There is an old saying that goes “a good product will sell itself,” but what about the bad products? They are still out there. They have been bought and sold. So how have companies managed to take a product that is seemingly useless and added enough value to appeal to consumers? Take for example, paperweights. They have little functional use, are not overly aesthetically pleasing, yet in most gift stores you can still find these little guys. So how is enough value being added to them to allow them to be sold? Well they have chosen their target market carefully, mostly little old woman on holiday who need a trinket, then by adding a little plaque with a city name on it they have turned a peice of junk into a peice of junk that someone will pay a couple dollars for! its that easy!
Now how about this, imagine a great product, works flawlessly, is cheap and easy to produce and could save hundreds of lives! but there is a small catch…See the below picture.
This patent application is for a fresh air system for use in high rise fires. the simple design would allow the user to breathe in fresh air and avoid the dangers of toxic smoke inhalation until the rescue teams are able to evacuate the building. Only problem, this source of fresh air is in the buildings sewage system. Try explaining that to your customers without them becoming squeamish….