Free Prize Inside : The Next Big Marketing Idea

Το “Free Prize Inside” είναι ένα από τα τελευταία βιβλία του Seth Godin. Θα έλεγα ότι αποτελεί μια συνέχεια των προηγούμενων εκδόσεών του με σημείο αναφοράς την αντίληψή του για το σύγχρονο marketing και την αναποτελεσματικότητα του παραδοσιακού τρόπου διαφήμισης. Υποστηρίζει ότι μια επιχείρηση θα μπορέσει να πετύχει μόνο εάν η στρατηγική της επικεντρώνεται στο πώς να δημιουργεί ξεχωριστά προϊόντα και όχι στο να ξοδεύει αλόγιστα για να επικοινωνεί προϊόντα που απλά είναι σαν όλα τα άλλα.

Innovation is actually cheaper than advertising

"It didn’t used to be true but in a world of purple cows, when the marketing is built into the product, creating products that are innovative is actually cheaper than advertising average products. So, once your company realizes that insight, then it will invest the money it would have spent on advertising to create cool products instead. That innovation is free. In fact it’s a profit center.”

Με τη φράση “Free Prize” εννοεί το στοιχείο εκείνο που θα πρέπει ο marketer να προσδώσει στο προϊόν του προκειμένου να το κάνει ξεχωριστό.

“The free prize is the element that transcends the utility of the original idea and adds a special, unique element worth paying for, worth commenting on.”

Για να φτάσει κάποιος στο σημείο να βρει το free prize που θα κάνει το προϊόν του μοναδικό θα πρέπει η δημιουργική του σκέψη να φτάσει στα άκρα.

Going to the edges – finding the innovation

“The truly great, off-the-edge sorts of ideas come from people who have trained their creative edge, who are artists in the art of creativity. I wouldn’t trade this gift for anything, and I am not diminishing it.”

Ποιος όμως είναι ο τρόπος να φτάσουμε τη δημιουργική μας σκέψη στα άκρα?

Forget about brainstorming

“We need an alternative to brainstorming. Something that everyone responsible for creating a free prize can use. Brainstorming is a mythical, magical event. It’s designed to quiet the mind and allow your innately great ideas to surface. By challenging those around you to remain positive, and by creating an environment of enormous productive energy, it allows you to reach your full potential.

Brainstorming is about nonlateral thinking. About finding the odd connections that help you jump from one reality to another. You’ve tried it, I’m sure. It doesn’t work…

It doesn’t work because your company does not need to be nonlateral. Because when an idea gets too close to sounding real, your colleagues are overcome with the urge to pick at it, because they believe that if they don’t, they’ll be on the hook to implement it later.”

Introducing Edgecraft

"Edgecraft is a methodical, measurable process that allows individuals and teams to inexorably identify the soft innovations that live on the edges of what already exists. The goal of edgecraft is to find the free prize worth paying for."

The process:
a) find an edge – a free prize that has been shown to make a product or service remarkable
b) go all the way to that edge – as far from the center as the consumers you are trying to reach dare you to go

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Η πρώτη έκδοση του “Free Prize Inside” περιλάμβανε το βιβλίο μέσα σε ένα κουτί cereal!

“The first edition of this book came in a cereal box. Why? I was trying to make a point about soft innovation, but I was also creating a living, breathing experiment in using the fulcrum and being a champion.”