by: Geoff Ficke
Several years ago my marketing consulting firm reviewed a most clever, novel, exceedingly commercial concept in casual footwear. We met with the designer who had created the collection and were excited by everything we saw in the initial presentation. The footwear possessed a universality of use and amazing styling cues that would make them a “must own” for every woman interested in shoes, meaning every woman everywhere. As we signed a secrecy agreement with the designer, I cannot provide specifics about the features and design of the footwear in this article.

We left the meeting with the confidence that we had reviewed a shooting star product and vibrant new creative force in the footwear category. But we also left with a disturbing inkling that the design wiz was not going to take the appropriate steps essential to successfully market the product. The business and creative elements were at odds in our young wunderkind. He left us with the impression that he knew what he had to do to achieve his goals, but he did not have the drive, fire in the belly or decisiveness so necessary to get to the commercial mountaintop.

We advised the young man, as we do all entrepreneurs, that time was not his friend. Always assume that someone, somewhere is working, probably inadvertently, on a similar product or concept and might beat you to market. This is prudent paranoia. It does happen and more often than you think. This is why successful entrepreneurs are unceasing in pursuit of their dream.

Several meetings and many phone calls later, our young designer was still unable to pull the trigger and push ahead on a product launch project. He wanted to improve the sole profile. He then wanted to change the color assortment. Next, he decided the factory was not complying with his directions. This went on and on for months. Of course, we could see what was really happening: he was afraid of success. We have seen this many times and the symptoms of this malady are always obvious.

We gave up on the designer and the footwear project gradually and reluctantly. We still loved the product and the future potential that could be mined by launching the brand. But we realistically saw that this opportunity would be doomed by his lack of commitment. We moved on.
Sadly, this week I was walking through the local shopping mall and was stopped in my tracks by a window display. A famous national chain store had a floor display in the main window, back lit, fully stocked and merchandised, with over 200 pairs of the footwear we had reviewed several years ago. I immediately caught my breath and entered the store to learn more. I thought, “Maybe he did get to market after all and good for him”.

A quick chat with the store manager, however, confirmed that the novel footwear we had reviewed several years ago had been pushed to market by a rival designer, with a similar product, a lady with a clever branding program and the line was enjoying huge success. I called several contacts in the footwear business and found out that this product had no relationship with my wunderkind designer. The young lady behind the brand I saw in the store window had started with a few stores, enjoyed excellent initial sales, secured a receivable financing deal and aggressively rolled out her merchandising program to national chains. Distribution was growing rapidly; she was introducing new styles, and was beginning to advertise in fashion magazines.

This is a sad, really sickening example, of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Having a wonderful new product, service or concept that is market ready but not moving on the project is such a waste. I phoned the designer we originally consulted with and asked him if he knew about the competitive product that had beaten him to market and secured his niche. After browbeating the competitor’s product as being inferior, he could only state that he was working on a better version of his original concept. He could offer no timeline on when the brand would launch.

I take no joy in stating that I doubt that he will ever successfully market footwear. I equally hate to state that there are many more than a few aspiring entrepreneurs that will experience the same fate. “Time is not an entrepreneur’s friend”, is not just words, but a fact.

by: Geoff Ficke
In the 1920’s Germany was in tatters. The formerly great empire was dismantled, the powerful army humiliated by its defeat in World War I and the population starved, cold and living in despair. Businesses that had been successful before the war were decimated by the outcome. There was no way to earn a living. For many Germans the only reasonable option available to pursue a better life was to immigrate to America.

Before the outbreak of World War I, Max Stern had operated a successful textile business. The ravages of war left him with no factories, no customers and no financial options for cobbling his vast pre-war operations back together. Joining thousands of others, Mr. Stern fled post-war Weimar Republic Germany in the early 1920’s. He landed in New York City, virtually penniless, but with a plan that was already operational for rebuilding his fortunes.

