A Digital Scrapbooking Journal - Part Ten

Friday, August 17, 2007: Product Card Makeover

I started making cell phone charms for my adult clientèle.

They were so-so sellers. Then my friend Jackie mentioned she had given one of them to her teenage granddaughter who simply loved it. It was one of those “ah-ha” moments. How could I have missed such a market opportunity?

Teens are so much more “into” their cell phones and making fashion statements with them. The simple answer is that I don’t have that much contact with teens.

Frankly if I put cell phone charms targeted at teens in my store, I might sell a few before Christmas when my typical clients are looking for gifts to send to their grandkids. Teens just don’t normally drop into “Eileen’s Gifts”.

So I made cell phone charms to give to my three teenage nieces on our family reunion visit next week. Based on their reactions, I may make more IF I can figure out a venue where I could sell them. After being in the for-profit craft market for six years, I know it’s not enough to have crafting talent and a good product idea.

You’ve got to: Meet Your Market; Minimize Your Costs; Maximize Your Selling Price; and Market the Heck out of Your Product.

I need to think about this one. How can I get my teen cell phone charms in front of the target market – or those who buy for them? I think the first thing I need to do is a makeover of the adult-oriented product card I first designed for my cell phone charms.

When I designed the card above, I deliberately made it plain wanting to show off the charm itself. I think a different marketing approach is appropriate for teens. They are accustomed to such sensory overload that a busy product card would be appealing.

I have to tell you I’m working in the dark here. I don’t have much contact with teens. No teens in my neighborhood. No teens in my store. No teen grandkids of my own.

I am relying on the reactions of my three nieces. Maybe I could do a marketing focus group session with them. That might even be fun.

• SG_Refresh_CBA_FunPinkFlower
• SG_Refresh_DEB_Alphas
• MST_LayerAlphaSet_brackets
• DEB_Esprit_Paper_gold
• SG_Refresh_STI_Alpha-flowers

The text messages say “4 sovs” and “u r u-neek”. (Translation: “For someone very special” and “You are unique.”)

P.S. If I do decide to target teens to buy my beaded cell phone fobs, I will need to redo the design above without any Scrap Girls design products unless I own the commercial license for the elements. You must buy a commercial license for any art you plan to use commercially. It's only fair to the artist.

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