Oops, your product is just another commodity!

I have met with so many product teams over the years all of whom believe their twist on this category or that category has made their product completely and undeniably unique. They believe it so strongly that any words to the contrary are viewed as plainly negative, perhaps even an attack, and certainly to be ignored.

I have had these conversations and confrontations over consumer electronics products, e-commerce start-ups, apparel merchandise, snack food and grocery items, and whether dealing with strictly brick-and-mortar outlets or solely online retail or wholly owned chains or third party distribution or some combination of them all.

Everyone believes that their thing is unlike any other thing out there. And they are certain their consumer can see it, too, at a glance.

Here is the one rule that I try to get all product marketers to understand: Everything sold at retail is a commodity.

What does that mean? Harsh as it is to hear, it means that the consumer, the end-user, the specifier, the purchaser perceives no difference between the specifics of your masterfully crafted product and those of every other competitor in your category. Let me repeat that: the purchaser sees no difference.

Since some products win and other products lose, there must be a difference that is perceived by the purchaser. Of course there is, but that difference is marketing.

Some quick examples—Abercrombie jeans and Gap jeans are both quality denim pants in a similar variety of fits and washes. Abercrombie jeans cost more and come complete with an aura of sexuality, hipness, and exclusivity. Gap jeans cost less and come with associations of well-scrubbed honesty, approachability, even wholesomeness. Just picture Abercrombie’s in-store imagery and advertisements of scantily clad boys with 12-pack abdomens cavorting alongside topless girls with flowing hair through endless afternoons of black-and-white sunshine; then picture Gap’s Xmas commercials of wholesome dancers decked out head-to-toe in plaids and stripes and denim chanting little ditties about warmth and cuddliness. Tell me there isn’t a huge image difference at work there. Sexy vs. wholesome; lust vs. cuddles; raw vs. well mannered.

It’s all denim. The difference is how you market it. And the same holds true for smart phones and e-book readers and photo scanning services and digital video recorders and women’s necklaces and Valentine’s Day candy and any other product sold.

They are all commodities until you force the consumer to view your product, through marketing, in a unique way. Then and only then your product is no longer a commodity. Then it moves into the realm of the truly unique.

And isn’t that what every product manager and product marketer wants?

--Timothy Cohrs

www.TimothyCohrs.com