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What Were They Thinking?

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Ever wonder while wandering the aisles at your local supermarket, how in the world all those products make it to the shelf? There is no doubt about it, from your favorite kind of cereal to your regular brand of toothpaste; the packaged goods we choose to buy are the end result of a long, arduous and costly process. These products have been researched, re-formulated, re-designed, tested, re-tested, perhaps altered innumerable times before given the final approval to appear at your local shopping center. Not to mention the millions of dollars committed to ensure that we know about them through television, newspapers, magazines and other forms of media. It is a process that can take years, often beginning as an idea in someonešs head, and ending with a tangible, three-dimensional package or container that ultimately holds the item we have chosen to give our allegiance, our loyalty. We form relationships with these products. We go far and wide, and to great lengths to find them, and are unhappy if we can't get them.

Marketers everywhere are missing dinner with their kids, pulling all-nighters, steeped in market research and ad agency pitches, just so we could enjoy the most tasty cereal or the most whitening brand of toothpaste with baking soda. And these are only the products we know about; the ones that actually make it out the door! Ever wonder about the ones that never make it, or the ones that you saw today but are gone tomorrow, never to be seen again? Just ask Mr. Whipple. He's seen them come and seen them go. Charmin may still be "squeezably soft", but where is the Crystal Pepsi? Seemed like a good idea at the time. How about "smokeless" tobacco? Rabbit Jerky, anyone? Executives had countless meetings over these products, committed large amounts of resources to them, and spent millions of dollars to perfect and bring them to market. Unfortunately, most of them failed in the marketplace.

How each of these came to market, as the brainchild of one or more marketers at nearly every consumer products manufacturer in the country, is quite a story. Steve Backer, the advertising executive best known for the "I'd Like to Teach the World To Sing" Coca-Cola jingle puts it in familial terms. Executives "parent" these ideas, like they would children, and they grow and are nurtured by "uncles" and "cousins" and even "grandfathers" and "godfathers". They develop benefactors, and are protected and defended. Sometimes defended too well. It is the process of how an idea ultimately becomes a reality, and the generic term we apply to this process is marketing.

This is a subject of great interest to Robert McMath, a Marketing guru, i.e. consultant, who spent many years with the Colgate-Palmolive company, and Thom Forbes, an advertising journalist who, among other things, spent time as the editor of Adweek. In fact, they wrote a book about it, and the book is appropriately titled "What Were They Thinking? Marketing Lessons Išve Learned from over 80,000 New-Product Innovations and Idiocies".

This is a great book. And very valuable if you are a marketer. It could very well steer your career in the right direction. Written with wit and insight, McMath and Forbes take us through the last several decades of new-product launches, and are quick to point out that most of them have been duds. In fact, statistically, the chance of any new product really succeeding with a bang is plainly slim. If you donšt believe me, go and visit the New Products Showcase and Learning Center in Ithaca, New York that McMath runs. It is the repository of more than 80,000 of these household consumable items that he speaks about in the title that at one time or another were considered "new and innovative" or "new and improved". And although the emphasis of this book is clearly what went wrong, rather than what went right, the facts bear out the conclusion. But don't get McMath and Forbes wrong. They both have a keen understanding of the dynamics of consumer products marketing, and are writing from a position of admiration and love of the business. This is not a treatise on the death of marketing, but rather a somewhat wistful and sweeping assessment of the results of some of the most ambitious and colossal undertakings by consumer products companies over the years. Certainly, the successes are included here, and are given their just kudos. What is striking, however, is the lesson in marketing we take away in hindsight from examining why these products and launches never caught on, and why some of them should never have been allowed make it to market.

