Comments for The Shelf Potato

Comment on Key to New Product Success: Avoid “Death by Brand Advertising” by Tom@Funeral Homes Salt Lake City

Tom@Funeral Homes Salt Lake City — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:22:43 +0000

Sometimes it is hard to keep your product popular when there are so many other products to choose from on the market. Don’t let your priceless products fizzle.

Comment on Impact Driver or Impact Wrench? Confused Names Keep Products on the Shelf by Jason

Jason — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:52:42 +0000

I agree, Even I can’t figure it out by myself whats the difference between the two. Anyway, these tools really useful for a construction worker no doubt about that.

Comment on Failure to “Cross the Chasm” Leads To Shelf Potatoes by Deborah Huisken

Deborah Huisken — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:05:21 +0000

I think you’ve touched on a principle that’s important to any growing business, not just a technology business. What excites early adopters may not be what the typically more cautious second wave finds compelling. Early adopters tend to be people who can see the vision; the second wave tends to need to be convinced, so you have to articulate different messages and, as you say, “value propositions”.

As always, Doug, you’ve put your finger on an important point!

Deborah

Comment on Even Cars Can Be Shelf Potatoes. Consider Volkswagon’s Eurovan by Jack Rubinger

Jack Rubinger — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:21:14 +0000

I hear where you’re coming from. Volvo has sucked all the coolness out of their cars, too, making them generic, boring and looking much the same as any car on the road. Those old 240 wagons, for example, were huge, functional and were safe. The newer wagons are too small, not suitable for camping because you wouldn’t feel comfortable trashing them and packing them top to bottom. Volvo should revisit those cars because those cars generated loyalty and had a cult following. Who’ll remember the current line-up of Volvos?

Comment on Even Cars Can Be Shelf Potatoes. Consider Volkswagon’s Eurovan by Rolly-Polly VW WIN | Viddler

Rolly-Polly VW WIN | Viddler — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 06:04:47 +0000

[...] Even Cars Can Be Shelf Potatoes. Consider Volkswagon’s Eurovan « The Shelf Potato [...]

Comment on What is a Shelf Potato? by Shelf potato alert – Microsoft Kin mobile phone | Portable Gadget

Shelf potato alert – Microsoft Kin mobile phone | Portable Gadget — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:30:33 +0000

[...] article appears courtesy of The Shelf Potato Blog, by Doug Garnett. The article was originally published on July 1, 2010, by [...]

Comment on WebTV’s Shelf Potato Story by Tech Products Fail to “Cross the Chasm” Because of Communication « Doug Garnett's Blog

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:12:32 +0000

[...] So if you have a tech product that spends lazy days sitting on the shelf, maybe the right communication could bring it alive like TV did for WebTV. [...]

Comment on Failure to “Cross the Chasm” Leads To Shelf Potatoes by Tech Products Fail to “Cross the Chasm” Because of Communication « Doug Garnett's Blog

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:12:21 +0000

[...] a post I recently wrote for TheShelfPotato.com. It took smart marketing, communication, and merchandising by DirecTV to avoid becoming an [...]

Comment on Eight (8) Reasons Products Sit on the Retail Shelf by Doug Garnett

Doug Garnett — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:04:12 +0000

Neil – You are absolutely right that each failure has it’s unique circumstances. Because my specialty is communication, I’m particularly fascinated when communication fails or when communication can be used to turn around an apparent failure. With your background, you might enjoy the recent video work we did for Festool – it’s at TrackSaw.com.

Thanks for the comment. Great to hear your thoughts.

…Doug

Comment on Eight (8) Reasons Products Sit on the Retail Shelf by neil brown

neil brown — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:13:41 +0000

Great post!
Many have heard the statistic that over 90% of new products fail. Surely, each failure has unique circumstances. As this is the NRHA Group, why do hardware products fail or become shelf potatoes? As the retail environment is point-of-sale, you would have to give some emphasis on packaging, possibly merchandising. Could be a perceived poor value, or lousy branding. So many brands put 10 lbs of crap on a package, translated in 3 languages. When we should be striving toward simplicity. Even dumb-it-down for the consumer. But my suggestion for biggest reason, lack of marketing support.