A smart product is a battle half won

Smart marketing to women is not just about smart marketing. It's also about smart products.

Rexona has just come up with a very simple yet effective product that illustrates this point. It is a solution to a problem we've all encountered, yet never demanded to be solved: the dry roll-on ball in our roll-on stick.

Let me explain:

Those of us who use a roll-on stick know this scenario:
1. Walk to bathroom cupboard,
2. take out roll-on stick,
3. shake vigorously to lubricate the ball,
4. shake vigorously again with frustrated frown on forehead
5. turn ball of roll-on with finger to expose lubricated area
6. roll onto armpit vigorously for 30 seconds causing chafing before lotion dislodges onto skin

Infuriating, isn't it, that we have to do the whole shake-shake-shake, scrape-across-skin, roll thing before we can get any anti-perspirant lotion onto our skin?

Well ladies, in 2008 our problem is no more.

Rexona has developed a roll-on stick - wait for it - that stands on it's head, so to speak.

No more shaking, no more dislodging the ball before lathering on the anti-perspirant. Just a simple roll-on stick that is made to stand on its head and of which the roll-on ball is lubricated at all times.

Wow! How simple is that?!

Makes you wonder how it took us until 2008 to come up with it, doesn't it?

Now that's 'smart marketing' to women in terms of product development.
And the TV commercial isn't half bad either.)

What can we learn from the Rexona example?
1. The answer to developing an effective, successful product is often much more obvious than we (marketers) think.
2. Use your product the way your consumer does, you'll learn a lot
3. ASK. Ask your consumers what they think of your product: how they use it, what they like, what frustrates them, what they would change if they could. Surely someone must have mentioned their frustration with dry roll-on sticks?

Smart marketing to women indeed isn't just about smart markting. It's also about smart products that answer real needs!

Want to bet this one's going to sell like hot cakes?