I have a thing about referring to product marketing and lead generation campaigns as “demand creation” simply because it implies we as marketers can easily create demand for a product or solution in the absence of a specific market need. A sales management type who I respect once defined marketing as “figuring out what customers want and need and giving to them at a price they’re willing to pay.”
Well said.
There was a Scott Kirsner column in today’s Boston Globe about the struggles of start-up IdeaPaint and their lack of market traction for their paint-on dry erase boards for home and office. Hmmm…I Googled white boards and was instantly served over 10 million returns for erasable white boards of all colors, shapes, sizes, even custom built boards, all available for less than the $200-per-can price of IdeaPaint.
According to the article it seems that IdeaPaint suffers from multiple ailments including product performance (smelly when wet, needs multiple coats, hard to erase), product price (competitor Rust-Oleum offers a similar product at a fraction of the price), and even user error (according to a company spokesperson “people start assuming every wall is a whiteboard, and sometimes write on other walls). Hmm again.
So a couple of conclusions here. First, be careful who you brainstorm with or you might end up with a graffiti-covered conference room compliments of your channel manager. Second, today’s Globe article just might be the biggest marketing splash ever created with IdeaPaint.
Erase that please.
