While Mark Chaplin ponders Disc-Go-Tech's entry into the consumer products world, Prelam Enterprises Ltd.'s Luc Jalbert is wondering if consumers will pick up the scent of his company's preventative-strike bathroom deodorizer before the industry giants sniff a winning product (see ” The sweet smell of success,”). Armed with only a small budget, Jalbert wanted to create a marketing campaign in good taste, and flush out his company's reach. A tough task. We asked for your help, and so many readers responded with solid business ideas and a few funny jingles, that we only have room for a few excerpts in the magazine. Here is the full versions of all the letters.
- I would suggest Prelam promote its product by allowing potential customers to use it for free in public washroom facilities, such as at restaurants, pubs and shopping malls. In order for this campaign to work, Prelam would have to install some sort of lightweight cardboard display stand in these facilities that would offer people a free one-use sample that they could try immediately, and would also let them know where the product can be conveniently purchased for home use.
This sort of promotion would effectively demonstrate the usefulness of the product, as well as provide a low-cost way for Prelam to introduce the product directly to potential customers.
Phillip Richard , Vancouver
- Prelam is chasing after the wrong market. Who cares what kind of stink you create at home? Only your wife and kids. Who cares what kind of stink you create in a public washroom? The hundreds of other people who have to use it after you. Restaurants don't want a customer going into the bathroom and coming back with no appetite. Other business would also have their enjoyment factor diminished by a stinky bathroom experience. Malls, amusement parks, sports stadiums, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, nursing homes: Thousands of flushes per day times $6.97 a bottle is a lot of money.
William (Bill) Rinehart, Barrie, Ont.
- The following are suggestions for jingles or advertising lines.
1. It's really neat, and so discreet/ Use Just'a Drop, and the odour stops
2. Use Just'a Drop/ When you need to plop/ And no one will know/ That you had to go
3. Using Just'a Drop/ Before one “goes”/ Won't offend/ Anyone's nose.Roslyn Barrettara, Whitby, Ont.
- The dispensers have to be changed. We (I) don't want to have to remember to use just a drop “before” every time, and I cannot control what my husband and son do in there with the door closed. It should be something that hooks onto the back of your toilet tank and releases Just'a Drop for you every time. Slogan: “You will know when you run out!”
Market to women and small companies. Women are more susceptible to odours than men are, so you should target them more. And small companies that have one or two washrooms to serve 20 to 30 staff could use the product more than large companies. It is affordable since small companies usually buy their own products more than larger companies, which have cleaners come in.
Elizabeth Rourke-Bishop, Dartmouth, N.S.
- Educating customers is possible, but it usually takes time and a considerable amount of money. The difference in your product is its application to the toilet bowl-the source of bathroom odours. Today, many customers use spray fresheners in their bathrooms, myself included, to contain odours. Perhaps you should take your current product, extend it into a spray freshener as well, and market the spray as Just'a Shot and the liquid Just'a Drop as the ultimate bathroom deodorizer. It could start as a package of the two and later be split once the customer has been familiarized with the toilet bowl application. This would position your products in a special category compared with other fresheners, one only for the bathroom.
D. C. Lowe, Toronto
- A short-term solution, and possibly long-term, would be to use a direct marketing model. This requires inside first-hand knowledge for which many consultants are available. The rest of the line and additional products could be pushed through this new channel, as well. A direct model has no borders; it can go around the world as fast as people get on board.
If you didn't mind sharing some of the margin, you could private-label to some of the biggest direct distributors, such as Amway, Mary Kay, Avon, etc. Or stay with your brand and just negotiate a deal to use their network. If you wish to pursue North American retail, you have a big challenge ahead of you. Partnering and private label are the fastest ways to go.
Tim Kuntz, North Bay, Ont.
- I read your article on Prelam with a chuckle and great interest. Advice from a distance and not knowing all the facts is dangerous, but here is an idea that might have merit and stimulate a different course of action. Educating customers is possible, but it usually takes time and a considerable amount of money. You really have a freshener, and the difference in your product is its application to the toilet bowl-the source of bathroom odours.
