Duquesa Marketing

www.DuquesaMarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact:  Geoff Ficke

859-567-1609

Duquesa Marketing to Unveil Client Web-site to Coincide with Product Launch at Magic Show, Feb. 13-15

www.MurphyWear.com to Detail Unique New Men’s Undergarments Featuring Proprietary MX-P Anti-Microbial Moisture Barrier Technology

Florence, KY   Nancy Ficke, General Manager of international Branding, Product Development and Consumer Product Consulting firm Duquesa Marketing announced today that her group has completed design work for the launch of the www.MurphyWear.com web-site for their client, Murphy Underwear.

“This site will go on-line to support the unveiling of Murphy Underwear at the Magic Show, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, the largest men’s fashion trade show in the United States”, said Mrs. Ficke. “The product is a revolution in the category of male underwear and offers fit, comfort and technology features never before seen in this space”.

“The web-site contains a number of key teaching elements about the unique features of Murphy Underwear”, said Alexis Bruning, V.P. of New Product Development for Duquesa Marketing. “The proprietary quick-wicking textile weave and the MX-P Anti-Microbial Moisture Barrier Technology separate the garments from any other product on the market and visitors will quickly grasp their significance”.

“Murphy Underwear will be introduced at stand 29099 at the Magic Show at Mandalay Bay”, said Mrs. Ficke. “Pricing, fashion color assortments, value packages and sales promotions will be presented to the men’s retail market and the web-site will be open on February 12”.

by: Geoff Ficke

Converting an Idea to Income Is a Process That Requires Planting and Fertilization, Not Hope and Dreaming

Under the category of inexperienced blind hope, a surprising number of people that approach my Consumer Product Development group with a new business idea want us to find someone who will buy the concept in its undeveloped form. This always amazes, even after so many years of hearing these vapid elevator pitches. A person has an idea, they have performed little or no due diligence, and they believe it has commercial value. Daffy!

Behind every existing product, service or successful business there was originally an idea. In order to achieve any level of viability and ultimately market success, the idea was planted and fertilized with work, research, investment (money and sweat), strategizing, and so many other necessary layers of work product that confirm the concepts usefulness or lack thereof.

A person that attempts to peddle an idea without conducting necessary due diligence is immediately obviated as a wastrel. Ideas are a dime a dozen, actually they are worth 10 cents less than a dime. The reasons so few people become successful entrepreneurs, even though most people dream of entrepreneurial conquests, is that they are dreamers not doers.

I recently took a call from a supposed entrepreneur who was looking for someone to buy his toy idea. In response to my qualifying probes he was entirely negative. He did not have patent filings. He did not have 3D CAD art. He did not have, or worse, want to build rough prototypes, so, of course, he was never going to have production quality prototypes. Without 3D CAD art and prototypes he was never going to discover manufacturing protocols and Cost of Goods.

In short, he was the ultimate dreamer. Many of these poseurs are serial stalkers of investment, partners and/or licensing relationships. They troll the internet endlessly looking for a home for their get-rich-schemes. The time and effort that could be devoted to productive due diligence is wasted on blind hopes and dreams.

I have counseled clients, students and prospective entrepreneurs for many years to avoid taking shortcuts at all costs. Resources are more easily found and utilized today than ever before. Many, many years ago, when I launched my first product there was no e-mail, internet, cell-phone, Software, Google or WikiPedia. Heck, there weren’t even fax machines or FedEx. Every step of the process was slower and more arduous than today.

The ease and availability of contemporary resource tools makes the launching of a new Consumer Product or Small Business a much simpler process. An idea which is not accompanied by at least a smattering of supporting design and data is a non-starter. Worse it brands the presenter as an amateur.

Let’s assume you are shopping for shoes. If you visited a shoe store, and the store only had pictures of shoes, but none to try on, how would you react? Of course, you can buy shoes on-line, but typically you know the brand, style and size you need and search for an on-line match at a price. When in a store, you want to touch and feel the products you seek. It is the same with venture capital and licensees.

The market is flush with opportunities for investment. Money always seeks the most market ready products. You have no chance to compete for seed monies or licensing unless your project is fully vetted. A successful entrepreneur always plants and fertilizes their work product to maximize chances of achieving a great result.

Duquesa Marketing

www.duquesamarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

January 12, 2012

Contact:  Geoff Ficke

859-567-1609

Duquesa Marketing Appoints Defined by Design to Develop Graphic Art for Pedi-Protexx Cosmetic Accessory

Packaging, Display, Branding, Web-Site and Trade Show Visuals To Be Produced to Support International Product Launch in Spring-2012

Florence, KY     Nancy Ficke, General Manager of International award winning Branding and Consumer Product Design and Development firm Duquesa Marketing announced today the her group has appointed Melbourne, FL based Defined by Design to create Graphic Art elements for the launch of Cosmetic Accessory Pedi-Protexx.

“As Managing Consultants for the Pedi-Protexx project we reviewed a number of candidates to assist us in creating the visual Branding elements we will need to take the line to market”, said Mrs. Ficke. “We were most impressed by the vision Linda Walding and her firm Defined by Design brought to the project”.

