I have been taught, and you probably have as well, that marketing discipline rule #101 says that a
product, in order to be successful, must solve a problem. For instance, it must make our life easier
(the automobile vs. the horse); more convenient (the grocery store under my
apartment building in NYC, especially during those nasty NYC winters); or it must
male our life better(electric lights vs. gas lamps).
In the bowling
business, we can count the automatic scorer as solving the problem of absent
pin boys – or in some cases- pin boys that were slightly hung-over; the
automatic bumper that helped kids to enjoy the game more as well as cosmic
lights that added an element of excitement and color to the bowling experience.
But what about bowling
leagues or open play. The purists among
us would say, “You don’t have to add anything to bowling leagues, no Visiballs,
NASCAR jackets, or vacations, just the joy of bowling and scoring.” And they may be right.
Non traditionalists
would say that bowling needs to offer premiums like this and to offer shorter
season or every other week leagues or even once a month leagues. And they may be
right too.
The fact is your
product, whether it be Pizza Pins N Pop, Cosmic Bowling, Price Specials or premiums
for frequency, must appeal to the six emotions we all feel in some way or the
other. Happiness, Sadness, Surprise, Fear, Disgust and Anger.
Both of the aforementioned products make
people happy that they saved money on a “deal” as well as feeling “cool” that they
are into a whole music and light show (just like the concerts they love),
respectively.
Note: Have you ever combined both and seen the
result? its amazing to see, especially
when targeted to two specific audiences at two different times (families with
kids under 12 and 15 to 34 yr olds).
Birthday parties
in bowling centers are so successful because they make Moms life easier, are
more convenient than having a party at home and solve the problem of where to host
little Susie’s party. From the child’s stand point, it makes the child happy
and offers elements of good surprises. It
is no doubt the industry’s most successful product followed only by company
parties which hit the same hot buttons.
No doubt these two products have been increasing in “consumer value” and
participation in centers across the country while league bowling in its traditional
form has been declining.
So if you want to continue
growing, check your league and open play product’s temperature. Does it make
people happy to do it? Are they
surprised that they can get a value after the league is over? Or are they angry
about what they perceive as the high price and do they fear looking silly
because they don’t know how to bowl in front of their friends?
What emotions are
your products stirring up? What problems do they solve? If they are only solving the “save money”
problem, maybe you need to teach that one trick pony another few tricks to
appeal to a broader audience.
Here’s one
exercise you can focus on. What can you
do to make your audience feel “cooler”? Seems
that’s a universal want these days. Ask your teenage workers, your twenty some sons
and daughters, they’ll tell you what’s cool and what’s not… straight up.
The answers are right
in front of you.
