Marketing isn't always so simple

A lot of the marketing content I come across is the same stuff...improve your marketing, improve your results. Change your strategy, change your luck. In practice, its nice to talk about, but hard to always pull off. But how about starting a completely new product in a new industry?

So, I felt enlightened by an article in the Grand Rapids Press on Sunday (not on the web), as it told the story of a local company seeking to change its product line. The continued disappearance of manufacturing, especially plastic components like Cascade Engineering makes, caused them to realize they needed to diversify. The strong growth in medical devices seemed attractive, but they had no product to offer. The CEO created a team and sent them out across the country, going to conferences and such. And at an event in California, they came across a potential partner who is just across town here in Grand Rapids.

The story doesn't really have a happy ending yet. The two companies have had discussions and written contracts, but nothing has been made yet. They are working together on a interim product to get the ball rolling. Its been a year, yet the article talks about Cascade wanting to move 'quickly'.

"This won't be the only effort to diversify, he said. His company will make other forays that will be just as complex and time consuming. But at their heart will be the same driving force: The need to keep innovation ahead of the shifting sands of this economy."

Just a lesson that sometimes marketing takes shoe-leather, introspection, and persistance. Stuff you can't wrap nicely in a report or PowerPoint!