“Dr. Barbara von Mettenheim, founder of BvonM LLC and creator of Pedi-Protexx has crafted a wonderful, simple, elegant solution to a problem that many women experience”, said Alexis Bruning, VP of New Business Development for Duquesa Marketing. “The Graphic Art element for this project is crucial to ultimate success and Defined by Design is proving to be a wise creative choice”.

Duquesa Marketing will be announcing shortly an aggressive launch calendar for the Pedi-Protexx line of Cosmetic Accessories. The Brand will be introduced in an international venue and will enjoy excellent sales promotional support. The Business Plan is for a Spring-2012 roll-out.

by: Geoff Ficke

5 Questions That Must Be Answered Before Attempting to Fund or Launch Your Consumer Product

I am constantly amazed at the naivety of first time entrepreneurs and inventors when it comes to the due diligence they must conduct in order to get their idea, concept or prototype to market. Even with the amazing information tools at hand in the 21^st century, so many still try to fake out the marketplace by taking shortcuts. This is the equivalent of death by neglect. 

There are 5 questions that must be organized and perfected before a new product can be considered ready for preparation of a fully documented, well-crafted, customized Business Plan.

Question 1: Do you have a production quality prototype built, a unit that can demonstrate the full functionality, features and benefits of your product? 

This provides the base template of everything that must follow in pursuing accurate assumptions on which to base your strategy for investment, marketing strategies, sales model and financial projections.

Question 2: Have you assembled and distributed Release Packets to multiple manufacturing/production sources? 

The Release Packet is the blue print and content map that producers will utilize to conduct proper time, assembly protocols, manufacturing standards required, and estimate production costs for your products build out.

Question 3: After choosing the factory that provides best service, lead times and quality control, have you been given a dead-net Cost of Goods to produce your item in mass production volume? 

Dead-net Cost of Goods means cost to produce, package, handle, ship (by ship and container if off-shore production), freight-customs-duties, local freight from port of landing to your destination for product fulfillment, all inclusive. This is the real Cost of Goods that is the first and most crucial element necessary to create an exciting, well-documented Business Plan.

Question 4: Have you created a Sales Model that works for your enterprise, and for all up-channel re-sellers of your product? 

Different Consumer Product categories must utilize Sales Models that factor many variables into the pricing equation. Some product categories require heavier Sales promotion budgets (Cosmetics, Skin Care, Toys, Games, etc.). Others require strong levels of store support for display, co-op advertising and point of purchase signage (food, drinks, oral care). Limited distribution, exclusivity models are built on a low volume, high retail model. 

Question 5: Why is the Sales Model so important, and why do so few Entrepreneurs devote enough time, energy and research to perfecting this crucial building block of their Business Plan?

The second half of this question is easily answered: Some do not know how to detail their Sales Model, some do not want to put in the effort, and others do not understand the process required to achieve investment, licensing opportunities, partnerships or sales traction in a brutal marketplace.

The Sales Model (based on Question 3: Cost of Goods) is so very important because it is the “alpha” assumption that supports every declaration built into a Business Plan. If the cost to produce, and thus the selling basis for a product cannot be torturously defended every other element and assumption included in the plan will fall of its own weight. Investors will see this immediately and bail.

 I write this after a particularly busy month of reading and hearing elevator pitches for projects that have been almost uniformly under-vetted. Some of the concepts might have even been commercially viable. However, when I ask these 5 questions and hear crickets on the other end of the phone line, I know I am not dealing with a serious, committed, driven entrepreneur, and I am not alone. Every other investor, venture capitalist, licensee and buyer I know experiences the same disappointment when exposed to plans built on quicksand.

Duquesa Marketing, Inc.

www.duquesamarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

October 20, 2011

Contact:  Geoff Ficke

859-567-1609

gficke@msn.com

Armenicus Life, Inc. Appoints Harrington Product Development to Act as Project Design Engineer

Firm to Manage Prototype Creation and Manufacturing Elements For Spring-2012 Market Launch of New Jewelry Accessory Product Line

White Plains, NY  Anna Kazanchyan M.D. founder, CEO and inventor/designer of lifestyle simplifying Consumer Products for her company, Armenicus Life, announced today that she has engaged the services of Cincinnati, OH based Harrington Product Development to manage manufacturing of her new line of Jewelry Accessory Products.   

“We reviewed all options with our Managing Consultants at Duquesa Marketing”, said Dr. Kazanchyan. “After interviewing Rick Harrington, and seeing his work archive, we knew he was well suited for the many tasks we need to accomplish in order to be ready for the launch date Geoff Ficke of Duquesa Marketing has targeted”.  I am building Armenicus Life to provide a line of Consumer Products that address everyday problems  that vex people. The line of Jewelry Accessory Products we will launch in Spring-2012 is the “alpha” project but will be quickly followed by others”.

“Anna Kazanchyan is very professional and disciplined in her approach to the project”, said Rick Harrington, President of Harrington Product Development. “And, of course, I have worked with Geoff and Nancy Ficke and the Duquesa Marketing team on a number of fashion projects, so there is excellent synergy to unleach our collective creative energy”.