I See Dead Marketing.

I was recently told about an FMCG company that had created a kids' breakfast cereal. Starting with a new ingredient, they focussed on the required shape before progressing to the name and, only once all that had been tested, did they consider what it would taste like. Against all the odds, it wasn't a huge success.

My writing about problem-less solutions yesterday was highlighting how such reverse engineering brings marketers close to a very slippery slope. Creating a problem, then providing the solution is a legtimate strategy if the problem has some credible authenticity. Too many marketers go over that edge.