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How Cat Litter Can Help Your Business
By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | June 24, 2008
…by learning from its non-marketing mistakes regarding product changes.
I’ve got a cat. Cat litter stinks the more it gets used. The brand “Fresh Step” is way more expensive than other brands, but it’s scented, has pleasant looking white and green granules, and works better than the cheap stuff at hiding odor.
Recently, they apparently completely changed their product. They added black granules to it (makes it look dirty) and it doesn’t seem to be scented any more.
I thought I’d gotten a defective bag.
So I bought a bag from a different store, and then from a different store. I got the same thing, with these ugly black granules and no scented smell that I’m used to. The picture shown on the front of the bags still showed white and green granules only.
I called the 800 number on the bag. It was explained to me that the black granules were there on purpose, and that they helped absorb more odor (made out of carbon or something).
The new product DID seem to still be blocking odor well, but it was no longer scented, just had the new “odor eater” black granules.
In other words, they came out with a completely different New & Improved Product
…But didn’t announce it on the packaging! How stupid is that??
Here I am getting ready to switch brands because I think I’m getting defective kitty litter, when it’s actually supposed to be a new improved product that they didn’t bother to tell me about?
All it would have taken is a simple, “Now New & Improved - With Odor-Eating Carbon Granules!” or something.
Here’s what this non-marketing effort has gotten them:
- Established buyers like me are possibly buying a different brand because we think there’s something wrong with the product
- Anybody who might be willing to try the product once based on the “new & improved formula” aren’t even aware of it, so they’re losing potential new customers.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
ANY changes you make to a product can be pitched as a positive. Especially for a replenishable product, any changes that aren’t disclosed/announced to buyers could have a terrible effect on your sales.
So how can kitty litter help your business? Do the opposite of what Fresh Step does. 
Examples:
Did you used to sell CD’s and now you’re just selling downloadable MP3 files? That could be a negative, but you could say, “Now With Instant-Downloadable Audio!”
Are you shrinking the size of your yogurt containers by 1/3 to save on product costs? (I hate that, by the way That’s actually something you’re hoping consumers don’t notice, but you could say, “Now in more convenient sizes to stay fresh until the last spoonful!”
You get the idea.
Topics: Marketing, Oops (Bad Move), Rant | Trackback URL