Stern was not about to feel sorry for his plight. He was down, but only temporarily, because he brought more to America than dreams. He also presciently brought over 2000 canaries. At the time he was considered a bit eccentric, having spent passage monies for a flock of tiny birds. No one would have predicted that this stock would become the base for building one of America’s greatest family fortunes.

Max Stern immediately began selling canaries to pet shops and eventually the giant Woolworth chain of dime stores. The birds needed to be housed so he also sold cages. They needed to be fed so he sourced and sold bird food. Over the next 30 years he built his Company, Hartz Mountain, into the dominant pet supply business in the country. By the time of his death in the 1980’s, Hartz Mountain Corporation controlled over 80% of the pet product market.

Max Stern’s son, Leonard Stern, joined the family business and has been instrumental in vastly expanding the firm’s tentacles into real estate, finance, hotels and publishing. In order to concentrate on this huge basket of assets, the Stern Family sold the pet products business in 2000.

Today, Hartz Mountain Industries (HMI), the Stern family holding company, is one of the largest privately held real estate owners in the United States. HMI has earned spectacular returns from investing and developing the swampy Meadowlands region of Northern New Jersey into huge industrial parks. The company had developed vast swaths of the Hudson River waterfront in New Jersey. Office towers in New York City, charging some of the highest commercial rents in the country, as added jewels in the HMI crown.

Leonard Stern built Stern Publishing from nothing into one of the largest publishers of weekly city magazines, owners of The Village Voice, Cleveland Free Press and Harmon Homes, real estate guides. This business was sold in 2000.

Leonard Stern is regularly listed as one of the richest men in America. He inherited great wealth from his immigrant father Max, however, his drive and ambition has greatly leveraged those resources and expanded the Stern families wealth to staggering levels. All of this has occurred because Max had the foresight to undertake the fateful move to a distant new country with a bold plan of action.

That a small inventory of itinerant German canaries could be the starting point for a world-wide business empire, still thriving after 90 years, is testimony to the genius of the American system of capitalism, and one particular immigrant’s courage and willingness to use that system to his advantage. A version of this story has been repeated endless times, with many varying degrees of success over the history of the United States. Waves of immigrants arrive here every year only seeking the “right to pursue happiness”.

Not all succeed, but all have the opportunity to pursue their particular dream. Very few people will ever enjoy the unbridled commercial success that the Stern family has experienced. However, millions and millions of immigrants arrive in this country, appreciate the opportunities it provides and avail themselves of the endless possibilities available to them by becoming immersed in America and it’s economic bounty.

Today, we are experiencing a serious economic hiccup. It will pass. We will rebound. The opportunities to be had in this country have never been greater. Immigrants, and foreigners that dream of immigrating to America, know there is no place better than this country to pursue happiness. They seem to appreciate what this country has to offer more than some of us who have been so blessed to be born here. We should never take the greatness of America for granted.

by: Geoff Ficke
Recently I was interviewed by a national small business magazine about a topic that is all too real; and very problematic for small businessmen. The author of the story was trying to solve a simple problem that many of us have faced, and face every day. How to protect a product concept that cannot be protected by patents or copyrights? Here is the problem and some thoughts on the best ways to protect your work product.

The product in question in this case was a cake. A simple food product that virtually anyone can make by following the instructions on a cake batter box is not something that typically enjoys patent protection. This cake was a bit unique, however. The cake’s designer had crafted a cake in the shape of a baby diaper and posited the delicacy as a morsel to be consumed at baby showers. Even with the diaper profile and the baby shower franchise patent attorneys had advised that there was no legal protection to be had to keep competitors away from possible duplicity.

Our cake entrepreneur began to sell the diaper/baby shower cakes in his local area. He enjoyed some initial success until, lo and behold, one day he walked into the bakery department of a store that carried his food product and next to his confections was a cake in almost the same design as his diaper shaped concoction. He was immediately overcome by a series of emotions ranging from mad to very scared. What could he do to protect the franchise that he felt he had created?

