Change the rules?

Change the rules?

So you have this great idea, but it will be a competitor to several massive corporations who can clearly outspend, out muscle, and generally out you every which way………..unless you can out think them and change the rules!

Last week, I found two great examples of startups that are doing just that, and choosing to compete with established giants, by using a completely different business model.

Dollar Shave Club http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/  starts with the insight that buying razor blades is a time consuming hassle and increasingly expensive, beyond any pampering metro sexual pleasure. So, they have changed the rules. For $1, $6 or $9 they will mail you a handle and blades once a month. Simple, no retailer, no merchandising and no easy response from 75% share Gillette. I mean how is Gillette  going to tell Walmart that they are direct selling against them!

Different scale, different market, same change the rules attitude: Surf Air http://www.surfair.com/ are launching a short haul air line using exec jets……………..but charging a fixed monthly fee to fly as often as you want! Around $800 a month to fly up and down the California coast. Commute between LA and Santa Barbara, Palo Alta, Monterrey. Yes please! I can’t see the Chapter 11 legacy airlines following this one, although maybe Jet Blue?

It’s all stirring stuff isn’t it? Maybe I could quit my cubicle and start over – or maybe someone is planning a game changer that might hit my employer and move me out of my cubicle rather more abruptly.

So if you don’t have an escape plan yet, how will you defend your brand if the outsider tries to change the rules?

How about getting the team together to work out a response. Of course you’re going to need some expert facilitation, and who better than a consultant who moved continents and went virtual five years ago to change his own rules?

P.S. Wont happen to me? I'm glad I didn't work for a record company before iTunes, Bell before T Mobile, or even made carriage reins before Henry Ford.

Looking back for a new way forward

Just a few generations ago, most of what we ate was governed by the season. Spring vegetables, summer fruits or fall smoked meats. We ate of the season and for the season, understanding the practical delights of lighter summer fare and hearty winter stews.

Now with refrigeration, freezing, and global trade we enjoy what we want whenever we want it but I believe that the "folk memory" of our past patterns remains and it offers some serious marketing opportunities.

In the '90's, each year's Beaujolais Nouveau was an exciting launch with competitions to deliver the first cases around the world and lots of excuses for additional drinking, I know that Sam Adams still market seasonal ales but where is the food equivalent?                                         

Many brands have proved the value of "Limited Editions" but they could do so much more than just offering a new flavor.

Where are the "First crop of the season" claims, the dairy products from "Spring Pastures" the ice cream made from August Peaches? Why don't restaurants promote Primavera Pasta in April?

What about pet food that promises the comfort and nutrition that winter demands with special recipes marketed each fall? Is the idea elastic enough even for the fresh smell of air dried laundry in a Spring variety of detergent?

Or maybe it's enough to just launch a seasonal pack design as Ritz have this Spring.