Creating,Craze,amp,#58,Making, marketing Creating a Craze: Making Your Product into a 
Awhile ago, I got an email from one of the "gurus" I follow and it shocked me. The gist of it was this person wanted to trade services for a household item.To say it floored me would be an understatement.What was worse was a few days later t Automation technologies represent a fundamental aspect of any modern industry. The major types of industrial automation solutions, such as DCS, PLC, SCADA, and MES, are used on a large-scale in process and discrete industries.DCS technologie
It's pretty obvious that "collectibles" are a hot trend thesedays. From plush stuffed animals to Christmas ornaments, there isa bevy of product lines whose customers have mysteriouslytransformed into rampaging, fanatical collectors willing to doanything to get the specific products they need. With the kind ofexcitement (and profits!) that collectibles can generate, it's nowonder that everyone is on the lookout for that next bigcollectible product.Unfortunately, there is no way of telling what the next hot trendwill be. For instance, no one could have guessed the immensepopularity of the Beanie Babies -- however, the Ty Corporationdid (and still does) a great job of encouraging the collectibleaspect of their product line. We can take some valuable lessonsfrom Ty, as well as other producers of collectibles, when wethink about marketing our own products.There is, of course, no way of guaranteeing that your productline will create a craze of rampant collecting. However, thereseems to be a few characteristics that the big collectible lineshave in common. From these, we might be able to give ourselves aheadstart when we start creating product lines and marketingthem:* Personalize your products. Collectibles need some way forcollectors to distinguish one product from another. Manycollectible lines have individual, personalized names for eachproduct. Beanie babies, for example, don't just have stuffedbears, tigers, and rabbits -- They have Valentina the bear,Blizzard the white tiger, and Nibbley the rabbit.By personalizing your products, you will make it easier forcollectors to discuss your products. It is also easier for themto keep track of which of your products they have and which onesthey need to complete their collection,* Have a good selection of products. In basic terms -- For aproduct line to be collectible, there needs to be something thereto collect! If you only sell one item, you probably won't havecollectors knocking at your door. If, on the other hand, you haveso many different products that you can't count them all, itmight seem to people that there is no way they could ever getthem all, which would also discourage collecting.It seems to me you need to walk a fine line here. You need tohave a large selection of products to collect, but limited enoughthat the variety doesn't destroy the unique character of yourproducts.* Limit the availability of your products. Ty substantiallyincreased the collectibility of their Beanie Babies when theyinstituted their "retirement" policy. After a limited run,certain products were retired, making them harder (and therefore,more valuable) for collectors to get.At first glance, this may seem like a bad idea for themanufacturer. After all, if you aren't selling the particularmodel / product any more, why does it matter that the value goesup? Well, as Ty found out, the retirement system meant thatpeople were more willing and eager to buy newly releasedproducts, with the understanding that they too would be "retired"sometime in the future.Hallmark uses a similar system with their collectible Christmasornaments. The individual ornaments are only produced for oneholiday season, making it vital for collectors to buy earlybefore the chance is gone.* Don't assume that your products are collectible. This is kindof counter-intuitive, but one of the surest ways to make surethat your item is NOT going to be collected is to heavilyadvertise it as a "collectible" or call it a "limited edition."It seems that people want to discover collectibles on their ownrather than be told that they should collect something.Therefore, it is probably best to just advertise the usualaspects of your product, rather than stress its collectibility.The important thing to remember about this whole process is thatthe whims of the collector are hard to predict. You can't ensurethat your product will start a new craze to rival Pet Rocks(remember those?), but you CAN strive to make your product linecompatible for collectors. That way, should the lightning strike,you will be prepared to reap the rewards! Article Tags: Beanie Babies
Creating,Craze,amp,#58,Making,