Douglas M. Gaus
www.newproductconsultant.com

 

Night time is a time for rest.  The culmination of a busy day and resulting bedtime affords the brain some needed down time from thinking, stress and emotions.....Time to let the synapses nap and get a well deserved break from all the auditory and visual stimulation processed throughout the day.

But wait, there's more!  More thinking that is...In a sleep or dream state, one's brain can still continue to be the workhorse it is during the day.  If you're an inventor like me, this means that a sleep state can bring the following: new ideas are born, solutions rise to the surface, product names magically come together and new utilities are easily sprinkled onto existing product ideas. 

If makes sense.  If you are very focused on something during the day but haven't reached finality to the issue (problem has not yet been solved), you're asking your brain to turn it off when you sleep.  However, a sleeping brain is not turned off like a car; it has to keep idling and can zoom up to fast speeds all on its own during this rest state.  It is also more free and fluid to run on its own, without the two brothers, Reason and Practicality, always throwing in their two cents.

I discovered on my first invention that my brain had this hidden talent.  Since then, I chose to not fight it and embrace it instead.  Sometimes I will actually ask to find answers in my sleep and my brain, like a dog wanting to please, answers in two-fold.  Not always, but more times than not, it comes through when beckoned for duty.

If you do wake up to an idea or an answer to something, it may be best to write it down.  If not, you may risk the idea receding completely back to the subconscious.  For me, I haven't had to write it down. I usually wake up with the idea and that light has gone on strong enough in my brain that I don't forget it and can put it to use on my project the next time I work on it.

Don't believe me?  Try it out for yourself....I imagine it comes to play more for people who are more entrepreneurial compared to your standard 9 to 5'ers, but maybe I'm wrong.  When you're financial success depends on your own solutions and inner workings, you're probably more apt to want to find the best solution to a problem than if you're trying to solve a problem for someone else's company (unless you're an engineer or another job requiring creative problem solving on a daily basis).

Anyway, it's time to get back to finding everyday solutions to everyday problems....Should I do it now or wait until I go to sleep?

 

  

  

The 30 second tv spot shows a younger "workplace type" dude in a car doing a Mt. Vesuvius type coffee spill all over himself...A girl walking towards him sees this and immediately frowns.  Next, they show him looking over at the same girl walking towards him on the street.  But now, he is wearing the Slobstopper and does his next "Ted Striker"ish spill (a la "Airplane!", the movie).  He seems happy and the girl seems just as happy that he spilled over himself now that he is wearing the bib.  I can guarantee you, this dude is going to get nowhere, wearing that thing, if he's indeed trying to impress any chicas.  It might be better if he learned how to drink without spilling.

The featured product is basically an adult sized bib made out of PUL, which is a two-sided material: one side absorbs the spill and the other acts as a waterproof barrier (I'm thinking waterproof mattress cover for toddlers).   It comes in the non-feminine basic colors of Blue, Green and Black....so it seems like they are definitely taking aim at the Todd "Todd!" DiLaMuca (Bill Murray) target market, as opposed to Lisa Loopner (Gilda Radner).  Like pictured above, Uncle Rico could be selling this product door-to-door on "Napoleon Dynamite 2", if they ever make the sequel.

The ad also talks about those "unplanned accidents" that happen... I usually prefer the planned ones, so they are really not accidents at all.   If I accidentally douse myself with a full Starbuck's Venti on the way to the big interview, I'd rather spend $20 towards a shirt replacement than buy a product that can't be worn in public or even in private, for that matter.

I think they would have better luck seriously trying to market and sell this item to the elderly population:  ones in retirement homes, ones that live at home and are being cared for by their adult children or ones who are still able to drive and take jaunts out to Denny's for breakfast on the weekends.   But the company marketing and selling this (out of Illinois?) decided on the target market of adult commuters.  Sure, the entire workforce currently driving to work is a huge market.  However, I'm thinking the ones out of that market who eat and drink while driving (target market) would want to buy and wear this on their ride to work is probably close to nil.  

The other ad featured on their Slobstopper website is different and even cornier.  It goes through the "have you ever" routine, showing a guy getting sprayed with a hot chocolate like substance and the voice over saying at the end "Don't be a Slob! Get Slobstopper!"  They are committing a marketing cardinal sin by picking a name that demeans the buying consumer or the recipient of the gift (the slob in your life).  With low-level product innovation and lowbrow branding, don't be surprised if this one doesn't last long on tv or the web....so we can all benefit from its absence.


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