Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Apart from the price, what's so special about this appliance?

How is it differentiated from (cheaper?) competitors?

ChrisB

Hi

In the UK, the Ideal Home Show would be the “Must attend event” The publicity following a successful launch usually guarantees enough enquiries to last a year. There appears to be one in the US – see below. If its demonstrations that are needed, one of our home-grown kitchen appliance manufacturers hired a 32 ton truck with a 30KW generator to tour all of the major towns after the Ideal Homes Show and invited the enquirers to a live demonstration. Tiring but successful.

If you are thinking internationally (Including the USA!!), the kitchenware exhibitions are listed on the following site:

https://www.eventseye.com/fairs/event_td179_2005_5_1.html

Also, one of your respondents suggested that you identify your market carefully. I’d go further and mail it, using the language it understands. I recently used this example in another posting, but as it relates to specialist high value kitchenware. I’ll risk the wrath of the regular readers by repeating it here. See if you can modify it for your product in 2005 in the USA rather than AGA cookers in 1956 in the UK.

“David Ogilvy who founded Ogilvy and Mather used unusual methods to great effect and was the founder of highly personalised direct marketing. He started his marketing life as a salesman in the 1950’s for AGA, the coal fired cooker company and his success in this role propelled him to found his agency. He had a classical education, but was thrown out of Oxford for doing no work.

At AGA he put the education he had to good work. Perceiving there to be a good market for his cookers in British private boarding schools, he acquired a list of every headmaster in the country and wrote to them, by hand and in Latin! The campaign was a success – in those days, most headmasters were classics scholars.

To the few who wrote to him, thanking him for his letter and brochure, but protesting that they did not read Latin, he wrote again, in Greek!”

See if you can find your “Ogilvy Moment” – I’m sure that for an innovative product there must be a way of doing direct marketing which appeals to the specific niches your customers will occupy.

Regards


Steve Alker
Unimax Solutions

There are distinct parallels between what you are trying to do and another question here.

For example, going to all the high-end residential homes architects and building firms would get you into the sharp end of the marketplace where buying decisions are being made all day, every day.

Hope this helps.

hi there

as others have mentioned, you have not told who is your target market/segment. are you targeting the restaurant kitchen or the home kitchen?? also i like the ideas of using Home Shopping Channels and Tele shopping Network channels on TV.

IMHO, i suggest you create a Retail Theater/Environment in for this appliance when you are doing selling, be that at your show room or at demonstration place.

For Home users:

1. you can organize a Road Show in which you will hold demonstration show in all the neighborhood of the target community. here you will demonstrate the application of the appliance as well as the user-friendliness. it would really give a great milage if you allow your attending consumers to have a Hands-On experience in using the appliance like they cooking their own meal in that event. this will be a tiring one remember.

2. can you create a complete kitchen where your appliance is placed during this demonstration. make that a real setting with enough walking isle, cross-ventilation, paint etc. this will create a compete environment which the target consumers can relate and will help them in deciding on other factors apart from utility, application etc.

3. you can replicate a complete kitchen in your showroom like mentioned in point #2.


For Hotel/Restaurant Users:

1. you can organize the same type of event if your target consumers are hotel/restaurant kitchen. invite all the concerned decision makers and Chefs and Cooks of 3 star and above hotel and restaurants at a venu where you will demonstrate your appliance.

2. enter into agreement with a famous restaurant/hotel for installing your appliance in its kitchen free of cost. Train the staff on using it and Let them use it to see for themselves the features. then you invite others of point #1 and demonstrate. also take the endorsement of the trial restaurant chef and cooks and use that in your direct mails/invitation to prospective clients.

3. alternatively, you can also make the demo restaurant kitchen at the demonstration site (of point#1) and place your appliance in that. make that a real setting with enough walking isle, cross-ventilation etc. this will allow your attending consumers to have a Hands-On experience in using the appliance like they cooking their own meal in that event.

recently, an article on Retail Theater has been posted in Marketingprofs.com. check the link

https://www.marketingprofs.com/5/johnson3.asp

hope this helps.

cheers!!