703,000 Footprints = "Slightly" Used?

So what kind of message are you sending your potential customers?

I was driving to work the other day and heard a commercial on the radio that confused me. It was advertising a sale on carpet and called it the "Auto Show Carpet Sale." Thinking this was a normal carpet store who decided to hold an in-store sale while the auto show was in town, I wondered:

• Do they realize this sounds like they're selling carpet from the auto show?


• Why would you have a sale for carpeting and attribute it to the auto show? I mean, there isn't much of a connection between the two --> new car vs. new "car-peting"

Puzzled, I did a quick Google search when I got to work. As it turns out, this store really is selling carpet from the auto show. DE McNabb Flooring in metro Detroit is selling the carpet for 25 cents per square foot. It is deemed "slightly" used with 75,000 square yards available (i.e. 675,000 square feet)...to the first 300 customers each day only (Wow! How exclusive! (sense my sarcasm?) ). After learning this, I began to wonder what residential customer would want to purchase this used flooring, especially when they know the Detroit Auto Show attracted close to 703,000 people...amid freezing temperatures and messy weather. Would you want winter wetness/salt/dirt and 703,000 x 2 x ??? footprints all over your "new" carpeting? I suppose I'm not the target customer for this product.

McNabb calls themselves a service company since they rent flooring for auto shows, trade shows, and special events - i.e. their line of work is exhibition flooring. However, they also supply residential flooring, and this special sale seemed to be targeting those residential customers. Through advertising they are selling "slightly" used carpeting from one event, might residential customers think some of the carpet "remnants," etc. in their store are actually used carpeting from other events McNabb has done? I for one wouldn't want to walk in bare feet or lay on carpeting when I had no idea what was on people's shoes who walked on it prior to my purchase. I don't think this sale is a particularly good move on McNabb's part. Also, I assume the auto makers rent the flooring from McNabb for the event and the rental rates are at a premium (i.e. probably already covers the cost of the carpet). So I wonder what McNabb stands to profit from this deal. I mean, if they sold all of it, they'd get close to $170K. Nothing like renting it out and then selling it afterwards.

Follow-up on 02/18/08: My intuition may have been right on this one...I visited the DE McNabb website and they had a message in the sales section of the page: "Detroit Auto Show Used Carpet Sale -- EXTENDED!!!" I guess the first 300 customers each day over the past few weeks haven't been biting on the oh-so-tempting offer...

Do you want your kids to think medicine is candy?

There's a new product on the market that claims to "take the ick out of sick." Developed by a mother (and a grandmother), Kid Kupz aims to help parents get their kids to take medicine willingly. The product consists of plastic medicine cups with tart candy coating around the rims. They supposedly became available in drug stores this past fall and retail in packs of 5 for about $1/cup (i.e. $5.99/pack).

It will be interesting to see how this product performs in the market place. If I were an investor in this start-up, or the CEO of the company for that matter, I would have several concerns:

• Executional Flaws: It seems like a waste to have to get a new cup every time the kid takes their medicine. Why not sell the product in a powder/granule form that you can wet the rim of a cup like a beverage glass and dip it in the sugar coating, washing one cup after each use? Might be cheaper to manufacture too...
• Marketing 4-P's Flaw (Product) : There may be some negative PR/reactions to this product. First, cough syrups already contain 10-75% sugar (especially in children's formulas), and most parents probably don't want their kids thinking medicine is candy. Also, in January of this year, Science Daily reported that around 3.1 million people in the U.S. (ages 12-25) have "used over-the-counter (non-prescription) cough and cold medicines to get high at least once." If I were Kid Kupz I sure wouldn't want to have this image associated with my product...or to be tagged as a hot trend enabling this type of drug abuse.

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Introducing KidKupz™: A Business Plan That's Easy to Swallow!
AN INSPIRATIONAL STORY OF HOW A MOTHER AND HER MOTHER STARTED THEIR BUSINESS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KidKupz - the inspired creation of a mother/grandmother team who wanted to create a product that makes taking medicine for kids both fun and easy - launches its first line of medicine dispensing cups with an all-natural, candy-coated rim. When Jill Addeo's step-father, a dedicated children's hospital volunteer of ten years, passed away in November 2005, she and her mother vowed to address a concern that had always plagued him.

Just two years after Jill's step-father's passing, KidKupz is launching its first line of candy-coated medicine dispensing cups in kid-friendly flavors like Sour Cherry, Blue Raspberry, Watermelon and Green Apple. Thanks to the caring of one man, and the hard work of his family to make his dream come true, gone are the days of children running for cover at the mention of taking their medicine. KidKupz will be available in stores nationwide in spring 2008. Six-packs of the candy-coated medicine dispensing cups will retail for approximately $5.99.

Jill Addeo is a mother of two, married and living in Manhattan. After earning a BA degree from Brown University, Jill enjoyed a successful career in network television. After marrying in 1996, Jill decided to pursue a career in real estate which allowed her to spend more time raising her son and daughter - now ages 9 and 7. When Jill's step-father retired from a career on Wall Street in 1995, he began volunteering at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on the pediatric floor. What began as a once-a-week commitment grew into three days and one night, as he thrived on bringing smiles to children's faces. One thing that always plagued him however, was how difficult it was for these children to take some of the more harsh tasting liquid medicines, and he often expressed that concern to Jill and to his wife, Jo Ann.
When he succumbed to cancer in November 2005, Jill and Jo Ann resolved to find a way to solve this "medicine going down" problem and began to discuss options with Jill's husband, Geoffrey Addeo. After creating and taste-testing various homemade versions, Jill, Geoff and Jo Ann finally came up with a winning solution that pleased not only them but more importantly Jill and Geoff's children.

"KidKupz Candy-Coated Rims makes swallowing liquid medicine easy and delicious for kids everywhere!" says Jill Addeo, President of KidKupz. "It's about making the act of taking medicine fun for kids less of a chore and more of a treat," Addeo added. "This is a safe and effective method of administering medicine to children, and I think we've truly achieved our goal of making the whole process easier, both for children, and for their parents and caregivers."

For details regarding KidKupz, please log onto www.kidkupz.com or call 888/KID-KUPZ (543-5879). All media inquiries should be directed to Lee Makofsky at (973)744-0707 or Lee.mako@bhgpr.com .

About KidKupz
KidKupz is a privately owned, Manhattan-based consumer products specialty company. The mission of the company is to provide retailers with smart solutions to aid parents and caregivers in administering liquid medication to children, while allowing children to enjoy the experience of taking medicine. This is the first product in the line.

KidKupz is the inspired creation of a mother/grandmother team who wanted to create a product that makes taking medicine for kids both fun and easy. The idea was inspired by President Jill Addeo's late step-father, who was a volunteer on the pediatric floor at Memorial Sloan Kettering. His work at the hospital exposed him to the difficulties children face when taking necessary medication. His dream was to make medicine-taking easier. The new team has turned that vision into a reality.