Retailing eFusjon... is it just another "matter of perspective"?

I'm currently putting together a blog on some of the strategies I am experimenting with as it pertains to retailing eFusjon energy drinks. It's probably going to be a little while before I publish my strategies because I don't feel right about sharing them if I am not yet sure of their success or failure. I have only recently turned my focus onto the retail aspect of my eFusjon business. I believe that the retail aspect is something that has been to a large extent ignored or written off as not as important or profitable as introducing new members to the club.  To me that sounds like (and I really hate using this word) an "opportunity" waiting to be discovered!

I should mention that I have approached the retailing of eFusjon with the same "matter of perspective" attitude I wrote about in a previous blog.  Although retailing eFusjon for a profit should be a primary goal there are a host of other benefits that come from the retail effort including product branding and the chance for a large amount of people to actually try the drinks.

There is a lot to say about people actually getting a chance to try a product and deciding for themselves if they like it. To illustrate what I mean I'm going to refer to the quick story about the bringing to market of 3M's Post-it®. I hope that it helps you to not forget to look at the big picture. Don't worry, as I mentioned earlier the intent is to retail eFusjon for a profit and I am more than positive there is a way to do that very successfully but for now I think there is a great lesson in this story. In the story the words Post-It and eFusjon could almost be interchangeable...

The Post-it® has become a standard office feature around the world as well as a subculture to artists. Everywhere you go you will find Post-its® that come in all shapes sizes and colors.  The Post-it®. earns 3M Millions annually. It's hard to believe that in the beginning, 3M's revolutionary invention was almost thrown into the waste basket.  Although the story behind the creation of the product itself is one of "by accident" I am only going to discuss the near "accidental' way that 3M's marketers finally determined they had a success on their hands and ultimately a product you will more than likely find in any office around the globe, the Post-it®.


The Post-it® failed in it's initial 4 test markets.  Customers could not see the benefit of paying extra for a small colorful notepad. Sales of the product in these test markets were far less than hopefully anticipated and the executives at 3M were now uncertain of their products marketability.  It wasn't until they took a closer look at their sales data that they discovered one particular store which had actually SOLD OUT of all it's pads.  Eager to discover why this particular store was so successful the top executives called the store owner to inquire. The executives soon discovered that this particular store owner had offered "FREE" samples of the pads for people to try.  Almost everyone that had a chance to "TRY" the new product were more than happy to turn around and purchase the product.

A redirected marketing strategy saw 3M sales representatives making house calls to distribute free pads and perform free demos in banks and malls, which eventually ingrained the concept of the product into the consumers’ minds.  The rest is history.