Keeping the Balls Rolling Conforming to industry and customer tastes put a happy ending on this handmade's tale.
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Think you have the best product on the market? You may still haveto adapt to meet the standards of your industry and customers.
Before
Jerry Swain, 36, startedSwain Creations, the maker of Jer's IncrediBalls, in 2000 tosell the chocolate-covered peanut butter balls he'd made forfriends since college. He offered the candies in two sizes-12pieces per lb. for the larger size and 20 pieces per lb. for thesmaller size.
During
Swain soon realized the smaller confection accounted for 95percent of his sales, showing customers were more interested in thenumber of pieces than the weight. Unfortunately, the nontraditional20-piece count meant he couldn't purchase standard traydividers, but had to have them custom-made, bumping upmanufacturing costs. Worse, the big-name retailers wouldn'tbite-the product name's sexual overtones, which might have beenamusing in college, had no place in high-end gourmet retailing. Andwhen you're selling chocolate, it's the packaging, not theproduct, that whets the appetite. Tasting the product is actuallythe last thing a consumer does!
After
Today, Swain'schocolates have a new name--Jer's Handmade; a new Web site(www.iwantchocolate.com); and new, blue packaging thatspotlights its delicious appeal while adding a touch of fun. Thenumber of pieces per box has been changed to 24, adapting to theindustry standard of a product count divisible by 12. Retailersfrom Costco to Nordstrom now carry the product. Costs are downapproximately 20 percent, and 2002 sales should exceed $250,000.Moral: Even though you might have an appetizing idea, remainflexible enough to change the ingredients to fit the market.
Elizabeth J. Goodgoldis CEO/chief nuancer of The Nuancing Group, a brand consulting firmin San Diego, and author of the monthly newsletter Duh!Marketing.
