Astonish Your Customer(s)

Good enough to lick

We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.
~ Steve Jobs

That's one way of setting the bar for the product design folks. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

 

Boring Things

"The brain does not pay attention to boring things" - John Medina 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Dream Bigger

"There’s one story that Carmine Gallo thinks will sum up Steve Jobs’ career at Apple. 

An executive who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and asked for advice.  Steve’s advice? 

Dream bigger. 

I think that’s the best advice he would give us today and the advice he will continue to offer to Apple as its Chairman.  See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself, believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas."

TY: Carmine Gallo 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

My two front teeth

There are four million babies born every year in the USA. That means that every year about 4 million kids loose their two front teeth - every year, year in and year out, for time eternal. 

It is a super-cute, eagerly awaited and celebrated right of passage for every kid, parent and grandparent.

There's even a song about it, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth".

What's the product for it?

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.  

Hip Hop HBC

Can we all agree that Hip Hop is a huge and durable force in our youth culture? 

Hop Hop influence can be seen in many style-conscious product categories ... fashion, eye wear, alcohol, soft/energy drinks, fragrance, sport and many more, I imagine. 

Why not Health & Beauty Care products?

Some may think HBC categories too mundane for Hip Hop influence.

How about ... body spray, sexual enhancement, oral care, makeup, hair care. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

One-Bettering or One-Differentiating IKEA

I visited one of the eight CB2 Stores - as in, Crate & Barrel Version 2.0. 

I loved the store experience and the mostly the products. Cool, stylish, practical, comfortable and, from the looks of it, sturdy and inexpensive (but not cheap). I am not kidding - the prices are super-reasonable (and I was in a Soho store).  

I have no idea how this product line was conceived, launched and refined but I couldn't help but feel that someone at Crate & Barrel looked at the Ikea product offering and business model (and maybe even Target) and said - We can do that, only different and better. And they have. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

What qualifies as design

I just opened the latest shipment from Netflix and it struck me how well designed their return envelope is - intuitive, user-friendly, no waste. 

The design is not as important as the horse bit has been in the advancement of human civilization but, for the niche of world that Netflix wants to please, it is spot on. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.  

Commodity x Design = Ex-Commodity

Kimberly Clark, the makers of Kleenex and Kotex among other paper and pulp products is keeping relevant via design.  

Kleenex "boxes" now come in a stylish oval design as well as a wedge-shape that looks like a slice of watermelon or other fruit. 

The new "U" Kotex Tampons come in a black package with a bold color mark - kinda smacking of Wrigley's 5 Gum Package.

Can you imagine how much hell the engineers raised when the oval and wedge/fruit idea was proposed. There must have been 100 good reasons not to do it but they did it anyway. 

Another example of a marketer - Chrisitine Mau - proving that a product is only a commodity if you let it. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B. 

Your product = Toilet

"An eight year-old today sees the internet with about as much fascination as you see the toilet", says world-renowned and prolific inventor Dean Kamen. "To kids, they're the same,. Nothing magical, nothing exciting, just there when they need it. That's how quickly technology changes-and it isn't just moving fast, it's moving at an accelerated rate." 

Internet = Toilet, in the minds of kids who have never known life without the internet ... I think he is right.

Maybe we need to stop looking at our past successes with so much pride and start creating the future.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Clothes and minds available in plaid

It is quite common to see males and females of all ages wearing plaid shorts in various color and design patterns. 

However, very seldom will you ever see those same folks wearing plaid slacks in the very same pattern. In fact, most would not be caught dead wearing a slacks in that design (the pro golfer Ian Poulter  being one prominent exception).

Why is that? 

Why do people behave that way? 

What do people behave in such a contradictory manner?

People are weird, you know, which is one of things that makes marketing fun and challenging and it also gives near endless opportunities to delight an audience. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.