McMath and Forbes cleverly assesses the highlights, er, lowlights, of some disastrous and costly marketing, along with some spectacular and flawless successes, and the approach is to take an altruism or marketing aphorism, and demonstrate the appropriate success or catastrophe. "Fooling With Your Cash Cow" was meant for Crystal Pepsi. They admonish PepsiCo for wantonly fooling with its flagship brand. There are also chapters on "Me-Too Madness" and "Thou Shalt Not Deceive", which extol the pitfalls of joining the bandwagon way too late, and not being totally above board on your advertising. My personal favorite is "Buy-This-If-You-Are-A-Loser" School of Marketing. The lesson here was Gillettešs FOR OILY HAIR ONLY shampoo. What seems very much a matter of common sense now did not seem so back then. Of course, some of us have oily hair, but who wants to announce it in their shopping cart?

Throughout all the poignant examples, however, is a real desire to analyze de-facto, what contributed to these failures, and how they might be avoided in the future. Every lesson is sincere, and makes an attempt to intelligently and honestly assess the results in useful terms. Albeit entertaining, a deeper understanding of the vagaries and whimsy of consumers and marketing make for a great read and some very funny scenarios. From killer clerks to obstinate CEOšs, not all the blame lies with the marketers. Some products are just destined to bomb due to an overwhelming negative force quite beyond the control any one individual, except perhaps the one having the power to say Yes or No. McMath, having been an "eager beaver young marketer who is going places" himself, tells the story of his first product

assignment with Colgate-Palmolive. He was to redesign and re-launch Palmolive Aftershave Lotion. Back then, it was in a molded plastic bottle and was a rich dark green in color. It sold for a buck, and had enjoyed some popularity in the late forties and early 50šs, and by the time McMath got a hold of it, was lagging in sales of under $1M. That was an unacceptable figure for Colgate, and management wanted it fixed. Truth be told, on the shelf, the rich dark green liquid looked more like dirty water compared to the brilliant blues and sapphires of some of the competition. After a new bright blue formulation and some updated packaging, the prototype made it all the way up to the top, a VP of the Division, who promptly canned it because he hated the color blue. Marketing Lesson 101.

Throughout the book, McMath and Forbes keep the criticism fairly topical, yet accurate. As accurate as one can be in retrospect. The scenariošs are plenty, and cover everything from Futurist marketers pronouncing products for the millennial zeitgeist, to simple dumber than dumb mistakes that should have never made it past pencil and paper. The tone is always even, but hardly dispassionate. And the issues are certainly relevant to today's marketplace, including some philosophical commentary on brand extensions, category development, new products and advertising.

All in all, the book leaves you with a distinct flavor; one part caution, one part common sense, mixed with the knowledge that ultimately, no matter how much planning, preparation, foresight and wisdom, no one can predict with certainty the success with which any new product will be met. McMath and Forbes give us just enough to think about the next time we go shopping.

This book could be used by an English teacher as a model of good writing; it is clear, direct and easy to read. McMath's experience scripting concise and informative advertisements and labels shows. The emphasis on food products dominates, which limits the scope of this book somewhat. Nevertheless, the principles which are illustrated by these examples are sufficiently general to be of interest to most readers working in other areas. The book not only deals with failed products, but also presents examples of the right way to do things. It is nicely balanced and informative.

This is an excellent book that tells all about the vagaries of new product development in the fast-moving consumer goods area. It is written with wit and humor, making it an easy read. It names names and is overflowing with case histories. If you're an entrepreneur, marketing person, PR/ad-agency creative or suit, you must read this book. It will save you time, money and embarrassment. It is absolutely true.

This book is hysterical. I have absolutely nothing to do with
marketing, I got this book thinking it was about men (what were
they thinking?????) I got it, I read it from cover to cover,
and everything he said is absolutely true. Marketers REALLY need
to put themselves in the shoes of the consumer before putting
a product out there. Congrats Mr. McMath!

If you want a good laugh and an invaluable lesson in how not to produce and market goods, this book is for you. The author, who has gradually built up a massive collection of products which seemed doomed to fail, discusses with admirable clarity where exactly the manufacturers went so badly wrong. Virtually every page is filled with nutty ideas which flopped, such as the ice cream sundae which had to be put into the microwave to heat up the sauce. Shame, therefore, that the packaging wasn't all that good and the ice cream started leaking out of the packet. A great book

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? ROBERT M. McMATH This book is about more than just Marketing, although the sub-title is, "Marketing Lessons I've Learned from over 80,000 New-Product Innovations and Idiocies".

