift in the heady days of launch as we threw support and activity at it. To then see it all fizzle out and slowly die out. Everyone has this. In the excitement of creating a new product we all end up focusing on the launch, but it is key to have the discipline to ensure that you have the offer right.
Some of these for me have included Iced Tea, Baby Oil in a Mousse, Children's Fun Bath Foams, Anti-age Cream, Casserole Mixes - we have all a list we try and forget!
The reasons have varied for while they failed but the learning in all was not focusing enough on understanding if the offer (product, package, value, experience, usage, visible benefit, differentiated, etc) was good enough in its own right to get people to keep using and coming back to it.
Some things to ask yourself as you go through this process include:
- If this product did not exist will anyone care after the hype?
- Is it really a better option than anything else that she can use?
- If i gave this product to my consumer without all the hype and buzz to try and use, would she come back asking for more or where she could get it?
- Is this something she will want to use again and again after the novelty of trying it?
Remember, marketing is not about generating trial. Anyone can get trial, it takes (of course) an innovative and clever campaign - but real and true brand builders and marketers should be more focused on repeat, repeat, repeat.
Thoughts?
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