Think Your Product or Service Has No Place to Grow? Think Again
If you stay in your lane and try to hang on to your existing customers because you’re afraid to lose them, you’re doomed.
EXPERT OPINION BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS @HOWARDTULLMAN1
Photo: Getty Images
One of my earliest business ideas was to sell macho air fresheners at truck stops. The products were designed to look like very aggressive versions of the various animals of the Zodiac. Few people understand and appreciate the deep connection and affection long-haul truck drivers have for their rigs, how they decorate and embellish them, or how stinky their cabs can become. These are really their “homes away from home.” The gimmick was that each truck’s 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) would determine what month of the year their truck was “born” and that would determine which symbol they bought. Or they could simply choose one that matched their own sign.
There should be a museum of product misfires that every new business builder and entrepreneur should be required to visit as an education and a warning. Actually, the top of my list would be some of the more insane brand extension attempts that we’ve all seen over the years. I’d say that Cheetos Lip Balm, Colgate Kitchen Entrees and Clairol Yogurt Shampoo would be right up there among my would-be “winners” that went nowhere. Harley Davidson Perfume is another favorite example.
Embarrassing as it may be, the truth is that you have to experiment in public if you want to expand and grow your business, because you simply can’t find all the answers by yourself. If you don’t keep trying and raising the bar, you’ll find yourself slowly slipping backwards. There are plenty of new opportunities in every direction if you take the time to look. If you simply stay in your lane and try to hang on to your existing customers because you’re afraid of changing and losing them, you’re doomed.
You may think that some product categories have no place else to go or grow, but even the most mundane products can offer exciting and substantial expansion opportunities, especially when combined with new marketing partners, alternative distribution channels and attractive offerings. And, while we’re all terribly fixated on the digital realm, there are still great analog plays and hybrid strategies that combine online and offline channels.
It’s always cheapest to reach your target customers by riding someone else’s rails instead of trying to build your own. Habits, customs and rituals (along with superstitions) all represent shortcuts and reliable paths to consistent consumer behavior not unlike the way we have traditionally relied upon brands as promises for quality, consistency and integrity. Ask yourself who in the world doesn’t open a fortune cookie at the end of a nice meal at a Chinese restaurant?
I was still surprised to learn about an amazing new partnership between MrBeast, one of the absolutely hottest players online—whose main YouTube channel now has over 460 million subscribers—and a Chicago-based company named OpenFortune which produces roughly ALL the fortune cookies in America and distributes them in 47,000 restaurants across the country. That’s about 3 billion cookies a year, which OpenFortune has turned into a scalable, physical media marketing channel that millions of consumers interact with every day. And they did it by successively iterating their product and raising the bar. More of OpenFortune’s back story is available in a recent video.
The progressive steps the company has taken have been pretty straightforward starting with the basic cookie and the standard message which, of course, had a blank flip side. A mini-billboard to be sure and a perfect place for related CPG brands to put their own messages which could be positioned to be read first before flipping over to read the fortune. Capitol One was an early brand partner. And you might imagine, QR codes were only a short step beyond and, once the phones joined the celebration to trigger the codes, the whole sharing world of social media was available as well. Next came various versions of interactivity including experiential tours, videos squibs, etc. and of course, finally gamification of all kinds. Contests, collections, sweepstakes, and plenty of golden tickets taken right from the days of Willy Wonka.
Each step in the iterative and expansive process exposed OpenFortune’s clients, partners, advertisers and customers to more traffic, revenue prospects, customer engagement, and provided essential tracking and measurement, along with awareness, reach and impact metrics. As part of the win-win promotion for Beast Games Season 2, 2.5 million fortune cookies are being distributed by OpenFortune to restaurants nationwide which will each contain a Beast Games-related message. 24,000 of those cookies will include limited-edition fortunes written by MrBeast himself which will be scarce, collectible and actively sought after by millions of his fans. Early results of this hybrid effort suggest improved recall versus simple digital exposures and a more extensive and direct customer engagement.
The bottom line is pretty simple: sitting around and waiting for the world to beat a path to your door is a poor bet. You’ve got to keep trying, experimenting, iterating and moving forward if you want to stay in the game. You get a little bit better every day and you carefully position yourself for the large chances and opportunities that may appear at any time. As an old Chinese proverb says: “Man stand for long time with mouth open before roast duck fly in.”
