Does the world need my product?
If you don’t have a compelling one-sentence answer to the question, ‘Why does the world need my product?’ you should probably pack up and go home, Rob Leichman, founder and CEO of brand management and business development consultancy The Lyric Group, told delegates.
Now this doesn’t mean that you’ve got to come up with something that’s never graced supermarket shelves before, he said (Chobani didn’t invent Greek yogurt). But you must have a clear point of differentiation within your category, whether it’s around ingredients, packaging, claims, branding or your business model.
And if enough people tell you in the early stages of concept testing that the world doesn’t need your product, you should listen to them, he said: “Remember, it’s super-easy to lose money in this business.”