I have never met the cake designer who was now in this conundrum. My only knowledge of the situation was conveyed to me by the lady reporter assembling the story for her monthly publication. However, I have known many entrepreneurs, inventors and small businesses that have found themselves in similar spots.

The reporter wanted to know what marketing steps, strategies or options the cake maker could have taken to protect his first to market advantage. Was it too late to re-establish his advantageous position as the creator of the baby shower confection?

In the consumer product marketplace, if a product is unique and successful, it will almost always be duplicated in some form or other. The goal of the copycat is to get as close to the original as possible without infringing on patents or trademarks. The commercial goal of any serious product cloner is to sponge off the consumer awareness and excitement created by the original product and siphon revenues.
Food products are particularly difficult to formally protect. Secret recipes and trade secrets are often utilized to create a mystery barrier between the creator/owner and the idea thief seeking to replicate the taste and appearance of a foodstuff. The best method to utilize in protecting a products position in the marketplace is to develop a pre-launch marketing strategy that closes the door on competitors as much as possible by enhancing the natural “first to market advantage” that any original item enjoys.

My marketing consulting firm is regularly approached by product developers who have web-sites, appear on local television and radio and have promotional articles written about them and their ideas. They very often have no inventory, no sales model, no business plan and no source of supply fully vetted and ready to manufacture. They are simply advising the public, and prey artists that are always prowling for new opportunities, that they are ripe for exploitation. They are full of themselves and only shoot off their big toe while embellishing a product that is not commercially available.

The cake designer in question tried to run before he was ready to walk. He placed an unprotected design in the marketplace and allowed competitors to pounce. His retail footprint was too small to enable him to brand his cake design as the “Cadillac” of the category, a category that he had created and should have been able to reap long term benefits from.

The wise course of action would have been to pre-sell the marketplace with a coordinated, scheduled product launch date. Book orders from as many retailers as possible in the marketplace. Give the retailers a sell-through program, sampling, sales collateral, signs, coupons, a small cable television media buy, and media publicity generated through targeted press releases announcing the stores and dates the shower cakes would be available. A customized decoration feature could also be utilized to enhance the unique features of the service. Up-sell products such as cookies and cupcakes might have provided the brand with more attractive retail potential and further differentiate the cakes from competitors.

These and other steps should have been taken BEFORE the entrepreneur introduced his product to consumers and competitors. If the market had been pierced with multi-store distribution and a small, but vigorous support program, the “alpha” inventor would have been cemented as “the” vendor in town for shower cakes. Expansion to wedding showers and other special event parties through themed cakes were natural line extensions available to keep the business growing, creatively fresh and identifying significant unique points of difference from the copy cats.

Rather than owning the towns market for shower cakes, the creator of the concept now finds himself playing second fiddle to a larger baker. He is losing shelf space and distribution points. He is discouraged and frantic.

“You only get one chance to make a great first impression” is not just words, but a hard fact. Entrepreneurs must move aggressively to strike the market before competitors. However, they must move with a plan that covers all contingencies and makes them appear larger, stronger and more virile than they might actually be. Remember David was the underdog to Goliath, but he was able to slay the giant using guile and stealth. Successful entrepreneur’s must think more like David.

by: Geoff Ficke
Along with duct tape, probably the most common product handymen keep in the garage for tackling household chores and repairs is the ubiquitous lubricant spray WD-40. I am a mechanical klutz. But when something needs fixing in my home, I simplistically grab the duct tape or a can of WD-40 for use in my first line of attacking the problem at hand.

WD-40 is a classic example of a product innovation that defines the persistence required of successful inventors and entrepreneurs when facing hurdles. WD-40 was invented by the three owners of the Rocket Specialty Chemical Company of San Diego. The team was attempting to develop a product that would prevent corrosion on aircraft and aerospace components. It was first successfully used on the Atlas missile.

