MISTAKE #38: Average is not acceptable
There are two common errors I see clients make related to how they view their product.
Some develop a significantly biased perception that their product is special or superior to all other products when it really isn’t. This can come from things like willful ignorance of the competition or assuming the broader population shares their personal preferences.
Others create a product that is average in more ways than it is special. These companies assume that being average should be enough for them to get a fair share of the category pie.
But in the retail world, in the CPG industry, the average tends to lead to obscurity tends to lead to death.
BASEBALL AS AN EXAMPLE
Significantly less than 1% of all people that play the sport of baseball ever get compensated to play the game.
Within the fraction of that one percent that makes it to Major League Baseball, the median pay for 2014 was $1.1 million while the top paid player made $28 million. That’s a 25x difference between the 50th percentile and the top percentile.
A similar story plays out for the products in most CPG categories.
19 out of 20 products fail: This is the 95% that essentially never get a payday. Some may have all the passion and dedication, but what they do is never more than a hobby.
Of the 5 percent that actually makes it, most barely get by: They fight to stay alive every year. Half of them are making less than the equivalent of the $1.1 million median salary in the MLB. And that is not enough to give them the lifestyle they need.
A few hit the jackpot: These are the 1% of the 1% that we consistently see and hear about. Seeing them helps us forget about all the others players that won’t be around in a few years.
The difference in the amount of money baseball players or new products earn closely correlates with how above average they are at doing what they specialize in doing. There are always plenty of options to easily substitute for what is average, but the rockstars fill the stadium and get more people to pay a premium price for admission.
BE THE ROCKSTAR
Never forget that your product needs to be exceptional to succeed. Success is not built around being average:
Who notices average products on a store shelf or recalls average branding?
Who says “I’d love to try an unknown product that’s no better than what I’m buying today?
As you make the numerous decisions and frequent tradeoffs necessary to get your product to market, make sure the sum total of those decisions doesn’t trend toward average.
You need to treat average as the enemy. Average cannot be considered acceptable. Average has to be viewed as worse than mediocre.
The world is not begging for more middle-of-the-road, mid-priced, me-too products. They’ll notice, and just might buy, products that stand out as different and special and really address an unmet need.
Do your homework and make sure you understand how to make your product remarkable for your prime prospects, how to create magnetic packaging that gets noticed, and distribute compelling content shoppers want to engage with.
Spend some time today re-evaluating your product, perhaps for the first time. Try to remove bias that has clouded your view or acknowledge how being average has been accepted more than it should.
Don’t approach this evaluation the way you most likely have in the past, with the opening argument “Here are all the ways my product is special…”. Instead, see how strong of a case you can build with the following two questions:
What are all the ways shoppers might confuse my product for being average (even if I know it isn’t)?
How might shoppers overlook what makes my product special?
I suspect an honest assessment will reveal key shortcomings you’ve gotten comfortable overlooking due to your perfect knowledge of the product and emotional investment in the belief that the product is special regardless of what facts exist to support that belief.
Do you need help doing an unbiased assessment or does your own assessment reveal that your product might be closer to average than you want to admit? Our insights-based sales assistance has helped over 100 clients answer these questions and find solutions to ensure their products are perceived as anything but average.