I'm not a marketer, but I've heard of it. I believe it has a rather long name: "theresasuckerborneveryminute" or some such thing.
Ed Ed Weick 577 Melbourne Ave. Ottawa, ON, K2A 1W7 Canada Phone (613) 728 4630 Fax (613) 728 9382 > > > > Unemployment, Keynes showed, was due to a deficiency in the demand > > for goods and services. > > This is an aside from Keynes. I've noticed a phenomenon for which I > don't have a name but which seems to be so widespread that there must > be a name for it. Any of the economist or biz wizards know what this > is called? > > You have (or are developing) a product. One or more of the following > applies: > > The competition's product is as good or better. > > The competition's product is as popular or more so. > > No one who might use your product wants it. > > The per-unit transaction costs of marketing your product is high. > > You could make a lot more money if people would buy inferior > versions of your product. > > So you don't try to sell it to users. You focus all your marketing > effort on institutions that can coerce large numbers of end users to > use it. > > Software is the most outstanding example. You promote $BIGNUM copies > to a corporation, government or school board who will then coerce > employees or students to use it. Most commercial training software > I've seen is so braindead that no competent learner would use it but > if the lisensing agency for $OCCUPATION can be sold on it, the agency > will then coerce trainees to use it. The developers are motivated to > go heavy on the bells, whistles and eye candy that will tickle some > functionary with a desk job wo makes the decision to buy/use the > software. > > Not limited to software, however. A similar situation exists with the > building code. Vendors lobby, strategize and weasel to get their > products required. The result is approved, officially and putatively > safe but embarassingly flimsy or third rate stuff in every dwelling. > > So what's the name for this marketing strategy? > > - Mike > > --- > Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/
