October 05, 2011

Dueling Mini-Speakers

Review: Sonic Jammers

Description: Portable mini-speakers
Main Pitch: "Gigantic sound and kickin' bass"
Main Offer: $19.99 for one
Bonus: 2nd one (just pay S&H)
Producer: Zoom TV Productions
Website: www.SonicJammers.com
Prediction: Unlikely to succeed

Review: Music Bullet

Starring: Tim Goewey
Main Offer: Same as above
Bonus: Same as above
Producer: Same as above
Website: www.GetMusicBullet.com
Prediction: Unlikely to succeed

IdeaVillage is doing something most marketers don't: Competing against itself. The two spots above, which are for the same product, pit a non-traditional creative style (a music video embedded in a spot) against a more traditional DRTV approach.

Kudos to IdeaVillage for doing it right. Whereas some marketers test a radical new approach without bothering also to test a control, they are practicing good marketing science.

Asked to guess, I would pick the traditional approach to win this duel, but it doesn't much matter. The item is a non-starter. There are just too many competing products at retail for this one to have a real shot.