Description: A tiny umbrella
Main Pitch: "Opens in your car"
Main Offer: $14.95 for one
Bonus: None
Website: www.IttyBittyBrella.com
Prediction: Bomb
Amateur hour. This is also a terrible category for DR. I'm not even talking about the fact it's a crowded category. Umbrellas are an impulse item, but the impulse is usually generated by rain. And when it rains, you need an umbrella right then -- not in 4-6 weeks. Buying an umbrella long before it rains is a bit like prevention, so it better be a groundbreaking umbrella. A revolutionary umbrella. The last umbrella you'll ever need. A mini-umbrella, which can easily be found at retail, doesn't hit that bar.
Plus, while less umbrella is good inside the car, it's a problem outside the car. On rainy days in NYC, I see ladies getting soaked all the time. Their dainty, pretty umbrellas that fit in their handbag just don't do the job. My umbrella may be the size of a Scottish claymore and horribly inconvenient to lug around, but I don't get wet. Bottom line: This is one of those products that may actually create a problem instead of solving one. And what good is an umbrella that doesn't address the core problem an umbrella was meant to solve?