Today, many customers use spray fresheners in their bathrooms, myself included, to contain odours. Perhaps you should take your current product, extend it into spray fresheners as well and market the spray as Just'A Shot and the liquid Just'a Drop as the ultimate bathroom deodorizer. It could start as a package of the two and later split once the customer has been familiarized with the toilet bowl application. This would position your products in a special category compared with other fresheners, one only for the bathroom.D. C. Lowe, Toronto
- I love your Entrepreneurial Challenge. It recharges that seat-of-the-pants feeling that makes us all take the plunge into business.
Prelam is chasing after the wrong market. Who cares what kind of stink you create at home? Only your wife and kids. Who cares what kind of stink you create in a public washroom? The hundreds of other people who have to use it after you! Restaurants don't want a customer going into the bathroom and coming back with no appetite. Other business would also have their enjoyment factor diminished by a stinky bathroom experience. Malls, amusement parks, sports stadiums, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, nursing homes (for bedpans): Thousands of flushes per day times $6.97 a bottle is a lot of money.
Prelam needs to provide free samples to the salespeople in the industrial/commercial bathroom products sector. Those salespeople are on the road, and using public bathrooms. Anybody in sales is overly conscious of the impression they create, even to the nose. They would be champions of it after the first flush.
Does the product work after the poop? Have you ever walked into a bathroom that has been bombed by a previous beer-and-curry occupant? It would be so easy to sell their product in the commercial and institutional environment.Delivering the product in those toilets is the challenge for the company. It has to be delivered with every new flush for the next customer, but with a simple system that doesn't require a plumber's installation.
William (Bill) Rinehart, Barrie, Ont.
- There have been many financially successful companies with a similar problem. A short-term solution, and possibly long-term depending on how the strategy is deployed and maintained would be to use a direct marketing model. This kind of model requires inside first-hand knowledge for which many consultants are available, the rest of the line and additional products could be pushed through this new channel as well. A direct model has no borders; it can go around the world as fast as people get on board. Alternatively, if you didn't mind sharing some of the margin, you could private-label to some of the biggest direct distributors: i.e., Amway, Mary Kay, Avon, etc. Or stay with your brand and just negotiate a deal to use their network.
You may have already considered this model, and if you wish to pursue North American Retail, you're right, you have a big challenge ahead of you. Partnering and private label are the fastest ways to go. Take SYSCO Corp., North America's largest food-service supplier. They love private label, and they have a network of thousands calling on food-service establishments daily. They are product-training gurus and have relationships that will get the product an initial trial. After that, the product sells itself right. Not to mention other possible channels, such as Gordon Food Service, PCO Services, Canadian Pest Management Association, Roto-Rooter plumbers, etc.
How about selling it as a novelty, gift or gag for a corporation, with the company logo on the bottle. Or an even larger channel, for fundraising. Large non-profit organizations are always looking for a new way of raising money. And let's not forget the oldest marketing tricks such as, “one for $9.99 or 2 for $15.99.”
Play on proven brands and bottle shapes for brand association-“It's like Visine for your bathroom, it doesn't get the red out, it keeps the smell out!”-that kind of idea.Tim Kuntz, North Bay, Ont.
- Catchphrase: “Give us your best shot” or “Give it your best shot
with Just'a Drop.”
Loreta Norcini, Wallaceburg, Ont.
- Here are three advertising lines: The ultimate bathroom odour control; Banish odours before you begin; Just'a Drop (in the bowl)
Gary Stewart, Abbotsford, B.C.
- I have two solutions for Prelam as follows:
1. They can take the safe route and get their product into the bathroom vending machines found in most public washrooms around North America. This would work because, over time, everyone has to use a public washroom at some point or another, and as long as they include an eye-catching graphic the product will get noticed. Also, it allows the individual to purchase the product with some discretion. They would probably have to sell it in smaller volumes so they only have to charge a toonie. Somewhere on the packaging, though, they should include other stores that sell it. I'm sure if the product is good, people will head to Wal-Mart, etc., for the bigger bottle when their supply runs out.
