From Seth's Blog this week:
Thoughts on popcorn
I don't like popcorn.
But today, walking by a bowl of it, I took some.
Most people do. The thing about popcorn is that it is a low investment, low risk snack. You can eat it if you're not hungry. You can successfully have a tiny portion. You are virtually certain that it will taste very much like your last popcorn snack.
There are products that are as easy to sample as popcorn. And making your product more popcorn-like is a great idea.
At the same time, it's interesting to note that very few people make a lot of money from popcorn. For a product this ubiquitous, it's surprisingly unsuccessful. Coke and Nike and Marlboro are a lot more powerful than Jiffy Pop.
So, the second lesson is that you want to make the sampling popcorn-like, but the commitment to be far bigger than it is for popcorn. Easy trial and consistent quality can lead to low commitment, not a great combination.
How do we make this more like popcorn? How do we make it less like popcorn?
Sphere: Related Content
More than 50 years of consumer research suggests that when dealing with product types that consumers really care about, there are at least 5 ways marketers can encourage customers to develop favorable attitudes toward their specific products. Whether you appeal to their imaginations, their values, their feelings, their analytical minds, or their need to belong, these tried-and-true tactics should serve you well. They've made the difference for a range of marketers over the years. Post this list next to your computer:
by Karlene Lukovitz 
by Karl Greenberg 
The United States really didn’t understand what coffee could taste like. Coffee grinds were flavored with chips for a long time that helped maximize the profits of coffee companies. I had a friend of mine that worked in a packaging plant who worked on the equipment that filled and sealed coffee containers. He told me they changed brands all night, but never changed the beans. We were all getting fed the same crap, disguised in different coffee cans.
The United States Olympic Committee and the Ad Council launched a multi-year PSA campaign focusing on teen steroid use that's funded by Johnson & Johnson. "Asterisk" features the star player of a high school team being congratulated by students, teachers and coaches. Jake has a pimple on his forehead that gets bigger and bigger throughout the ad, as people begin to look at him differently. By the end of the ad, the zit has morphed into an asterisk, branding Jake as a fraud. See the long and short versions of the ad 
adidas launched "Countdown," a TV spot running predominantly in Hong Kong with a touch of China included. The ad shows both athletes and the country as a whole, waiting with bated breath for the games to begin. No pressure on the athletes or anything. 
adidas also launched a global print campaign called "Gold is not a Given," featuring sprinters Tyson Gay, Allyson Felix, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Jeremy Wariner, pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and marathoner Haile Gebrselassie. These athletes flew to Beijing in February to familiarize themselves with the city and train in sub-zero temperatures. I won't run outdoors if it's below 40 degrees. Hence my day job and gym membership! Copy is different in each of the ads yet equally motivational. "Gold can be lost in a flash. Lost in the blink of an eye. Lost before the start of a race. Lost months before you step onto the track. Gold is never a given," reads the copy in Tyson Gay's ad, ironic for the sprinter, who's recovering from a hamstring injury. See the ads 
Isn't Morgan Freeman in the hospital? The actor has been the voiceover for Visa's "Go World" TV campaign, and vocally appears in the latest ad that congratulates swimmer Michael Phelps for becoming the Olympian with the most gold medals (10 and counting), a feat just recently achieved. Good thing companies prepare for potential -- OK, probable -- milestones. "Congratulations, Phelps" aired following his win in the 200-meter butterfly and treats Phelps fans to still shots of his toned body in and out of the pool and closes with the image of Phelps celebrating the U.S. team's comeback from behind victory in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay. I had to go online and watch it again. 
GE has three great TV spots running during the Olympics. "Crane" promotes GE's fuel-efficient and low-emission aircraft engines using a series of cranes awaiting takeoff on a beach. Takeoffs are halted due to runway traffic -- baby turtles. 
Kinetic launched a month-long mobile and outdoor campaign for the USA Water Polo Association. Ads are running on jumbotrons throughout New York and Los Angeles, with headlines such as "The most intense sport in Beijing and you only see half of it" and "The benefit of getting wounded in a pool is that chlorine is a disinfectant." See the ads 
AT&T launched two Olympic-themed ads supporting its AT&T Mobile TV live Olympic coverage. Butterflies flutter about in one ad, as do fast-moving gymnasts. 
The old lady hitting an offender with her purse bit doesn't get old for me. Nationwide uses it in "Parking Lot," a TV spot promoting its accident-forgiveness offering. In it, a young guy pulls into a parking spot and hits the back of an elderly couple's long, green car. As the man attempts to apologize, the old woman exits her car and whoops him with her purse while her husband shouts directions: "Hit him in the head, Rose." 
New York Fries, a Canadian fast food restaurant, launched a series of print ads that, for the first time, feature fries that are juxtaposed with fake products: boobs and a toupee, to illustrate that the fries are preservative-free. Ads for "Real Fries in a Fake World" are running throughout Canada in Chatelaine, Hello, Flare, Canadian Living, People, Style at Home and Canadian House & Home through May 2009. See the ads 
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