Product Publicity Uncovers New Markets
Many years ago, a client of mine in the plastics business was driving his expensive motor home during the winter in
Inventing this heated wiper was no easy task. His patented technology involved special elastomers and heating devices that would operate over a wide temperature range and not burn out. The wipers also had to be easy to install and users had to be willing to pay more than $100 per pair. Since I had been publicizing products for his plastics company at the time, he asked me to test market his new heated wipers.
It was challenging because I had to show them in a generic way. In other words, if I photographed the wipers on a motor home, that would limit his potential exposure to editors in the motor home market. So, we borrowed an actual windshield and staged a photograph with fake ice and snow which illustrated the chief benefits of the wiper: it melted the snow, prevented ice buildup and cleared the windshield. Then I wrote a very concise press release about this innovative product.
Most importantly, my next step was to create a list of media outlets that might have an interest in heated windshield wipers. I figured they would include publications (this experience preceded the Web and would work even better today) in several major markets including aviation, trucking, buses, police, fire, municipalities, loggers, etc. My thought was that editors would pass judgment on the heated wiper and choose to use it as “product news” or they wouldn’t. In that respect, each editor represented a significant constituency. If they did select my press release about the heated wiper and publish a brief story about it, then they would pass judgment on its usefulness for their market. Most importantly, thousands of readers would then see the product news and seek more information if they were interested.
This method of using product publicity to uncover new markets really works because, unlike advertising, news is objectively presented by editors to their readers. Then the interest generated by that readership is measured by actual reader response rates.
Today the process involves measuring Web site traffic. In the case of the heated windshield wiper, truckers, especially fleet administrators, police and fire departments were key markets we uncovered. You guessed it: Our next press release addressed these “new” markets by featuring the wipers on the front of a large truck.
Ironically, the market for which the product was invented was not valid. As it turned out, most folks with motor homes were down South during the winter! It was the safety concerns of truckers, fleet administrators, and police and fire departments that justified the expense of the heated wipers. As my client wrote, “Over 3,600 inquiries had to set some type of record. The response from 23 different publications serving the heavy vehicle market has provided us with answers to our questions.”
