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Does Your Business Make More Than Just a Little Peep?

By Weston Lyon

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 09Apr2009 Word count: 594 Viewed: 254 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Easter is this weekend and the only candy besides chocolate that is allowed to be in the same sentence as Easter is Peeps! You know, the marshmallow treat that is shaped like a chick or a bunny.

This awesome little treat has been around for 56 years now! 1.2 Billion of them are sold worldwide every year! And there sales are INCREASING!

So, what marketing lessons can we learn from these little treats (and its company, Just Born)?

1. Take advantage of a holiday!

Peeps are most popular at Easter time. After all, their two most famous shapes are chicks and bunnies. This is a great example of taking advantage of a holiday.

Like I said earlier, peeps are the ONLY other candy associated with Easter besides chocolate. And to prove it, listen to this: on average, 2.3 Peeps are consumed by every single American!

Maybe you're not one of them...but that just leaves more for me (wink, wink).

BUT Easter isn't the only holiday Just Born, Peeps maker, has taken advantage of. They also sell cats, bats, and pumpkins for Halloween. They also sell stars for the Fourth of July. And they also sell gingerbread men, trees, and snowmen for Christmas.

Talk about taking advantage of a holiday...in their case every holiday!!!

So, my questions to you are: What holiday(s) are you taking advantage of? What are you doing to increase your sales this Easter?

2. Test your market.

In 1954, Just Born became the largest marshmallow producer in the world. After testing their market for 5-6 years, they started developing other seasonal shapes (as mentioned above).

They didn't just jump into making these other shapes...they tested their market. Now, maybe it took them 5-6 years because of the technology (1950's and 60's)...but once they found their winner, they continued to expand their products based on what sold.

Two points I want to emphasize here:

a. You don't have to take 5-6 years to test your product. The technology we have today makes testing easy and fast. Just don't wait around...technology will now pass you by if you pause for just a second.

b. Just Born expanded their product line based on RESULTS. No guessing. If they made money with a product, they continued to make it, as well as venture down other paths (like their new flavor this year...chocolate mousse).

So, my questions to you are: Are you testing different products/services to see what your target audience wants? Are you listening to your audience and expanding where they want you to be?

3. Expand and redesign your business.

Just Born didn't make Peeps when they started out. They made chocolate. It wasn't until they acquired another company, Rodda Candy Company, that they refocused their business on marshmallow treats (and jelly beans...which we won't go into here).

You see, they found a product that people wanted and they re-invented their entire business around that product. Then, they expanded that product line...and still continue to expand that product line.

So, my question to you is: How can you re-design your business for this new economy (aka - the recession)?

As you can see, there are plenty of marketing lessons to take away from Peeps and Just Born. They have stood the test of time. They have re-designed their business and expanded it based on results. They have made more than just a little peep in their industry (and around the world).

Are you ready to make more than a peep? Hey, if a marshmallow manufacture can do it...so can you!

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