Norm Larsen is the scientist most often credited with inventing the essential molecular formula necessary to perfect the superior lubricating properties of WD-40. WD-40’s famous navy blue spray can, with the yellow shield and red plastic closure is one of the most recognizable consumer product packages in modern marketing. Initially WD-40 was sold solely for industrial uses. The original aerosol can presentation of WD-40 was introduced into the consumer product marketplace in 1958 and has sold strongly ever since.

Most interesting is the provenance of the brand name, WD-40. The W stands for water. The D stands for displacement. The number 40 represents the number of experiments Mr. Larsen conducted to perfect the chemical formula necessary to produce WD-40. How many people give up on a task long before they make 40, or 30, or 20, or 3 stabs at finding a proof for a problem?

This level of commitment and the passion for finding answers to difficult hurdles is endemic in all successful product creators. Larsen and his Rocket Specialty Chemical Company team, I am sure, would have made 140 more attempts to find the answers they were seeking. The reward for their efforts was a wonderful product that decades later is still enriching their estates and making neophyte DIY practitioners like myself a little better at successfully completing their chores.

by: Geoff Ficke
Today poetry is not a culturally prevalent or popular art form utilized to convey deep thought or the meaning of ideas. To be sure, there are contemporary poets, published works of poetry are available and the United States still recognizes a living “poet laureate”. However, for vast swaths of modern populations, poetry seems so prim, almost Victorian.

So what can the words of a bygone poet, or poem, offer modern product marketers, inventors, entrepreneurs and designers that would inspire and motivate their efforts? Plenty, if the poet was Rudyard Kipling and the poem is the still fresh and vividly crafted “If”.

When interviewing potential clients for my product development, and consumer product marketing consulting firm, I always gift them with a framed copy of the classic poem “If”. Whether they become clients of the firm or not, the lyrical verses of Kipling’s beautifully constructed poem provides aspiring entrepreneurs a wonderful map to follow as they struggle against great odds to achieve their goals. “If” is inspirational in its elegant simplicity and conveyance of a message of determination, reality and courage.

Rudyard Kipling and his prolific literary work were synonymous with the British Empire of the late 19th century and first third of the 20th century. Kipling was born in the Raj, British governed India in 1865. After a modest education in England, he returned to India as a teenager and commenced a life of travel, adventure, social commentary and writing. Working as a journalist, poet, short story writer and novelist, Kipling penned some of the most memorable, influential works of the time. He became the most widely read writer of his age and enjoyed great critical and commercial success.

Among the classics that Rudyard Kipling wrote, and which still enjoy popularity in contemporary culture were Gunga Din, Kim, The Jungle Book, Captains Courageous, and The Second Jungle Book. In 1907 Kipling became the first English speaking writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. He published “If” in 1896.

“If” was considered a British parable extolling the courage, stoicism and “stiff upper lip” that even to this day we associate with English virtue. Over the decades since its publication the poem has evolved to mean many different things to different audiences. For instance, the most famous tennis venue in the world, Wimbledon, displays a sign at the player’s entrance to center court proclaiming the following words from “If”: “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same”. In 1995 the BBC commissioned a British public opinion poll that decisively concluded that “If” was the most important British poll ever written.

For modern marketers, product designers, entrepreneurs, inventors, aspiring athletes and artists, and all those seeking to make a mark in any of life’s myriad endeavors, “If” bristles with elegantly simple, motivation, practical guidance and encouragement.

“If you can make one heap of all your winnings,

And risk it on one turn of pitch and toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings,

And never breathe a word about your loss”

Competitive people are risk takers. They know that success is not guaranteed and failure has a real chance of confronting them as they pursue their goals. But they are willing to take the risk, plunge ahead, and if failure occurs, they start again, and stoically continue their drive to overcome failure and life’s hurdles.

Each verse of “If” is written as if Kipling is speaking to us as individuals, trying to assure that though there will be bumps along the way, but “If” we keep our wits, have courage and passion, we can find our own personal path to our particular mountaintop. “If” is a poetic tutorial that can be a wonderful motivational tool for every person to include in their positive thought locker. Keep a copy handy and refer to it often.