Utter Simpleton wrote:
:: There was no big conspiracy.

Conspiracy? Who uses such a word in marketing?

It was a no-brainer product for
:: no-brainers like me. I think they probably were trying to make an
:: appliance a seven year old latchkey kid could make dinner in (though
:: they couldn't market it that way, of course.) It was also probably
:: imagined as a way a student could cook, sans water or utensils, on
:: the desk in his dorm room.
::
:: It was the entire product category when it started. The other
:: grills didn't compete - they were too complex. Their removable
:: plates were a PROBLEM the Foreman grill was trying to solve. They
:: added complexity, cost, and were originally seen as harder to clean.
:: (The GF was sold in infomercials as something that a paper towel
:: could clean. Not completely true, but before you owned it, you
:: didn't know that.)
::
:: But then:
:: - the product was a runaway success
:: - competitors were attracted, who differentiated by featurizing
:: - Salton was forced to add complexity, or get left behind.
::
:: No one imagined there would be so many spinoff products at the
:: beginning, just as they never imagined the grill would be so
:: successful. That's the REAL reason they gave Foreman such a rich
:: deal -- he got a percentage early on because they didn't want to
:: give him the cash. Foreman had a name, but he was in trouble. He
:: was looking to stay off the streets. (The recent payout was just a
:: modification of the original deal.)
::
::
::
:: "Roger Zoul" wrote in message
:: ...
::: Doug Freyburger wrote:
::::: "Roger Zoul" wrote:
:::::: Pat wrote:
::::::
:::::::: What I think is that this design was planned...For example: the
:::::::: first year the Foreman grills came out, there was no way to
:::::::: alter the temperature settings and the grids were fixed. The
:::::::: next year, the temperature control was introduced. Then, the
:::::::: removable grids were introduced. I think this was planned
:::::::: from the get-go----a sort of "arc" of the lifetime of the
:::::::: grill, just as TV shows have a development arc of their
:::::::: stories.
::::::
:::::::: Count me as a skeptic...
::::::
:::::: Why be a skeptic on a perfectly sound business model? What
:::::: you're saying doesn't sound far-fetched to me. They are into it
:::::: to make money and we only have to buy if we want to. Of course,
:::::: they probably didn't think that far ahead....they just realized
:::::: they had something and looked for ways to improve it to make
:::::: even more $$$!
:::::
::::: My take is that simpler products usually sell better than complex
::::: products,
:::
::: "Lower cost models sell better than high cost models" would be
::: another way to say that. Certainly, the initial outlay of funds
::: supports doing so.
:::
::::: so at first they trimmed it down to a tiny set of features.
::::: Since it sold
::::: well that way they started adding features and variety. I don't
::::: think the
::::: arch was planned in advance because they couldn't have known the
::::: first model was going to sell well.
:::
::: It very well could have been planned using the logic you wrote.
:::
::: But once it did sell well the
::::: arch of adding
::::: features became obvious.
:::
::: Which meant it was obvious even before. Frankly, I don't see an
::: evil intent here. A lot of people didn't buy he first models. So
::: there were plenty of new customers to sell to.
:::
:::::
::::: About the only one that surprised me was the grill on a pedestal
::::: that tries
::::: to replace the charcoal/propane grill.
:::
::: Hey, sometimes you never can tell for sure what will be a hit and
::: what won't.