Robert McMath has produced a commentary on the History of the industrial complex of the United States and much of the Western world. On page 45 he states, "I miss the civility. I miss the sense of loyalty people felt to colleagues and their companies". He also laments "... that widespread downsizing is resulting in brand managers who are repeating yesterday's mistakes because they and their organizations are totally unaware of the history of their products". (p.45). This is true not only in marketing organizations but also in engineering firms. On page 69, the author notes that America is really not a "melting pot" but the more appropriate metaphor should be a "salad bowl". You will find such sociological comments throughout the book.

The book is arranged by alphabetical order of topics. Generally, I avoid such books since it is similar to reading a dictionary. The author, however, has been successful in writing a connected story about marketing that stretches from "a", "ABRACADABRA" to "z", "ZETIGEISTS". The book is about more than just marketing and is well worth your time.

Robert McMath and Thom Forbes, though they mainly analyze consumer goods failures, offer marketers valuable insight into why many products ultimately fail. Too many marketers seem to develop products for themselves - and people like themselves - and not for their intended target segment. Unsurprisingly, McMath and Forbes reveal to their readers that more than 80% of new consumable products fail because those products bring nothing new to their intended targets. The failures are often me-too products that offer no significant real point of difference, i.e. effective, positive solutions to real problems. Not surprisingly, the multiplication of those products has contributed to the power shift from manufacturers to retailers. Those facts should invite marketers to think about the poor usability and content of too many web sites. Too many persons involved in defining the design and content of web sites ignore good usability and content practices. They design and write for their own pleasure (or worse, the boss's pleasure) instead of trying to satisfy their user's needs. Furthermore, McMath and Forbes observe that too many marketers suffer from two illnesses: "Corporate Alzheimer's" and "Short-Termism." Those marketers are often not enough informed about their brand's culture or heritage due to the lack of marketing veterans who have been downsized or have moved to another job/company in the meantime. Furthermore, those same marketers often have not enough incentives to become visionaries and care about loyalty. Short-term earnings are usually what matter most. McMath and Forbes also rightly emphasize the importance of consistency in building a strong brand. Many people are loyal to a particular brand of a product because they can make basic assumptions about it time after time. Brand inconsistencies such as price cutting gimmicks and conflicting product benefits will ultimately undermine the unique value proposition of underlying products, especially in maturing product categories. In addition, McMath and Forbes push marketers to operate as if their marketing budget was their own money. Their compensation should be aligned with the marketing goals. However, honest failures should be rewarded. Launching new products assume that marketers be willing to stick their neck out. To summarize, "What Were They thinking?" offers marketers a unique opportunity to learn from failures of fellow marketers. Marketers who are ignorant about the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat the same mistakes again and again while their organizations lose a lot of money in the process.

A nostalgic trip down product lane that reminds us that no marketer is perfect. McMath's examples prove that firms often design in a windowless room. Many of the tales left me wanting to know even more about how such a silly idea made it to market. Marketers must read this or be doomed to repeat history!

Though parts of this book are still relevant, it does need updating. The examples in the book of products date back a while, however the reader still does understand the point the author is trying to get across. This is not the best example of a book like this, however it is a good read and gives you a pragmatic understanding of marketing.

What Were They Thinking is a great set of anecdotes about the marketing failures of U.S. businesses. Most business books (and business schools) focus on the great successes of industry (Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines, etc.). McMath concentrates on the failures. All too often, we forget that most businesses do not last very long; McMath gives us some insights into why this is the case.

In spite of all the talk of failure, What Were They Thinking never bogs down. The book is short, breezy, and interesting. McMath organizes his thoughts into a set of principles for marketing success. You will find that you can finish the book in just a few hours.

Given its brevity, What Were They Thinking cannot serve as a detailed blueprint for how to avoid marketing failures. It will, however, give you much to think about and entertain you along the way.