There’s an old saying in advertising: “Nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising.” In other words, great marketing will get people talking about your product. But if they have a less-than-amazing experience, it could be the kind of talk you don’t want. This is especially true today, in the age of social media, when bad news travels even faster.
Right now everyone’s talking about the iPad. But does anybody remember Apple’s MessagePad? Of course not. According to the hype, it was going to revolutionize the industry and make our lives a whole lot easier. The product didn’t live up to the promise, and Apple ended up scrapping it in 1998. It remains to be seen whether the iPad will be more successful, but the MessagePad offers a lesson on how generating interest before your ducks are in a row can be damaging to your brand.
It happened to one of our clients. They were coming to market with an innovative device that would offer substantial improvements over the status quo (or so they thought). After developing a variety of pre-launch activities for a trade show, we succeeded in generating a great deal of buzz. But our client couldn’t find investors to move the product forward. Why? They went full guns before their clinical data was conclusive. And they hadn’t considered the harsh reality of how reluctant physicians can be to change the way they practice medicine.
Remember, the investment you make in creating buzz shouldn’t be greater than the investment you make in preparing for it. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Be ready with great customer support — A disappointing experience with your customer service team is a sure buzz killer.
- Have your clinical evidence in place — If possible, wait until you have the data to ensure your scientific credibility.
- Get your sales team up to speed — Create a talk track or sales script to help them stay on message.
- Work out technical glitches in advance — A problem with a demo during a trade show or a new corporate website could turn your customers away.
As a marketing and communications agency, it’s part of our job to create hype — hype for your new product, corporate re-branding initiative or trade show event. Just be prepared to live up to it.
Tod Brubaker is an associate creative director at Seidler Bernstein with more than 25 years in the copy writing/directing trades. He’s worked in consumer and B2B, from Miller Beer and Sprint to Amgen, Ethicon/J&J, Eli Lilly and Pfizer. Tod’s industry honors include Cannes, Clio and Addy awards, as well as top honors for print from the Johnson & Johnson James E. Burke Marketing Excellence Awards.