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Come by and pick up your new years printing for Newport Beach |
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Simply Amusing |
by Susan Sherbert |
Happy New Year! Another year has begun. Coffee consumption is down, nicotine patch sales are up and the gym is packed at 6 am. But don't worry, New Year's resolutions never last very long. A & S Printing & Copy customers will be off their diets and have their hands back in our candy jar in no time. A New Idea Meanwhile, let me tell you about a new marketing strategy I'm considering. I have this client who had a very good year last year and at his corporate holiday party he handed each of his employees a can of Spam. That's when the idea hit me. Right there on the side of the can, I noticed in big bold letters, the word NEW. I stopped and thought - has Spam come out with a new flavor? Maybe its honey glazed, or smoked, or even pepper flavored. If that were the case, then maybe I'd actually eat the stuff. But no, upon second look I realized that it was the same old processed salty, fatty, meat as before just with a "great NEW look." Again, I had to look twice because it was the same square blue can with the same rounded corners. All right, maybe they photographed the Spam with different condiments around it - but it still looked like the same old can Spam to me. It always amazes me that Spam is still on supermarket shelves, but it's been around for years, so they must be doing something right. If that's the case, then I suppose adding the word NEW to a product or package must be an effective and profitable marketing technique. If it works for Spam it could work for A & S Printing and Copy too. Hum, what can I do to give us a new look? I know! I'll get us matching shirts and then I can advertise, "NEW look! Same great service, and same low prices." New and Improved It might actually work, but I think I'll try growing the business through networking first. Besides, this whole NEW thing kind of bugs me. Why does everything have to be new and improved anyway? I realize that adding the word new to a product is supposed to increase sales, but are people really stupid enough to buy something because the package is new? Just because something is new, doesn't necessarily mean it's better. Look at DVD players for instance. They are the new thing, so every household has to have one. Why? You still need a VCR to record a program, you still have piles of video tapes that you paid for and never watch, and most DVD's have that stupid wide screen format that I find absolutely irritating. Now, if I were a guy and had big woofers (whatever they are) and a great sound system, and a wide screen television, then maybe a DVD player would be a good thing. However, to own one simply because it is new, sounds pretty silly to me. What did you say? Huh . . . . do I own a DVD player? Well, ah, yes, and I will probably spend money buying new DVD's that will take up even more space in my already over crowded entertainment center. But that's not the point because it still doesn't mean new is always better! I prefer VCRs, cameras that require film, and I'll take the fax machine over e-mail any day. Just because something is a little old, doesn't mean it's no good. Toyota's run forever and I'm perfectly happy having a tape player in my car - and maybe the air-conditioning isn't that great - but new isn't always better remember. In spite of the fact that my bicycle is a bit on the heavy side, it gets me everywhere I want to go, plus I burn more calories on my sturdy older model. Old Faithful Wait a minute, I know the perfect example of when newer is not always better - blue jeans. There is even a commercial out there to prove my point. This kid gets a new pair of jeans and he has to wash them over and over to make them look old. To me there is nothing better then a pair of old faded jeans, a comfortable old shirt and a favorite pair of beat up old shoes. Life doesn't get much better than that. Unless of course, you are wearing that outfit while watching the latest DVD, on your new flat screen television. CORNY JOKES What do you call two spiders when they get married? Newly WEBs Where did the man go when he was looking for something different for lunch? New Deli Where did the letter Z go when he finally got tired of always being last? New Z-land Why did the struggling business hire a vampire? Because they thought they could use some new blood |
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