May 15, 2014

Liver Spot Away

Description: A solution for liver spots
Main Pitch: "Erases the look of dark spots and brightens your skin"
Main Offer: $12.99 for one bottle
Bonus: 2nd bottle (just pay a separate fee)
Marketer: Telebrands
Website: www.LiverSpotAway.com
Prediction: On the fence

This is not an extension of Top Dog's Tag Away, although obvious attempts have been made to help consumers think that it is. Putting aside the ethics of that approach, I'm not sure it's a smart business decision.

Tag Away has poor reviews online (average 2 stars on Bed Bath's site and on Amazon, where 66% of reviews are only 1 star). Indeed, it seldom makes sense to brand-extend DR products -- whether your own or someone else's -- for this reason. Very few products live up to the promises our commercials make, so marketers end up wresting with a paradox. Either people know and recognize the brand, which has a negative association because of customer dissatisfaction, or they don't recognize the brand and the reason for using (or copying) the mark is rendered moot.

Of course, the situation here could be much more mundane. It's really hard to come up with good product names that clear a trademark search!

As for the product, my prediction is based on not knowing the size of this problem. I was surprised by how big of a problem skin tags were and accept that I could be surprised again here.