Is your business a one trick pony?

As I was shopping this week, I saw this display of Kraft Trick or Cheesy. It's the usual mac and cheese, except the pasta shapes are Halloween-themed pumpkins, ghosts, and bats. This is the first time the company has offered a Halloween pasta--and that got me thinking.

Is there something you or I, as a business or a brand, can do to tweek our offerings? Is a new revenue source right at our finger tips if we slightly alter what we do or how we do it?

Going back to our example of the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese product line, it's really just orange carbs. Pretty darn basic. But the brand continues to come up with new offerings that are modestly different than its staple product. Easy Mac (individual and microwaveable mac n' cheese), Macaroni and Cheese's TV and movie-themed pasta (e.g. Toy Story), Macaroni and Cheese Crackers (which I loved, but were discontinued), the new Cheddar Explosion with extra cheese sauce, and Homestyle Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese that launched this year in three new flavors. Now, this isn't a fluff piece for Kraft. I simply use these as examples to get us thinking. 

So, again, I ask, "Is there something you can do to slightly change the product or service you're bringing to the marketplace?" Consider these questions:
  • Can you expand your core product?
  • Are you able to offer specialized services?
  • Can you attract a new audience or demographic?
  • Will a new color, new shape, new size, or other variation broaden your appeal?
  • What are the additional ways you can improve life for your customers or clients?
  • Can a different approach add new excitement to your standard offerings?
  • Do you or your company evolve with the ever changing marketplace?
  • Are you showing customers and clients that they can't live without you? 
I know this is just a modest start to a long list of questions, but you can see where I'm going. Are you, or your company, truly seizing every opportunity to grow, succeed, and prosper? Can you bring more to the game, provide more value, and, in doing so, be better? Or, are you going light on the cheese sauce?

10 comments:

  1. Dang Amber, you seriously have that "marketing mind" that is capable of making powerful decisions that turn us average consumers into unwitting sheep! And that's a GOOD thing from a marketing standpoint. I'm really impressed with your questions for sellers. If my daughter was still little and eatin Kraft mac n cheese, I guarantee you she would be asking me to buy those ghost-shaped, orange, chemically-enhanced carbs. I wouldn't even question the marketing - I'd just do it. I like the way you think.

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  2. Yes! And I'm tweaking my biz as we speak. I'm a Color Specialist who chooses colors schemes for homes but I find that the fall and winter are my slow season.

    I was thinking … how can I 'slightly change my product or service' and came up with this idea. I'm still specializing in color of course but tweaking it to the colors for kids rooms from nursery's to teens.

    Women have babies year round and children's need are never seasonal. Problem solved.

    Thank you Amber
    Donna Frasca • A Color Specialist in Charlotte
    www.DecoratingbyDonna.com

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  3. Hi Trish. Thanks for that! I really appreciate it!

    Most everything we encounter on a daily basis, whether we like it or not, really does come down to marketing (although a good product makes marketing soooo much easier!). Even a slight variation can open up a new revenue stream. That's ideal for any company. Why completely reinvent the wheel when if might just need some sprucing up?

    And, I agree with you. I'd be stocking up on the Trick or Cheesy if I had kids in the house. Heck, I honestly had to fight the urge to stock up as an adult!

    Thanks so much for commenting, Trish!

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  4. That is an EXCELLENT idea, Donna! You're totally right, there is no kid or baby season and that group of consumers is locked in all year round! I like it!

    I would imagine by targeting parents during your slow season, that could be a real game changer for you! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and contributing to the conversation, Donna! And, good luck with the new angle. Sounds like a winner to me!

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  5. I think there's always room for improvement and expansion with any product and it depends on how well you market it I suppose. With all the hype of seasonal goods on the market these days, things like this will go down a treat!

    CJ xx

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  6. Hi Crystal. Yes, there's always room for improvement. And if someone could market the Pet Rock into a multi-million dollar brand, there's hope for anything, right?

    Unfortunately, many companies get comfortable with their success and stop innovating. Newspapers are a perfect example of this. Many took way too long to make changes and embrace the internet. Now, they're scrambling to catch up.

    Thanks so much for chiming in on the discussion, Crystal (and extra thanks for subscribing!).

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  7. You're so right, Amber, everything is marketing, like it or not~! I have tried to eliminate unnecessary packaging costs from my products to save my customers money, but more and more I am picking up new clientele who DO like the fancy packaging and are willing to pay for it. Subsequently, I am always testing new things and try to offer both plain packaging and fancy, products already made and ingredients for do it yourself. Consumers like creativity - go figure!~ lol

    It's not an "either or" world, it's definitely an "and" world!~ Thanks for the fantastic thought provoking questions.
    x0x
    Anita Nelson @ModelSupplies

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  8. Thanks for the comment, Anita. I've missed you!

    You're smart to offer variety to your clients. Especially in the beauty category, I imagine there is quite a range of clientele. By offering the same products with different packaging, that's a perfect example of the kind of diversification I'm talking about. A slight variation that allows you to attract a variety of customers and additional revenue! Smart thinking.

    >>> Oh, and for those who have holiday shopping to do, you should check out Anita on eBay and Esty. She knows everything about skin care and beauty. She's not called Model Supplies for nothin'! ;->

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  9. It's minds like Ambers that will be our innovators of the future. She also gets us to think too!

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  10. Thank you so much for the very kind words, Donna. And thank YOU for the value you add to the discussion with your comments. It's always great to hear the input of others!

    It takes a village, right? ;->

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