Description: A blanket with a hood & foot pouch
Main Pitch: "The blanket that fits like a sweatshirt"
Main Offer: $19.99 for one in black, gray or pink
Bonus: Laptop Trapeze (just pay a separate fee)
Marketer: Telebrands
Website: www.MyGoodyHoody.com
Prediction: Unlikely to succeed
After the monstrous success of Snuggie, every marketer and their mother tried a similar item (some of them are documented here). It was about this time I developed my "one is an outlier; three is a category" rule.
So if I were the head of a rival DRTV company back then, and I was secretly jealous of Allstar's success (and how could I not be?) while unable to replicate it with another product in the category, what would I do? Probably exactly what Telebrands has done here: Patiently wait for enough time to pass, and then try to bring back the concept with a new twist.
I have no idea if that's what actually happened in this case, but it's five years since Snuggie peaked, so the timing would appear to be right ...
Except: Allstar just tried a fifth anniversary Snuggie play that doesn't seem to have gone very far. And Snuggie was clearly a fad. Trying to bring it back -- even in a new and improved version -- is a little like trying to bring back Zhu Zhu Pets, the Furby or any similar craze product.
