More Than One Way to …

You’ve seen it done before: cereal as a snack food, baking soda as an air freshener, and so on. Products get marketed for other uses. It’s a great way to go! You increase your sales, your reach, expand your target market, everybody wins!

I saw this packaging at Target one day and was impressed with the length that Q-tips would take to show men it’s okay if they want to buy a box. I’m certain these cotton swabs were used in car detailing long before the swabs created this packaging. That is often key in marketing your product for a new use—the users blaze the trail.

How do you know whether people are using your product in some new way? Well, you have to ask them and then you have to listen to them. You have to really listen and see if what they’re saying is viable and if there is a large enough market for it to warrant unique packaging and other promotional attention. On Q-tips website, they have a tab called TIP JAR where they share tips for using their product in all areas of your life including using them with your pets. FYI, the automotive tips are under the HOME category.

Incidentally, I did not see these specially packaged Q-tips in the auto care section of the store, they were solely in health and beauty. I suspect that’s an inventory issue that would require a separate stock-keeping unit, but that’s a whole other story. However, Q-tips also has baby packaging that is displayed in the infant care department.

This repackaging idea is also a viable route if you offer a service. Ask people why they called you, hired you, keep you, refer you. You might be surprised at what they are getting out of your services. For instance, maybe what you offer people is tax prep service, but the packet you give to your new clients helps them learn bookkeeping so well, that they refer you to all of their entrepreneurial colleagues. You could capitalize on your ability to teach start-ups how to create a proper chart of accounts and stay on track to meet their financial goals and obligations. It’s worth a shot!

Be open to new uses and opportunities. Just like these cotton swabs, it’s a good tip.