My girlfriend introduced an amazing beef marinade (beef satay) to my friends and me recently, something very different than what we’re used to cooking with. Judging by the empty plates that came back, the crew loved the new taste. The next day I received several requests for the recipe. One of my friends wondered how the recipe would work with other kinds of food, so he planned a little experimental cooking session. He ended up trying the marinade on shrimp, tuna, salmon, scallops and chicken. We all gathered around the grill, tested each piece and compared ratings and reviews. Some word of mouth lessons here:
– People talk when their everyday assumptions about the world around them are disrupted. My crew is big into cooking, but we mostly go the traditional Italian route. The beef satay recipe introduced a brand new taste and that resulted directly in conversation.
– Group talk is always preferred. If there is a natural way to launch a product in a group setting, go for it. Foster an environment for group talk, sit back and listen.
– Test, measure, react. The best way to determine what the winning ideas are is to test them. Don’t wait until perfection. Launch and observe, even if it’s with a small test group. Your loyal customers will be more than happy to provide feedback on new products and by including them in the process, they’ll feel even more appreciated.
Dave Marcello 