Someone doesn't like your product

Yesterday, the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City publicly denounced the Bodies - Revealed exhibit at Union Station Kansas City for school field trips. Here's the article in the Kansas City Star.

In my earlier post on Bodies, I mentioned how it was a great example of positioning. It is polarizing. People either really want to see the exhibition or they truly don't.

One of my favorite parts of today's interactive environment is reading the comments people leave on the Star's Web site about specific stories. Boy howdy, did this story touch a nerve. However, it's yet another example of a properly positioned product. People love it or they hate it.

The Bodies - Revealed exhibit is a lightning rod for controversy. If your product is non-controversial (as most products are), then it is extremely important for you to work to find the appropriate positioning so consumers can easily distinguish your product from your competitors. Otherwise you will be an "also ran." Lost in the white noise of marketing. Spending money with little or no return and wondering how other companies seem to find success.

Focus requires sacrifice. Marketers must be okay with being focused on the people most likely to buy and let go of the marginal market segments. Those fringe segments are never going to buy much, and you're going to spend a disproportionate amount of money working to reach them. Take those precious resources and focus them on the market segments that have the greatest potential.

Bodies - Revealed is not for everyone. Neither is your product.