Ask Sig
| Sig, It is difficult to market a snack food that, while delicious, is not particularly healthy. I’m fighting significant trends; there simply aren’t enough people open to a product of this sort. What’s an appropriate product benefit when today’s parents won’t give their kids this sort of thing? Sincerely, |
Dear Getting Noogies Over Nougat,
Ah, reader. Your letter reminds me of my grandmother’s marzipan, which she pressed into large pans to let cool on the window sills of her farmhouse in Pribor. The aroma was so wonderful it made the Yellowhamers sing! One can only hope that your product is a lovely marzipan?
But your question is also important! Consider for a moment my neighbor at #17 Bergasse, Otto, who is somewhat portly. He enjoys ale and a good Kaisersemmel roll, and even if he gets them at Franziskanerplatz Kleine Café around the corner, he prefers to take a carriage than to walk. Otto is not what one would call spry.
Still, I have seen Otto leap with the grace of a footballer at the drop of a hat, and that hat is usually Freda’s. Freda is another neighbor of mine. She is slim and pretty – in as much as one can tell from her athletic cloak, which covers all of her but parts of her face – and eats only small helpings of cream of wheat.
That is, until the recent Festival of Mahler, when Otto managed to seat himself next to Freda, and amongst other dining friends and neighbors, I watched him attempt to move the pair’s friendship to its next phase. Here, focused on his companion and wanting to present a character of restraint, Otto was interested only in a light salad. Meanwhile, Freda cut into an exceptional steak and drained glasses of red wine with abandon, either in hearty celebration of Mahler or as a simple distraction from Otto. It is difficult to say.
Friendly confectioner, my lesson is that consumer behavior may involve personal traits, but it is also a circumstance of moment-to-moment states. Traits may be relatively steady but states are ever-changing with life’s conditions. By considering the wide range of relationships between states and traits, your marketing options become significant.
Simply put, you may think people are not the “marzipan type,” but when they hear the beautiful sound of the Yellowhamers, they will knock on your farmhouse door.
Regards,
