One of a Kind? Make your product conform to break away from the norm.

Although inventors are always looking for that new innovation,one problem they encounter is that a new product may be just toodifferent for people to accept. The challenge is especiallydifficult when you lack enough money to educate consumers about whyyour product is better.

Unique products such as the Weed Wacker, which replaced regularhand-operated clippers, typically survive only when introduced by alarge company like Black & Decker. The problem is even biggerwhen your product costs substantially more than existing competingproducts. But new and different products can survive if you chooseyour target customers carefully and modify your product just enoughthat it seems more like what's already on the market.

Finding Success
In 1994, Glenn Hogle worked as a marketing director for a supplierof plastic, in-drawer organizers for cosmetics, socks and hairaccessories. He was only 31 at the time, but his wrists would startto bother him after working at the computer for just 20 to 30minutes. Hogle found relief by alternatively placing one, two orthree of the small organizers under the keyboard every five or 10minutes. By varying his posture and adjusting the keyboard'sheight over time, he was able to minimize the numbness in hisfingers.

At the time, marketing the idea never crossed Hogle's mind.But after the company he worked for was acquired, he decided to taphis entrepreneurial skills. There was also pressure for ergonomiclegislation to protect office workers from developing repetitivestress injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, as a result ofusing computer keyboards.

In 1999, Hogle and his wife, Sheri, then 36, launched ActiveInput Solutions in San Diego. The concept was to create a keyboardsupport system that moves up and down over a three-minute cycle tohelp alleviate stress on hands and wrists. Says Hogle, "Wewanted to tie our product in with the concept of continuous passivemotion (CPM), which medical experts use in rehabilitating joint andmuscle injuries."

Hogle named his product the EasyMotion CPM. It seemed like awinner except for one problem: Hogle's design was bulkier thana regular pull-out keyboard platform, and its suggested retailprice was $330 vs. $30 for a nonergonomic keyboard platform.

Acceptance didn't come easily, but Hogle, now 39, expectsyear-end sales to near $2 million. He found success because hediscovered a target market that considered price a minor issue, andhe reconfigured the product's design so it looked more familiarto potential customers.

A Winning Strategy

While the $330 vs. $30 price difference would floor mostconsumers, Hogle was confident that corporations and otherorganizations would pay the higher price to protect employees."OSHA estimated that the average cost of computer-relatedinjuries is $22,500 per worker," Hogle says. He reasoned that$330 is a small price to pay to avoid injuries and potentiallawsuits.

Hogle's initial distribution strategy focused on corporateend users with 50-plus computer workstations, health-carecompanies, government offices and contractors, and schools anduniversities. Active Input Solutions Inc. focused its early effortson the Southern California region and attended trade shows such asthe National Safety Council exposition, the International FacilityManagement Association show and the NeoCon World's TradeFair.

Even better, office accessories magazines and trade shows offerannual awards for the best new products in many categories. Winningthese kinds of awards could generate publicity for a new product.Luckily for Hogle, his EasyMotion CPM product has won numerousawards in its category since 2001.

The Right Stuff
In the first version of his product, Hogle used an electric motor.But he discovered that users, accustomed to quiet keyboard supportsystems, wouldn't tolerate the motor's noise. So Hogledecided to switch to a pneumatic air diaphragm system that slowlyinflates and deflates to move the platform up and down. The changesolved the noise problem. "Now when we demonstrate theunit," Hogle says, "people ask us when we are going toturn it on. It's silent, and the motion is nearlyimperceptible. They can't hear a thing."

But Hogle had yet another problem. "Major competitors [atthe same price point] offered [ergonomic] products on anarticulating-arm platform that swung under a desk," he says."People didn't want the keyboard on their desktops becauseit was too high for safe long-term use of the keyboard andmouse." So Hogle started offering an articulating-arm andplatform with his product as well.

The final hurdle? Competitive products also claiming to preventcarpal tunnel syndrome offered a range of keyboard positions. Hogleanswered by allowing users to select movement settings--between 1and 3-1/4 inches up and down--with his platform. These changes letHogle position his product as "similar to the competition, butwith more features without [a high] cost." That's thepitch Hogle used at the 2002 NeoCon show, and it's working. Notonly is he picking up interest from dealers nationwide, buthe's also negotiating with workstation manufacturers to makehis EasyMotion CPM product a standard component of their productlines.

Turning the Tables
The three major complaints inventors with unique inventions oftenhear from retailers and dealers are that their products are toodifferent, cost too much and lack a market. That's certainlywhat Hogle would have faced if he had tried to sell throughretailers to consumers. Rather than butt heads with the market,you're much better off following Hogle's lead: Find a nichewhere your price is right, and then configure your product so itdoesn't seem all that different from what's already beingoffered.

Your product could end up being perceived the same wayHogle's is--as offering a lot more value for the same price.Today, Hogle's customers include American Airlines, Mattel,Mitsubishi USA, Nike and Sony. That kind of positive perception canturn almost any product into a surefire market success.

Don Debelak is a new-business marketing consultant and authorof Think Big: Make Millions From Your Ideas. Sendhim your questions at dondebelak34@msn.com.

Contact Source

• Active Imput Solutions Inc.
  (800) 457-7725, www.activeinput.com