106: What foodservice marketers can learn from the Three Stooges

EPISODE 106

By DSR Dave Miesse and Bill Hornung
DSR Live!  Co-hosts

The NRA show is three months away... in fact, you might be getting all giddy about launching a new product(s) there.  Too bad!

Saving up all your news for the big show nearly guarantees you won't get much real attention until August or so.  That's when the news finally starts to dribble out to the street. Most DSRs probably won't hear about your product in a sales meeting for quite some time.  When they do, it'll then take another 30 days to find a few interested operators (in between pushing dozens of other new products that have come along).

Operators will dillydally for another month unless (in the rare occasion) your product is the absolute perfect fit for some problem they're trying to solve.  So, 60- to 90-days go by and finally the product might be of interest... right about the time most launch promotions are ending!

Meanwhile, the flow of new products never stops... and your prized high-fiber-purple-muffin (conveniently packed in edible plastic wrap) falls further into the large gray area of the DSRs' (and operators') minds.

Hence the reason the vast majority of the 18,000 new foodservice products that launch each year die before they have any chance to gain mindshare.  Sure, a few distributors might have the muffin stocked, but they'll soon join "slow-movers" list.  Victims of being unintentionally ignored among all the noise of hundreds of other new products.

Those of us in marketing have had the "Four P's" drilled into our heads.  A successful marketing launch requires the alignment of the right product, price, place (i.e. distribution) and promotion. 

Well, DSRs can't remember that many things (Bill's comment)... so, we created the "Three P's" of DSR Communications:  Preview, promote and position... the essential roadmap that reflects the realities of getting your product successfully out into the distribution channel.

What's this got to do with the NRA?  Well, the first "Preview" step suggests you should start NOW to get the word out long before the NRA.  Realistically, regardless of when you start, it'll take at least 90 days for anybody to notice!  Why wait?

Previewing your product is important for the same reason virtually every movie studio starts showing movie trailers months before the film hits the theaters.  With so much competition, studios have learned they must build excitement months before so moviegoers remember to hit the theaters on premier night.  

Movie trailers have worked since the day of the Three Stooges... and they remain the most successful element in a film launch (except for word of mouth).  In fact, movie studios now routinely launch separate websites, games and other fan-building activities to get patrons excited well before the premier.

OK, so the whole preview thing didn't work for The Adventures of Pluto Nash... but, hey, not every space comedy that involves drinking battery acid can be a success.

Want some help getting the word out early?  For FREE?  Well, we're here to help... but act fast.  For a limited time, we'll help you get a jump on the NRA show.  Click here to learn more.

In this week's DSR Insights, your hosts DSR Dave Miesse and Bill Hornung explore why previewing your product can take the gamble out of executing a successful launch.

In the next two weeks, we'll cover the secrets to extending your promotions (without spending more money), and how DSRs re-position your products with operators after the launch... without your knowledge!

Click below to play this week's show...