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idea or product doesn't become a commod-
ity. While there are many brands of bananas
available in your supermarket, the Chiquita
banana has the most sales. It introduced a
solid brand early (remember the "Chiquita
Banana" lady?) with a catchy jingle that many
of us could probably still sing from memory.
If you can identify ways to suggest, sim-
plify, show and solidify your new idea, you
the box of a product to encourage Corn
Flake's purchasers to buy bananas. (The
United Fruit Company must have been
influential indeed because Kellogg's even
paid for the coupons.)
3. SHOW:
Show your suggestion in action. When
the banana was first introduced in 1876, it
was considered improper for women to eat
them in public. The solution? Fruit compa-
nies sent out postcards showing prim and
proper Victorian ladies eating half-peeled
bananas. The result? Soaring sales and so-
cial acceptance for a new product.
4. SOLIDIFY:
Solidify your idea with branding so that your
too can increase your influence and move
from Unknown to Essential.
Interested in knowing more about the ori-
gin of this case study or the history of ba-
nanas? Check out Dan Koeppel's book,
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed
the World.