Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
Although marketing research isn’t foolproof, it can take some of the guesswork out of decision making.
Back to your great product idea: what, for example, should you name your product? Naming a product
might sound like a minor decision, but it’s not. In some cases it can be a deal breaker. Just ask the bug-
spray maker Out! International, Inc. In the 1990s, Out! International came up with what it thought was a
really cute name for bug spray that would appeal to children. The product was called “Hey! There’s a
Monster in My Room!” The problem was that the name itself scared kids. They wanted nothing to do with
it.[1]
Figure 10.1
A little marketing research might have helped: In 1966, Capitol Records released hundreds of
thousands of the Beatles’ album Yesterday and Today with the cover shown here. Do you think it
was well received? No. The public was appalled. Capitol Records quickly realized it had made a
mistake, recalled the albums, and pasted a different cover over what became known as the “butcher