2. Take a risk and tackle the subject head-on with a TV commercial. I think very few viewers would actually be offended, especially if presented in a comical fashion. The character (in my commercial), Bea, is an exaggerated snob on her high horse, and the message is: “It's the people who think they are better than everyone else who really have a problem with this subject, not you and me.” Also, the fact that the
subject is a little taboo would cause it to stand out from all the other commercials and might even get people talking about it to their friends and family.James Haryett, Kingston, Ont.
- This is a great product with lots of potential. The positive note: everyone can relate. The only way to market this effectively, I believe, is with humour. It has to come across to the viewer/reader that this is what you have to use when you need to go, period. Here is an example: two guys slouched on a couch after a night out, half asleep, stomachs growling. One of them suddenly opens his eyes wide and says to the other, “I've gotta go, like now!” The other responds: “Better use this” and he quickly hands him the toilet freshener.
Chris Bonnet, Montreal
- As a student of marketing I am very interested in Prelam's problem. While some Canadians may be “prudish” when it comes to verbalizing issues of their personal bathroom odours, I think the problem of how to market your product can be overcome. Actually, I find that Canadians are a lot more open to talking about things that happen behind the bathroom door than most other cultures. Moreover, as far as I know, North Americans invented the genre of jokes we all know (and some love) as toilet humour.
Many people out there would be over the moon to know your product exists and would buy it instantly if they did. (I am going to Wal-Mart to look for it this week.) Whether it's a guy not wanting to “stink up the joint” before his wife takes a shower, or a girl staying over at her boyfriend's for the weekend, or someone visiting a friend, or anyone at a house party who desperately has to go, most people would want to avoid the inevitable embarrassment of these situations. We would all be that much happier if we could all expect to find a bottle of Just'a Drop in every bathroom we use.
Sampling to some extent is crucial, simply because people need to believe it is going to work before they are willing to shell out the $6.97 for a whole bottle. Word of mouth will continue to be your main driving force if you don't launch a successful advertising campaign (and even afterwards, it can replace sampling as a means of proof that the product works). Something simple and humorous would be effective. I would recommend the humour appeal as opposed to the sex or fear appeals for your ads. Possibly a situational ad, showing a bunch of people embarrassed about having to go, and then desperately trying to cover up with the traditional means (air fresheners, opening a window, turning on the fan, etc.) Then have “a drop” appear and tell them how to never have the problem again: “All you need is Just'a Drop before you go, and you can leave without a care,” or something like that. The possibilities range from an extreme potty joke, to mildly amusing, to purely situational and informative. If you want to go the “cool” route, you could use a song like Roses by Outkast; the lyrics of the chorus could be adjusted a bit and be perfect for you (with their permission of course). It's a more outdated method, but picture a Just'a Drop character/hero who goes around freeing the world of stinky toilet odours one bathroom at a time.
Either way, I really think you can overcome this marketing problem, and I hope you do because I think you have a great product. Aside from marketing to households, are you also marketing to businesses and organizations? Granted, the groups I am speaking of would be even more interested if you can successfully develop an auto-drip system of sorts; places such as airports, schools, restaurants and fast-food outlets-anywhere with public facilities.
Amanda Shamshudeen, Hamilton, Ont.
- After reading such an interesting story, I felt I had to put my thoughts in. I was thinking that although this company has a small advertising budget, could it work with a company like SmartSource/Actmedia to get “talkers” and distribute coupons with the product. What about having demonstrators go into a Wal-Mart and have the item on display with a person ready to answer any questions the customer may have, as well as trying to sell to potential customers. The trick here is you would need a really good people person who could make fun of him/herself and convince customers the product really works. This would be more economical than it sounds, as all you would be paying for is the demonstrator and the table. You could, if you wanted, offer one-day-only bonuses, such as the $0.50 off the product only on the day the demonstrator is there. That would help the demonstrator sell better, and with a little help from you, it would be less expensive than a full-fledged coupon campaign. You could plan for the potential coupon use over the days you demonstrate, and take that out of your advertising budget. Of course, having a picture of a toilet bowl filled with flowers would be a great conversation piece.
