Question

Topic: Strategy

Industry Expert, Brand New Product.

Posted by Anonymous on 5/2/2008 at 4:15 PM ET 250 Points
I’m creating new service with a noted industry expert that exists entirely online. The expert is a coach to professional athletes, and has coached numerous noted NFL, NHL, MLB, athletes among others. We are making his workouts available online for a monthly subscription, along with video representation of drills, technique etc. and a forum for members to ask questions.

This guy has a prestigious, elite, almost elusive air around him. People know his workouts are special, and if they are lucky, they get to use them. All the people that come to him are top level athletes or coaches. Currently, he doesn’t charge anything to these athletes for these workouts; it’s really like an elusive club where it’s free to join if you are accepted, but it’s hard to be accepted. That is going to change.

We are going to make these workouts available to a larger audience, from professionals to high schools, and start charging for them. However I don’t want to lose that prestigious quality that they already have. There’s a lot of “Steve’s Super Speed System” out on the internet right now, and I need to safely distance myself from them.

I don’t want the people who have climbed 10,000 ft to meditate with a Zen master to open the paper the next morning and see “Krazy Karl’s Zen Den,” if you get my drift. But on the other hand, most of these high school kids aren’t going to know this coach by name, so I need to sell to them.

My questions are:
1. Nobody with this track record has ever offered a service like this before, so people are going to assume this product is something else. (Steve's Super Speed System for example). With a brand new product, how do I accurately convey what I'm selling without interfering with people's preconceptions?

2. How do I keep a prestigious air around the product while making it available to everyone? (I know everyone says focus your market, but for this we really need to hit both markets)

Thanks in advance, my background isn't in marketing, and any advice you experts can give is greatly appreciated.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 5/2/2008 at 6:08 PM Accepted
    I think you are going to have to work on changing people's pre-conceptions in regards to the product.

    The first step should be differentiation by education. You are going to have to establish a clear cut difference from your site and the run-of-the-mill sites that on first glance appear to be your competition. This could be done by taking a basic piece of a workout and explaining some of the reasons why doing it a certain way could lead to other problems. You are also going to have to have the expert sell his expertise. What makes him an expert? Basically, what's his story? Because before they buy the product, they are going to need to buy his story.

    Through the education process, you should also be able to establish value that explains (without words) your chosen price point.

    I also assume you will have some freebie carrots on the site to further entice coaches to visiting your site and purchasing the tutorials.

    Getting buy-in from students should be relatively easy, providing that you can get some testimonials from some of the athletes that have benefited from the expert's teachings. It seems like it is the least that they could do considering they were not charged for the workouts.

    Question #2: The prestige of the workouts should maintain based on who the expert is and the outcomes said workouts. Because you ultimate target IS every school and potentially even older neighborhood leagues, you are going to lose some of the "mojo." But Polo, for example, is available for anyone to buy, yet it keeps its allure. (I realize that some could argue that Polo is a tiered offering, but the basic concept is the same.)

    Maybe you can start by targeting a few selected "high end" colleges, unis and high schools and let their success, bring in the "second" tier clientele that wants to either move-up or at the very least emulate the first tier.

    Good Luck!

    P/S:

    I look forward to reading other responses, including those that are in response to my post.

  • Posted by Levon on 5/2/2008 at 6:09 PM Accepted
    I would market this kind of product with long tail copy, hype, testimonials and limited quantities. Have a cut off date and create just as many videos pushing the product as contained in the product.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 5/3/2008 at 9:15 AM Member
    Make the bar higher to join than simply paying money. Make prospects write an essay telling you why they want/need this workout, how they plan to make use of it, and how will they notice it works. If they don't write a compelling essay - return their initial deposit.

    Adding an essay will self-limit to only people who are serious enough to want it - and pay for it. It will also be a rich source of what people are looking for, so you can better target them with material.

    The website should have an sample of what they'd be getting, so people who don't know the expert, or trust the testimonials can see for themselves.
  • Posted by EnvisionTheNew on 5/3/2008 at 5:58 PM Accepted
    I like Jay's answer.

    I would take it a step further. I would build a social community around this guy and let the members of the community decide who gets in.

    Build the stories and testimonials around the idea that only certain, highly-motivated, insiders get to work out with the master. To get in, you have to be invited in.

    I would work to build these insider relations and translate them into future opportunities to get VIP access at local health clubs and exclusive insider events. This gives you another marketing angle (and revenue potential) down the road.
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