Knob Creek bourbon has announced that it may run out of stock yet this summer, and that thirsty customers will have to wait until the next batch arrives on store shelves in November.
I think this is brilliant, old-school marketing.
One of the most important brand attributes of successful products and services is success; consumers want to know that other consumers want stuff, and sales is a qualifier that goes far beyond conversation as proof of that interest. That’s why movies strive for big opening weekends, and why a sellout of anything invariably leads to reservation lists.
While software mechanics strive to make supply meet demand in an idealized state of ongoing one-to-one perfection, a little extra demand goes a long way.
Think how many marketers fail to see this somewhat simple truism, and waste time and money trying to educate consumers about what they should know about stuff. The whole concept of differentiation relies on a series of attributes that are often lost on folks; consumers are supposed to discern the "bold" positioning of one product from the "reliable" qualities of another one (that’s otherwise all but identical). This is especially evident in new product launches, which struggle to break through the cluttered mediaspace to get seen.
But who cares if a laundry detergent has 5% more stalagmites than another, or that one bottle of hooch is aged 9 years vs. 8? These can be very meaningful and relevant attributes, but the communications challenge is to make such things apparent in a nanosecond. Perhaps long-tail growth plans look smart on a spreadsheet, but I suspect that loads of people have lost their jobs before reality ever lived up to the aspirations of the far right-hand column.
That’s why social media chatter isn’t synonymous with sales, and why so many of the latest product campaigns have failed to deliver. Talk is cheap, if not outright worthless sometimes, and I think the definition of "success" in this business context requires the tangible, unequivocal truth of paid transactions. Anything else can be an enabler and/or sustainer, but not a substitute.
Which brings me back to Knob Creek. It announced that it is "letting its current supply run out," which "may" lead to shortages..so it pretty much told its customers to go out and horde the stuff. I love it. It could have also applied some new media strategies to the ploy:
- Let customers register for updates/access to the next batch (even pre-order, though I bet there’s some law against doing that online)
- How about a social media campaign letting drinkers post "their last Knob Creek experience" and enter some contest or game for a payoff via the next batch?
- Why not create a campaign that let would-be customers witness the production process? If it’s the true differentiator, they’ve got the nanosecond part communicated, so why not get folks involved in the education part. I could see an "Aging-cam" that let people stare at an oak cask. Nothing would happen. Get it?
Campaigns like this renew my faith in the marketing business. Scarcity is a brand benefit. I hope it’s a successful strategy for Knob Creek.
Original Post: http://dimbulb.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/08/scarcity-as-a-benefit.html