I was also thinking about “bundling” with, say, a Wal-Mart brand toilet paper. However, chances are the people who buy the least expensive toilet paper they can find don't have an income that would support an extra $6.97 in the basket.
I know you can purchase advertising in grocery store carts, but can you buy space in toilet stalls? The idea to put the product in retailers' bathrooms is brilliant. Why not offer the advertising in front of the customer not just employees. Signs that say “Fresh smelling toilets are Just'a Drop away,” or, “This stall is using Just'a Drop… conveniently located in the toilet paper section of this store. You, too, can have this fresh smell at home for only $6.97 a bottle good for 90 uses.” You could donate the product to the company to use in their stalls and perhaps work a deal that you can advertise for free. You never know, wheel-and-deal. You got this far, so push the envelope a little further.
Does the product work anywhere else? The sink? The bathtub drain? Try a few different things out with your team of four (or five) and see what you can come up with, then you can promote additional value. Does the product work on septic tanks? Is it environmentally friendly? Are these things that you could advise your customers? Could you work with local community papers to educate people on your product? Does the product do anything that would warrant biodegradable/environmentally friendly advertising?
What about approaching local newspapers to see if they are looking for a piece about new products, or a piece about “the little guy”? Newspapers are always looking for some type of human story.
What about even working with community rebate programs? For instance, in Kitchener if you purchase a six-litre toilet you are eligible for a refund from the community. Approach the community advertisers to see if you could bundle in your own advertising. In return, you could also advertise the effectiveness of “less” water in a toilet per household. When you are selling your product, you could state it “can be used with efficient running toilets too.”
Lia Charnicovsky, Kitchener/Waterloo, Ont.
- Prelam Enterprises has a product with a tremendous revenue potential. However, its limited marketing and communications budget may ultimately be its downfall, in terms of its potential to lead the market before Just'a Drop catches the attention of major industry competitors, especially now that the product has been showcased in a major national media publication.
I would suggest that Prelam promote their product by allowing potential customers to use it for free, in public washroom facilities such as at restaurants, pubs and shopping malls. In order for this campaign to work, the company would have to install some sort of lightweight, cardboard display stand in these facilities, that would offer people a free one-use sample that they could try immediately, and would also let them know where the product can be conveniently purchased for home use.
I think that this sort of promotion would effectively demonstrate the usefulness of the product, as well as provide for a low-cost way for Prelam to introduce the product directly to potential customers.
Phillip Richard, Vancouver
- Yes, Prelam, it's possible to market your product. If sanitary pads along with other feminine products, deodorant and even baby diapers, can get their message across-all based on “odour prevention”-so can your company.
My suggestion is as follows:To prevent obnoxious, no not obnoxious but embarrassing odour, use Just'a Drop before you go.” The message would be clear in all languages because of your symbol-a toilet bowl with flowers.
Marie Sing
- Prelam could find a gold mine in diaper pails. Yesterday, I babysat our youngest granddaughter and had to lift the lid off the diaper pail twice. I couldn't believe it, no matter how quickly I tried to put the lid back on, it almost made me sick. The first three grandchildren never had diaper pail odours like that! I mentioned it to my daughter-in-law. Apparently what they used to use is no longer available. She says she has looked everywhere and can't find it. I also asked what others use-again, no luck. Her frustration was obvious. Prelam would be easy to market for diaper pails, without being squeamish.
Madeline Johnson, Calgary
- I was reading your article and for the first time ever I felt the need to respond. I hate to see a great product not make it because its owner is the small fish in a very large pond. Printed ads would be a great way to go. Or, better yet, why not talk to some of the teen magazines. If an article was done similar to the Canadian Business article in different types of magazines, then the product's name would get out. I took my copy to a neighbour's last night for a coffee and we talked about your product. Today, she is taking one of the bottles off the shelf in the store she works in and putting it on the back of the toilet. She will tell customers about it, after the staff has tried it and liked it.
