36 hours of lectures on
Product management in 25 Minutes
Most new products and services
will fail …
– they fail is because:
• we get lost in the thick of thin things
• we build products and services no one cares about
– worse yet, product successes are getting smaller
• too much incrementalism
• formula driven marketing vs. inspired marketing
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
2
Building successful ideas and
successful brands is hard work
• A study by Nielsen 862 packaged goods
promotions. 50% no impact, less than 1 in 10,
plus 10%
– 90% of new products fail
– Few companies have proven their advertising works
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
3
My personal view on marketing
• I think there are 3 types of marketers
– Risk takers (they like the macho bit)
– Risk reducers (they like getting house odds), but scare to act
– Risk reducers ready to act…
• A good marketer will build a strategy that increases odds of
success from
– 10%
– to 20%
– to 50%
A great marketer will
also do lots of stuff that fails
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
4
“Let’s make
sure we follow
the books…
A typical Marketing MBA
5
An interesting book…
Counterintuitive Marketing
Studying brands in 48 categories
6
Airlines
Athletic Shoes
Auto Insurance
Banks
Beers
Bookstores
Bottled water
Catalog clothing
Cigarettes
Colas
Cold Cereals
Cookies
Cosmetics
Credit Cards
Department Stores
Fast Food Restaurants
Gas Stations
Haircare Products
Headache Remedies
Health & Fitness Clubs
Home Entertainment Equip.
Hotels
Household Cleansers
Internet Search Engines
Internet Service Providers
Jewelry
Laundry Detergents
Liquor
Long-Distance Telephone
Luxury American Cars
Luxury Foreign Cars
Major Household Appliances
Mid-priced American Cars
Mid-priced Foreign Cars
Motor Oils
Newspapers
Office Supply Stores
Personal Computers
Pet Supply Stores
Political Parties
Potato Chips
Rental Cars
Soaps
Spaghetti Sauces
Toothpastes
TV Networks
Weight Loss Programs
Wireless or Cellular Tel.
7
Out of 48 product categories,
Brand Equity scores are:
• Decreasing in
• Stable in
39
5
• Improving in only
4
8
M.B.A. stands for
“Murderer of Brand
Assets”
In a connected world, little incremental steps
are the slow death of a brand
9
“Learn not to
be careful.”
—Photographer Diane Arbus to her students (Careful = “The
sidelines,” per Harriet Rubin in The Princessa)
10
Target ROI for a VC company
Investment
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Totals
Investment
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
2000
Return
2000
150
100
100
50
50
25
25
10
10
5
4
3
2
1
1
1
0
0
0
2537
ROI
2000%
150%
100%
100%
50%
50%
25%
25%
10%
10%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
1%
1%
0%
0%
0%
Cum_invest Cum_Return
100
2000
200
2150
300
2250
400
2350
500
2400
600
2450
700
2475
800
2500
900
2510
1000
2520
1100
2525
1200
2529
1300
2532
1400
2534
1500
2535
1600
2536
1700
2537
1800
2537
1900
2537
2000
2537
Cum ROI
2000%
1075%
750%
588%
480%
408%
354%
313%
279%
252%
230%
211%
195%
181%
169%
159%
149%
141%
134%
127%
127%
Throw out 4 losers and your ROI increases
Throw out the winner and your ROI falls to
159%
-72%
11
“Let’s make a
dent in the
universe.”
Steve Jobs
Apple Computer
12
Class Summary
Thoughts to leave with
13
Meaningful differentiation
Is there something that
makes you special
Normal = nothing !
14
3 Laws of meaningful
differentiation
• Law # 1: An overt benefit
– 1 maybe, 2 things better than anyone
• Law # 2: Real reason to believe
– Credible, honest, memorable
• Law # 3: DRAMATIC difference
– Not itsy bitsy differences, but something that sticks in
people’s brains
Example:
Student applications
and the 10,000 pound cookie
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
15
Dramatic Difference is a the best predictor of success
Dr. Robert Cooper
Factors of Successful New Products
#1 Unique Benefit
(Dramatic Difference)
218
#2 Fit with Company
142
#3 Large &/or Growing Market
100
(Resources, skills, abilities)
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
16
Clarity in communication
Your advertising needs to
be as good as your best
salesman
17
Every day
YOU
are
bombarded
by up to 4,000 ads
18
Quick test...What is it?
19
Clarity
Confusion is not a good strategy for
success.
20
Golden Rule of Clarity
Let a customer say NO
because what you offer
doesn’t apply to them.
But NEVER let a customer say
NO because
they don’t understand
what you’re offering.
21
First Law of Marketing Physics
source: 2002 Eureka! Institute
• Overt Benefit
• You TRIPLE the effectiveness of
• your marketing efforts by OVERTLY
• communicating your customer benefit
Overt Benefit Level
Probability of Success
Low Overt Benefit
13%
Medium Overt Benefit
26%
High Overt Benefit Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
38%
22
Reason To Believe Story
3 Chefs - 3 Years World Cooking Competition Medalists
23
Everything Sells
Are you offering, value,
innovation or service
(you need to choose ! )
24
Everything you do with a brand is selling…
25
1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = Beauty
1 + 1 + 1 + 0 = Failure
26
Good Marketing is about [part 1]
What…
Dramatic differences
Clarity in communication
Everything Selling
27
Be Real
Candor Counts !
