Twenty years ago, I had a marketing challenge that left me puzzled.
At the time, I was VP of Marketing for GoodMark Foods, the company that owned a portfolio of snack brands like Slim Jims, Pemmican, Andy Capp’s Snacks and several other brands. We sold most of our products in the convenience store.
Our challenge was to develop and launch some new line extensions for our flagship brand – Slim Jims.
But something in my gut told me we were solving the wrong problem. I thought we needed to imagine and start with the end in mind. So, the team and I spent several meetings trying to understand what the end state might look like if we were successful. We began at the end.
Starting with the End in Mind
As we thought about line extensions, we realized that the real challenges weren’t more products but more revenue. Success would come by increasing sales and profits, not with more flavors. So, we thought about what a future state might look like for our brand. What would our counter display look like a year from now if we were successful?
Slowly we realized our problem wasn’t enough choice and flavors; our problem was that our number one product was out of stock too often. The end state we desired was to have the right product available for customers. Our problem became clear – we needed to go from an 18 count to a 24-count display box because our distributors didn’t restock fast enough.
Imagining the Future
Starting with the end in mind forced us to wonder what the change might look like in the store. We started asking a better question that challenged us to solve a different problem. By beginning at the end, we could ask, what would it look like if we were successful? What would be different?
- We knew that we couldn’t get our distributors in the stores more often, so that wasn’t going to work.
- We knew that we couldn’t get the store to help us stock product from inventory. (these were convenience stores with no back room)
- We knew we could get much more real estate on the checkout counters because we already had a big footprint.
Marketing with the End in Mind
If you have a marketing problem you are wrestling with; maybe the answer is to pretend you are in the future and can observe success. As you wander (in your mind) through this future state, what do you notice? Understanding what success looks like helps you achieve success.
The mistake I initially made was that we started with a tactic, not a strategy. We were acting on auto-pilot assuming that more flavors would mean more sales.
The hard work is defining the right problem to solve.
Begin at the end.
When you start with the end in mind, you solve the right problem. Got a marketing challenge? Let’s connect. Text or call me at 919 720 0995 or email me at jeffslater@themarketingsage.com – learn about how I work with clients here.
Photo credit: Andrew_D_Hurley via photopin cc