I think that a great market for this product would be teenaged girls. At that age image is everything. Why not look at a teen magazine like Faze, for example, to do an article in. You could put a twist on it, letting it be known that not going is bad for you. It causes cramping, bloating, etc. Faze seems to not just be fluff, but deals with issues. From there, what would be stopping you from doing different articles/interviews? This would be of no cost to you but time. Why not look at Breakfast Television?
A slogan could be: “Go where you want,” and an ad could have a magazine rack in a stall with a Just'a Drop bottle on the toilet paper dispenser. Or the ad could have girls in the bathroom standing at the mirror putting on lipstick and the bottle inside an open handbag. This would let the consumer know that it is portable. Talk to doctors. Provide samples for them to have in the office.
Terri Bray, Aurora, Ont. - After reading the story on Luc Jalbert and his business, Prelam Enterprises Ltd., a fellow student and I have come up with a quick and easy marketing solution that may be able to solve Jalbert's marketing problems.
We thought that since Jalbert has 120,000 bottles of his Just'a Drop sitting in a warehouse in Brampton, Ont., why doesn't he approach certain businesses across the countryfor example, a fast-food chain or a tourist attraction, such as the CN Tower-and strike a deal to put his product in their public restrooms. He could develop advertisements for the back of the stall door and it would be a direct way to reach people. Bathroom advertisements have proven to be effective, and what better way to advertise a toilet freshener than in a stall where hundreds of people will see the ad on a daily basis.
Renee Kelly & Shannon Long, Halifax, N.S.
- Here are just a few suggestions. The dispensers have to be changed. We (I) don't want to have to remember to use just a drop “before” every time, and I cannot control what my husband and son do in there with the door closed. It should be something that hooks onto the back of your toilet tank and releases Just'a Drop for you every time. Slogan: “You will know when you run out!”
Market to women and small companies. Women are more susceptible to odours than men are, so you should target them more. And small companies that have one or two washrooms to serve 20 to 30 staff could use the product more than large companies. It is affordable since small companies usually buy their own products more than larger companies, which have cleaners come in.
Advertising could show a woman walking down the hall in a plush robe and some spa products, but before she can get to the washroom, a man rushes in. She stands in the hall waiting, tapping her foot. Then, show the man leaving the washroom with a skunk in tow, and maybe some wilted plants, while the woman waits to go in. The woman goes in and holds her nose, tears form immediately and she runs out. Insert information on Just'a Drop and how it eliminates the odours before they happen. Then show the same woman walking down the hall, same husband, same tapping foot, but when he comes out there is no skunk, instead fresh flowers, blue skies, happy music and the woman in the tub with candles and bubbles.
Or take the approach that the ad campaign for colorectal cancer took. We don't want to talk about this fact but we have to-insert information on Just'a Drop-close with “Now that did not hurt a bit. Or create a black-and-white print ad with “Everyone does it-but everyone doesn't have to know when” in bold letters.
Elizabeth Rourke-Bishop, Dartmouth, N.S.
- With all due respect…are you kidding me? Creating TV commercials for this product would be a snap. I am 53 years old and have prepared “sensitive” material weekly for the public for 27 years. These commercials have the potential to be some of the all-time greats-if produced right. I can think of three or four cute, but effective formats, right off the top of my head. For instance, picture a quaint outhouse in a country or woodsy setting. Have it surrounded by animated animals-mice, raccoon family, a contented moose etc. Enter the back of a caricatured person headed for the outhouse. The animals scatter and hide (with appropriate screeching and warnings shouted to one another) as the person enters the outhouse. Two seconds later the person emerges to the sounds of the animals making all the adolescent comments concerning bad smells. Immediately, the back of another person appears heading for the outhouse with the product very visible. The warnings and scattering occurs again with sarcastic comments. Two seconds later, the person emerges and a second after that an explosion of flowers appears out of the windows of the outhouse. The person disappears, while the animals approach the outhouse in guarded postures only to soon give the thumbs up and start cheering. The final sound byte would be the product's selling theme. It…would…work!! Forrest Stroup, Edmonton
