Inventors Packaging Strategy
{Don Debelak’s new book, Turning Your Invention into Cash is now available on Amazon for $3.49. Go to Amazon.com and enter inventions Don Debelak to purchase. From the author of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Bringing Your Product to Market.}
New inventors often ignore packaging and marketing till they have spent a ton of money getting ready to manufacture their product without ever considering how to package and market it, including what type of distribution to use. Selling the product is very difficult, and it is an area where inventors run into stiff resistance. When you approach a prototype company of course they will help you out, you are paying them. The same principle applies to manufacturers and anyone else you pay. But in marketing and distribution, you are asking people to invest their own money and resources in your product, and they won’t do it unless they believe the product will sell. I feel you need to iron out your sales and distribution plan before spending money on your product, and have a clear idea how you will sell your product and who you will approach to sell your product. Without effective marketing, all the other money you spend will be wasted.
A Powerful Package
A new product gets only a second or two to sell its advantages. A retailer won’t put a product on the shelf unless it can sell itself in that second or two, either because it meets a need people have, or provides a new and unexpected benefit. Packaging should really be done by an expert and you will find many of the packaging companies in your area have art staffs that will help you get a good package. A good place to start is by getting four packages of similar size products for your market. Then ask a group of friends what they like or don’t like about that package. Ask how long it takes them to figure out what the product is. See what headlines they like or don’t like. Then make a rough mock-up of a package that you think will work before going to talk to packaging companies in your area. You might want to check with SCORE www.score.gov (service Corps of Retired Executives, or your local sbdc (Small Business Development Center, http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-development-centers-sbdcs). Both groups offer free consulting with experts in the field and one of two groups might have a packaging person who can help you.
A Name and Tagline That Communicates
You don’t necessarily need a cute tagline, but rather one that customers can identify with in one to two seconds maximum. Now, not every inventor can come up with a clearly identifiable name for their product. Some products are complicated and don’t lend themselves to quick communication. The key here is that inventors don’t typically have the money to fund getting the product name across, and that is a major obstacle to success. I feel marketing communications are very difficult and that sometimes inventors are better off looking for a new product than trying to market a challenging one that will require a lot of marketing funds.
About 10 years ago I wrote a column for Entrepreneur magazine about Ron Wilson and Brian Le Gette, who had invented the 180°s ear warmers www.180s.com. They were a big advantage over traditional ear muffs and the advantage could be seen in less than a second. I felt certain the product would be a big success because people could see their advantage so quickly. In fact it has been a success, partly because it is a great new product and partly because the product’s benefits are so obvious. You need both factors in your favor to succeed.
Easy Distribution is Available
The distribution channel is by far the hardest sale for any inventor because their product often presents uncertainty to the retailer and distributor. The ear warmer is ideal for distribution, it is replacing a known product that has current sales. So distributors and retailers can have a good idea that the product will sell and about how much. But what if your product is completely different and it is not obvious that it will sell? Then the distribution channel needs a lot more convincing. Typically people in distribution will want to see some sales success before taking on the product. That is a problem for inventors because how do they get sufficient sales without distribution so they can convince the distribution channel?
If your product is like the ear warmers, a clearly superior product in an established category, you are in luck and the distribution channel will be glad to take on your product if your pricing is right. If not, you need to find a distributor who will take a chance on your product. This is why I recommend all inventors have an industry sales rep on their team who can help get a friendly distributor to help you out. You can rely on the reps contacts to give you a head start.
Crowdfunding like Kickstarter provide a third option for inventors. You can simply put your product on the site, and say that everyone who contributes the cost of your product will get a product when it is available. So for instance if your product will retail for $5.00, you might try raising $20,000 stating that anyone who contributes $25.00 will receive a package of five products. If you succeed you will have proof for the distribution channel that your product has mass appeal. The world of crowdfunding is rapidly changing so be sure to Google crowdfunding now and then to see the latest news.
This is the last article in the series that look at the five factors in deciding if you invention is ready to introduce. You can find articles on all four points here:
https://onestopinventionshop.net/blog/2012/11/is-your-product-ready-to-introduce/
https://onestopinventionshop.net/blog/2012/11/is-your-product-a-good-value/
https://onestopinventionshop.net/blog/2012/12/can-you-make-the-product-for-20-to-25-of-the-expected-retail-price/
https://onestopinventionshop.net/blog/2016/08/packaging-an-invention/