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Suggest Your Shelf Potatoes
This blog is dedicated to the retail challenge we call the Shelf Potato. And, to the opportunity reflected in shelf potatoes.
Because marketing experience shows that products don’t necessarily languish on the shelves because they’re bad products. Quite often they lack the communication support needed to connect consumers with the reasons they should care about the product.
So use the comment space below to post your shelf potato stories and let’s discuss this serious challenge to retail success.
Copyright 2010 – Doug Garnett
Categories: Bath & Body, Food, Home Goods, Lawn & Garden, Recreational, Technology, Tools & Hardware
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The Shelf Potato 
My first shelf potato nomination:
How about FloTV? I don’t know from personal experience but I’ve read a few articles stating that those who own it love it, but it has significantly underperformed expectations. It’s from Qualcomm, whose primary experience is being the “intel inside” other devices so they aren’t known for their consumer marketing. They’ve put big bucks into it between tv commercials and circular ads at Best Buy, so it isn’t for a lack of trying. Maybe the problem is that it feels too techy and techy people already have ways to get live tv / information wirelessly (slingbox, video on mobile devices)?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604575283442647964712.html
Good question. I wasn’t too familiar with FloTV, so I went to their website to browse.
My fundamental test is whether their communication is the problem that could be fixed to bring it alive. Yup. There are clear problems in their communication. The website does a miserable job of explaining why I’d want it and the value it would deliver.
My hedge, though, is wondering if they will end up against the tablet revolution similar to Garmin and Kindle – trying to carve out a market with a dedicated device against a broader preference for general devices.
Right now, I’d put them at a 50/50 possibility they’re a shelf potato.
For those who own, what do they tell you that sounds compelling?