Every day I write down several ideas for new businesses. It keeps my creative brand in shape just like others go to the gym to work out their abs. My kids will attest to our dinner table conversation when they were little when I’d asked them to create a new business idea. This is one of my favorite parlor tricks. The best idea I came up with a clothing company would create pre-stained shirts so that people like me wouldn’t care if when they drip a drop of pinot, pasta or pesto on their shirts. The shirts would come with the stains already on them.
Thank goodness, someone else loved this idea too.
Mair/Wennel’s Dirt Pattern Material focuses on stains as design. They created shirt that celebrates the stain and takes my own messiness to a new level. The designers took common stains like red wine, grass and even blood to make the shirt. I love taking pictures of my food. Why not wear it on my sleeve? I’m so happy someone else thought this quirky idea was worth doing.
Pre-Stained Shirts – A marketing gift
The marketing lesson is how someone is paying attention to a negative and making it a positive. Instead of being stain proof like other shirts, these designers are celebrating the stain pattern as a thing of beauty.
How are you looking at the services you provide or the products you sell? Is your filter like everyone else in your category or can you step back and find something undiscovered where no one else is paying attention?
Do you work in a marketplace focused on wonderful fragrance? Maybe there is a place for using off-putting smell as an interesting tactic to keep pets off the sofas? Maybe this idea has a bad stench to it but perhaps, that is exactly what you need as a point of difference?
Do you work in a service business that always emphasizes a conservative approach to business like a bank? What happens when you do the opposite? Maybe it is time to channel your inner George Costanza and do exactly the opposite of what everyone else does. For those who don’t remember, George, part of Seinfeld world, decided one day to do the opposite of his instincts. Since life wasn’t working for him, maybe the opposite was the right thing to do. As an example, what would it be like for a banks that celebrate fun instead of funds.
Is there a place for a playground that is less safe and is filled with more risk? Is it the place that parents who want to teach their children a different lesson from playing it safe can go? With our extra focus on safety, why not create a playground that is all about the risk?
Ironically, there is a kickstarter campaign for a company that wants to sell stain resistant shirts.
What are you going to spill on your industry to stain the category?
Need help finding a new way to envision your market? Let’s talk. Maybe I can drip a few drops of wine on your category with an insight to help you market your brand. For some pre-stained advice, connect with me.
