Comments on: Pigs, Lipstick, GM & Your Marketing

By: hamilton

hamilton — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:04:45 +0000

In reply to pramela.

Great example. Many companies don’t even have to go that far. Bundling services, unbundling services, a “lite” version, software in the cloud versus the desktop. There are so many ways to change your product. You just have to adjust your thinking.

Thanks!

By: pramela

pramela — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:42:45 +0000

Hamilton,
Interesting article. I run a small marketing agency in a pretty small town… the big problem here is that people don’t seem to understand that pigs offer many by-products.–as in diversification of core products. Understandably, GM couldn’t use their car making expertise and machinery and repurpose it to manufacture something else…(or can they?) But many other companies can, if they just shift their paradigm. A cranberry producer, for example doesn’t need to just look at diversifying their cranberry products to increase profits or deal in a tough time… Cranberry leaves, something that was waste, can be marketed is beautiful, organic mulch that is a cheaper more eco-friendly alternative to wood chips. Perhaps we should put away the lipstick and look instead at the hidden benefits of the pig.

By: hamilton

hamilton — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:16:50 +0000

Well said Prashant! Thanks for your input.

By: Prashant Kaw

Prashant Kaw — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:13:15 +0000

Hamilton, great article. Sometimes companies forget that they should be spending their efforts and dollars on building remarkable products that people want to buy (and will recommend) rather than repackage as you said it by putting lipstick on a pig. The pig is still a pig! It’s a matter of figuring out what customers really want and delivering on it.