28
Why Candor counts…
• People want authentic brands
• They don’t trust advertising
– 93% of consumers do not have confidence in the
advertising messages of major corporations. (Yankelovic)
• Hated brands can win ! (polarization is good !)
– Build a brand consumer hate, and there is a good chance
you’ll build your bank account
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
29
If you lie, consumers will punish
you. (Dell Hell = 366,000 hits !)
30
Be connected
Good advertising = nice
Good word of mouth = Great !
31
The Law of 250
• Every person knows at least 250 other people.
• Each of your contacts knows at least 250 people.
So that’s 62,500 at your 2nd level.
• Each of your 2nd level contacts knows 250
people - and that’s over 15,000,000
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
32
Corollary to Law of 250
• It is typically not your first level contact that
eventually hires you - in fact, you’ll probably
find that the hiring contact may be 2, 3 or 4
levels deep.
• Some sociologists have found that
“acquaintances are more likely than family
members to give individuals direct information
and to recommend them for opportunities.”
(Mark Granovetter, “The Strength of Weak Ties”
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
33
These are the contacts likely
Key to most success
You
4 Layers of Separation
Level 1
Contact
Your Friend
Alice
Level 2
Contact
Alice’s Uncle
Bill
Level 3
Contact
Bill’s Friend
Carol
Level 4
Contact
Carol’s Boss
David
34
Gain exposure to the envelope of
serendipity: go to parties
35
Don’t be fooled by the
experts !
Develop gut feelings
Talk to non-experts
36
Wisdom of crowds in action
• Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire?
15 questions = $ 1 million
Phone a friend vs Audience
61% vs 91% accuracy
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
37
An example
• What makes new products successful
– A better product
– Market potential
– Market synergy
All the things covered in the article, winners and losers…
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
38
Yes
Yes
Source: New products what
separates winners from losers
Cooper & Kleinschmidt
2 out of 10 real differences, the rest statistically significant
39
Personal opinion:
All the success criteria identified in the
winners/losers article are relevant. But what
makes a product a success is
An exceptionally high score on 1 criteria or
more likely…
A good score on a range of criteria
40
Have fun
If you enjoy what you do… you’re
likely to do it well
If you believe you’ll do it even better
41
• Increase the quality of life
• Right a wrong
• Prevent the end of something good
42
Expand your horizons
Good marketing is about business
and people.
Understanding business is easy…
understanding people takes lifetime
43
Make it your job to learn
• What you should be learning…
– Organizational behavior
– Psychology
– Design
• Collect stuff
– Cool advertising
– Great product ideas
– Beautiful design
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
44
A few good books
Fun
• Re-imagine
• The Cluetrain Manifesto
• All marketers are liars
• Paradigms
• Funky business
• Influence: The Psychology of
Persuasion
• A Mind of Its Own: How Your
Brain Distorts and Deceives
Academic
• Judgment Under Uncertainty:
Heuristics and Biases
• The Difference: How the
Power of Diversity Creates
Better Groups, Firms,
Schools, and Societies
Not fun, but worth reading
• The Pyramid Principle
Quasi-Academic
• The Black Swan or Fooled by
Randomness
• Linked
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
45
But remember…
Your education is what you
remember long after what you have
been taught is forgotten…
Make it yours, make it fun …
46
Good Marketing is about [part 2]
What…
How…
Be Real
Dramatic differences
Be connected
Clarity in communication Don’t be fooled
Everything Selling
Have fun
Learn
47
Share of customer
Never think you own your
customer… you earn them
every day
48
A traditional view of the market
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
49
The reality
"Our buyers"
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
50
A continuum of loyalty
Not Aware
Sole Buyer
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
51
A brand’s most valuable customers
give most of their business to
competitive brands
52
11 Representative FMCG Brands
Not Aware
31% to
the brand
69% to
the competition
Sole Buyer
53
Keep a dialogue open
Remember to talk with your
customers on a regular basis..
What they want is important
54
Using advanced marketing
techniques for lunch...
• RFM
– This is what you ordered
last time
– And this is how much you
ate...
• Analysis techniques
– Based on your weight,
height, social background
• You expect them to ask,
why don't you ?
Product Marketing
Bryan Cassady
55
Good Marketing [the full picture]
What…
How…
Be Real
Dramatic differences
Be connected
Clarity in communication Don’t be fooled
Everything Selling
Have fun
Learn
Measures
Share of customer
Ongoing dialogue: what do they say
56
“Life [and your career] is not a
journey to the grave with the
intention of arriving safely in a
pretty and well-preserved body—
but rather a skid in broadside,
thoroughly used up, totally worn
out, and loudly proclaiming,
‘Wow, what a ride!’ ” —anon.
57
A simple 3 step program for brands and people
1. What you are
Good at
Magic
2. What are you
Made to do
3. What will people
pay for
58