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Let's take a step back. I want to see how you think I should solve this problem... I have a startup with a new product. No one knows about the company or the p

by Denzel 10y ago

Let's take a step back. I want to see how you think I should solve this problem... I have a startup with a new product. No one knows about the company or the product, but they have a basic desire. That desire can currently be fulfilled with other options. But our offering is vastly different, in fact it's never been done before, and the only way you can realize you need it is by experiencing it. That's why we started the company. How do I get the product to them? They don't know that they want this product. I can assure you though, once they experience it, they don't know how they lived without it. Although they never thought to ask for it because it was literally an unknown unknown. This isn't a hypothetical, this is a real-world example from my brother's company. And I can tell you, targeted advertisement was insanely effective. I'm open to hear other possible ways to get the same ROI using another method.

intrasight 10y ago
Clearly advertising must work - otherwise companies wouldn't have endeavored to make Google and Facebook multi-billion dollar companies. As for ROI, I've heard mostly that internet ads aren't so good. Lots of ad buy is for brand awareness, and there's no way to quantify ROI.
dingaling 10y ago
> and the only way you can realize you need it is by experiencing it. That is part of the problem with modern advertising: hyperbole. By definition, if people have survived this long without knowing about Product-X then they don't need it. The OP's perspective was that he'd rather not know about Product-X ahead of need-time. If he identified a need or desire for a solution to a problem he would search for "grill-thing that keeps leaves out of drain" or "brace that keeps daffodils upright in the wind" and he'd stumble across your brother's product. So the product marketing strategy would be to place Product-X in places where it would likely be found by people pursuing that particular need or desire. I found myself doing that recently for what transpired to be called a 'tamping rammer'. I appreciate that's not ideal from a corporate perspective when the goal is to 'make' a market by leveraging perceived need, but that's not the primary concern of those who are fatigued by advertising.
- Denzel 10y ago
  > So the product marketing strategy would be to place Product-X in places where it would likely be found by people pursuing that particular need or desire. That's like... the exact definition of good advertising. And that's what we did.

by Denzel 10y ago

intrasight 10y ago

Clearly advertising must work - otherwise companies wouldn't have endeavored to make Google and Facebook multi-billion dollar companies. As for ROI, I've heard mostly that internet ads aren't so good. Lots of ad buy is for brand awareness, and there's no way to quantify ROI.

dingaling 10y ago

> and the only way you can realize you need it is by experiencing it. That is part of the problem with modern advertising: hyperbole. By definition, if people have survived this long without knowing about Product-X then they don't need it. The OP's perspective was that he'd rather not know about Product-X ahead of need-time. If he identified a need or desire for a solution to a problem he would search for "grill-thing that keeps leaves out of drain" or "brace that keeps daffodils upright in the wind" and he'd stumble across your brother's product. So the product marketing strategy would be to place Product-X in places where it would likely be found by people pursuing that particular need or desire. I found myself doing that recently for what transpired to be called a 'tamping rammer'. I appreciate that's not ideal from a corporate perspective when the goal is to 'make' a market by leveraging perceived need, but that's not the primary concern of those who are fatigued by advertising.

Denzel 10y ago
> So the product marketing strategy would be to place Product-X in places where it would likely be found by people pursuing that particular need or desire. That's like... the exact definition of good advertising. And that's what we did.