VP Sales & Marketing | Chief Commercial Officer | P&L Owner | Entrepreneurial Commercial Leader | Passionate about MedTech
Pistachio Perfection The Girl Scouts can teach a master classes in marketing about their cookies - branding, the 4 Ps, distribution channels. If I were a cookie marketer, I would want to create a new Girl Scout Cookie - "Pistachio Perfection." Not a chocolate chip cookie with a smattering of pistachios. A pistachio lover's delight. The Death Wish Coffee of pistachio cookies. Why pistachios? Some logical "tailwinds" - pistachio consumption is growing high single digits. The industry invests heavily in marketing. Pistachios are natural & majority grown in the US. In my mind, marketing is emotional, and none of these are my motivations for "Pistachio Perfection." Here are 3 reasons with MedTech corollaries: 1. "Go to where they ain't" - Mark Cuban There are hundreds of chocolate chip cookie brands in the US. How many pistachio cookie brands can you name? Of course Americans eat more chocolate, but not *that much more* - 10 lbs chocolate / person / yr. vs. 0.7 lbs pistachios. MedTech Corollary - Think of new ways to address clinical challenges. And don't be afraid to highlight differentiated innovation. When we launched personalized implants for orthognathic surgery at DPS CMF, we were initially intimidated to emphasize the changes to established techniques. Then we saw that "splintless orthognathic surgery" resonated with Surgeons & pivoted to highlighting the differentiation. 2. Find the 10% Did you know that the "top" 10% of alcohol drinkers in the US consume 70+ drinks / week? Legit public health concerns aside, that presents a tremendous marketing challenge & opportunity - and probably explains the damage caused by Bud Light controversy of 23. My hypothesis - pistachio consumption follows this trend - something like 10% of Americans eat 65% of total pistachios. "Pistachio Perfection" would be for the 10%. MedTech Corollary - Early robotic surgery r&d focused on general & cardiac surgery - but it was Urologists who embraced the DaVinci for radical prostatectomy - a seemingly small market which had transformational future impact. 3. “People do not buy goods & services. They buy relations, stories & magic” - Seth Godin The marketing goal of Pistachio Perfection - create an emotional connection with the pistachio lover - much more than a transactional cookie for a consumer. This creates loyalty, helpful when others see Pistachio Perfection's success & try to piggyback by offering more pistachios or a cheaper cookie. MedTech Corollary - In my early days with Synthes, we would emphasize our implant portfolio had so many size options that Surgeons could fix anyone from a horse-race jockey to an NBA player. This led to Traumatologists reminiscing over fixing Patients in extreme sizes and being thankful an appropriate implant existed. While these cases were few & far between, Synthes being there for the rare case created stories & relationship with the brand. Where's the pistachio in your market? Drop your thoughts below ⬇
