October 16, 2014

Weekly Round-Up


Prediction: Hit!

  1. Janimals. Marketer: Jay At Play. Producer: Hutton-Miller. Pitch: "The wearable stuffed animals." Comments: This is a great product with tons of play value and maximum "pester power" potential. The creative is, of course, excellent and features a super-catchy jingle. Finally, this marketer/distributor is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the opportunity. This one's a layup! [ss]
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  3. Air Bead Cushion. Pitch: "Perfectly contours to your bottom for comfort and support." Comments: Air bead cushion? Whoopee cushion is more like it! It's not quite that bad, but the sound this makes is certainly embarrassing and will be a barrier to purchase. Otherwise, this is the Sobakawa Cloud Pillow idea applied to the Forever Comfy concept, which should give it a decent shot. [ss]
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  5. Cheese Tease. Pitch: "The exciting new electronic cat toy that makes your kitty jump for joy." Comments: Yet another ill-fated attempt to replicate the success of Cat's Meow. Yet another free data point for the rest of us. [ss]
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  7. One Pan. Marketer: Spark Innovators. Producer: Kerrmercials. Pitch: "Three different meals made at the same time with just one pan." Comments: Hearthware tried a variation of this idea with its L'ovenware silicone bakeware back in the spring of 2012. They called it the "twice as nice divider tray." (You can watch the pitch here.) At the time, I thought there might be something to the idea. But upon further consideration, I find it hard to imagine two things people would want to cook together (and that would cook properly at exactly the same temperature and cooking time), let alone three things. [ss]
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  9. Under Light. Marketer/Producer: Zoom TV. Pitch: "Motion-activated accent lighting for your home." Comments: Zoom products have higher-than-average odds of success, and this creative does an excellent job selling the product and making it look high quality. That said, the product is an LED light and thus finds itself in one of the worst Siren categories in the industry right now. On a side note, I may have detected a theme ... Zoom's Aqua Rug is based on a product made for yachts. This pitch is all about replicating the kind of accent lighting found in "million-dollar designer homes." Someone has been shopping for ideas at the One Percenter Store! [ss]