Repost:
This was the whole memo:
Jan 18th, 2010
FROM ERIC
A friend of mine wrote to Eric this morning and received an answewr within two hours. Here it is with my friends permission. I am assuming Erics consent and hope that is Ok.
Hello Mr. XXXXXX,
Thank you for various observations and suggestions. The following is a point-form summary of our findings to-date:
• We are interested in larger displays in stores, and do seek permission from stores to provide them. These include rolling carts, counter cards, signs and banners to name a few. It usually takes time to be granted such additional exposure. We therefore see the existing box as the “thin edge of the wedge” in the process. Even the box takes us a step forward because not all products are allowed to be sold in their original box.
• Although you may feel on a “gut level” that the words stain remover are associated only with laundry, we have become quite familiar with the market and find that consumer perception of the words “stain remover” is more general than that.
• The fact that the product is “sitting alone out of place” is actually an accomplishment, rather than being crowded in amongst others. The easiest place to be lost is in the crowd.
• We have seen that Paint Department personnel eventually become familiar with Winning Colours Stain Remover and begin recommending it. The advantage to us of the Paint Department as a “home” for Winning Colours Stain Remover in stores is the opportunity to be recommended by staff. Over the long term, this is the equivalent of having thousands of part-time sales people. It is of tremendous help to a product within that store to be recommended by a member of staff.
• The reason that we do not create specific labels for the many areas in which Winning Colours Stain Remover can be used is twofold: The first is an ethical matter. We do not want to pretend that the consumer has to buy 5 bottles of (the same) liquid to solve 5 problems when one bottle will do. I realize of course that it might seem like a smart business move to sell 5 times as many bottles, but it is a fundamentally dishonest premise (and would ultimately fail) because the consumer would be spending 5 times more than they need to. WD-40, the famous spray lubricant accepted this principle as well and has gone on to be one of the most recognized brands in US households. WD-40 is a multi-purpose product concept, although in the area of lubrication. The second reason is practical – managing 5 times the SKU variations (or more) greatly increases costs and personnel requirements. It means that the company would need to maintain much higher inventory levels, manage the streams of brand issues that are specific to each iteration, create more websites for the specific product niches, etc. Our goal is to become the “go to” product when people have drips, drops and disasters of various kinds in their homes or at work, in other words – one thousand cleaning uses in one convenient solution. The unique dual personality of Winning Colours to be used full strength or diluted will also become better known over time as a terrific quality.
The bottom line is that Winning Colours Stain Remover has barely been “born” yet in the USA. We have not even scratched the surface of public awareness because we are so new. The Direct Response Television Advertising (DRTV) 2-minute infomercials which will be on air in the 2nd quarter of 2010 will accelerate the process. The growth in store counts also reveals increasing penetration of the brand. The day will come that the name “Winning Colours Stain Remover” will be widely known, the product liked very much and will describe a favourite for millions of consumers.
Thank you for your interest in these issues and that fact that you became a member of the Winning Brands shareholder family.
Cheers,
Eric Lehner , CEO
WinningBrands.com
AI
