Build & Shout: Why Great Products Don't Sell Themselves

"If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap, than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."

Fact or Fiction?

I would love to believe people will sniff out a great product and start paving their way to you. However, I think this is fiction. Having a great product but doing nothing else about it will get you nowhere. I will caveat it with the fact that if people begin to learn about your great product due to publicity, advertising, or word of mouth, then that is a different story. At that point, the momentum will speak for itself. But to suggest that people have an intuition to go to X location because they have the best product due to a hunch is outlandish to me.

For example, my husband and I aren’t intense foodies, but we love to eat somewhere unique and delicious. Plus, bonus points for an excellent smoked old-fashioned. The chances of hearing about a great place are high if it is somewhere local in Tampa. However, we utilize Yelp and Instagram to gain insight into places we would have never heard of otherwise. And then, if we plan a faraway trip, the chances of hearing about a great place to eat via word of mouth are very slim. Or the rare chances of driving by a location while on a trip and stopping to go in, even if we have never heard of it. The timing, interest, and hunger all must align just right.

I firmly believe in utilizing tools given to you for a reason. Establishing a brand, marketing plan, and public relations plan seems strenuous for someone starting a business, but creating a place where your information can be found can do wonders for your product or service. It shows you care, want others to know, and mean business. I can’t begin to tell you how often I avoid a place or prepare myself for disappointment when I cannot find good information on their establishment or product.

To further support my reasoning with this idea, I have two book sources discussing the power of publicity. Chapter three of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding discusses the Law of Publicity, which states that “the birth of a brand is achieved with publicity, not advertising.” The authors state that what others say about your brand is much more important than what you say yourself. That cut deep when I read it. Another insight in this chapter was: “Today brands are built with publicity and maintained with advertising (Ries & Ries, 2022, pp.13-17).” In his book Build, Tony Fadell talks about his experience with the Nest screwdriver and the publicity it gained. A hardware tool became a marketing tool that gained Nest significant positive publicity and helped give it free PR and advertisement. Their reach spread farther than they dreamed (Fadell, 2022, p.105).

Tony also shares a unique tactic in his book that I wanted to share since it is related to my discussion post. On pages 136 to 137, he shares a strategy for writing a press release for your product while you are starting. This strategy helps you narrow down to what matters the most and enables you to hook people, especially journalists, into becoming interested in your product. I also liked that he suggested reading it once you are about to ship or launch your product and see how closely it resembles it now. It will give you feedback on how close you stayed to your vision or if you pivoted and need to rewrite it now (Fadell, 2022, p.136-137).

In short, it is false to have a great product sit stagnant, waiting for people to sense it and bust down the doors. I don't see it this way. This assignment was enjoyable and pushed me to revisit two books I haven’t opened in a while. I am looking forward to seeing the other perspectives on this. Thanks for reading.

References

Fadell, T. (2022). Build An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making. Bantam Press.

Ries, A., & Ries, L. (2002). The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. Harper Business.