Thinking
October 1, 2011

Turning an old product into a new product launch

You want to know a simple truth of marketing? Lean in close. Ready? Brands get tired.

There, we’ve said it. It happens all the time. You establish your brand, it grows – heck maybe it takes the world by storm. It’s like that dumb show where everybody knew your name. You’re a hit. Your marketing ROI is through the roof. Everything you touch turns to Krugerrands. And you ride that wonderful wave.

Then the sizzle fizzles, sales decline, fans disappear, people look at you like you were last season’s pleated pants – yeah the ones with four folds – yuck. What happened?

Brands get tired
That’s it, times change – you have to change too. You have to reinvent yourself like Madonna. You have to go back, find that intrinsic greatness and create a brand new strategic marketing plan. Look, people’s problems don’t go away – they’re omnipresent like Little Richard at the Grammys. But people’s problems do evolve; they get updated in new colors and shapes. And if you solved them once, you can solve them again.

Reignite the fire
Take your old product and create a new product launch. Again, find that greatness that was there in the beginning – what was it, a totally new idea or just brilliant positioning and niche marketing? Get someone from the outside, someone who brings a neophyte’s curiosity – like a certain ad agency we know – to help you discover your intrinsic greatness. Then wrap that brilliance in an appropriate tone. Make it fresh, current – most of all relevant to the way people view their lives right now.

Then, put the shiny new wheels on your classic thing of beauty, and change the world all over again.