Thread: Inventions are waiting to be made!

At some point they got popular enough that they became a must-have item for little kids, but how the hell did that happen ? I understand how Trading Cards and Beyblades got popular, however SILLY BANDZ ? Need to do more googling on this

People aren't logical - they work on emotion. This means that some things will become popular without any sensible reason - look at pet rocks.

SillyBandz were profitable because they became a FAD. Its popularity was created through WOM, 'tween-aged' girls and boys seeing others with them and finding out how to get some for themselves. There are a lot of problems with this business though, as expressed in MJ's model. Clearly it was somewhat scalable, they made thousands of variations of these wristbands and sold it through hundreds of different wholesale channels. The problem is fads have a very short product life cycle. Unless this company continues to innovate new products dissimilar to this, they will crumble as demand dries up.

Based on the amount of competitors emerging and my personal observation that kids are already getting bored with these things (and the fact they are down to like 50 cents a pack) I would say this product has reached the height of the maturity stage. There is no brand loyalty to 'sillybandz' over 'gas station bandz' or 'grocery store bandz'.

Just my opinion.

It's not always about the product. Someone can have the greatest idea in the world and if they don't know what to do with it, it will go no where. On the other hand, the silliest idea can become huge with the right marketing, timing and some luck. For example, look at the Snuggie. The original idea came about in 1992 as the "Freedom Blanket". The product bombed. I'm sure no one here has heard about it. A few years later someone came up with the "Slanket". It was a blanket with sleeves. Pretty much the same as the freedom blanket. This too went nowhere. A few years later a man named Klein Peterson, who was obsessed with his blanket, invented the sunggie. It really wasn't much different that the two previous products. Same exact concept. A blanket with holes cut in it. But with the right marketing and possibly the right timing and some luck, his product took off making him an instant millionaire and one of the greatest success stories of our times. I still think it's a silly idea. All it is is a backwards robe pretty much. But it goes to show you that it's not the idea that sells, it's the person or people behind the idea.

Originally Posted by Likwid24

It's not always about the product. Someone can have the greatest idea in the world and if they don't know what to do with it, it will go no where. On the other hand, the silliest idea can become huge with the right marketing, timing and some luck. For example, look at the Snuggie. The original idea came about in 1992 as the "Freedom Blanket". The product bombed. I'm sure no one here has heard about it. A few years later someone came up with the "Slanket". It was a blanket with sleeves. Pretty much the same as the freedom blanket. This too went nowhere. A few years later a man named Klein Peterson, who was obsessed with his blanket, invented the sunggie. It really wasn't much different that the two previous products. Same exact concept. A blanket with holes cut in it. But with the right marketing and possibly the right timing and some luck, his product took off making him an instant millionaire and one of the greatest success stories of our times. I still think it's a silly idea. All it is is a backwards robe pretty much. But it goes to show you that it's not the idea that sells, it's the person or people behind the idea.

That's pretty interesting. I definitely know of the snuggie, I usually tell the wife that I am getting her one for her birth day, anniversary etc when I wanna mess with her, lol

I wonder how such similar products were able to come to market with out any patent related issues?

A perfect example of really good marketing: Fushigi balls.

My kids begged for one of these worthless chrome balls, and I refused to pay $20 for one. The grandparents got them one, and they sit in the toy boxes. I told them it was nothing but a ball, it doesnt do anything. But the commercials had "professional" jugglers, that made it look like they did all kind of crazy tricks.

It does have one trick up its sleeve: itll trick you into paying $20 for a $1 ball of plastic. Thats advertising. I wont let them get rid of them now. I want a reminder in the house of why we dont follow these fads.

Currently reading One Simple Idea. I have a toy idea that I feel would be perfect for liscensing.

Just curious regarding SillyBandz - Was there any way the creator could have protected what he made from copycats? His idea isn't patentable.

wow. I really don't understand the point of these!

sillybandz are popluar because it fufills that wnat feeling......kids are like little adults accept it is not with looking rich or having money, but looking like you have more to look cool.

The more silly bandz you had the cooler you became. Again it was a fad, just like yoyos and pokemon and magic card.

when you create a product for a kid the need catagory is different....of course the kids dont really Need sillybandz...the WANT it.

It shows you that there are many ways to get rich besides the web and real estate and that a product doesn't need to make sense to make you money.

Originally Posted by SuccessInMind

Hey everyone, sorry for bringing up an old thread, but I had a question about the Silly Bandz. For anyone that has read MJ's book, he talks about the five commandments.

Commandment of Need
Commandment of Entry
Commandment of Control
Commandment of Scale
Commandment of Time

My question is, what need does Silly Bandz fulfill? Just asking because I'm trying to understand why Silly Bandz is successful in terms of what MJ wrote about. Answers are much appreciated

I have struggled with these questions before I even knew about the commandments... ...on an instinctive level. I studied music and am an accomplished guitarist, but when I think about recording and selling albums it violates almost every commandment.

How about the the TV show Millionaire Matchmaker.

Boy that was a tough one to come up with. Let's get a millionaire who is single and find a bunch of gold diggers and throw them in a room together. lol

I am joking, it is one of those ideas that makes me think "Why on earth did I not think of that?" The host Patti can be really offensive at times, but I think that actually ads to the entertainment value, like Simon Cowell did on American Idol. (Another brilliant but simple idea. Let's audition a bunch of talent, get the public to follow them for a whole season, then create an album and sell millions of copies when the show is over. Brilliant!!)

You guys were asking about Sillybandz and what needs they fulfilled....

The need is not what you think of as need, but it helps us to expand what the definition of need is for our future endeavors.

Sillybandz are a way to cultivate a SHARING experience!

Because Sillybandz are so affordable and customized, the odds that kids would be wearing the exact same bands at the same time is not likely. It goes back to a built in need that cavemen had which was bartering and sharing. It's encoded in our DNA and it makes us feel good.

It sounds silly, but it makes so much sense. Of course it's a fad, but fads always connect to a basic human need in order to have staying power, otherwise it will not catch on with the masses in a significant way.

Food for thought.

This idea is not my idea but I thought I would post it anyway. It's not an invention per se but its a good idea I think.

What if someone made a QVC or Home Shopping Network for the web? There are streaming sites like livestream.com and ustream etc that allow you to broadcast a live show to everyone on the web. What if some upbeat salesperson went on screen and sold goods like they do on QVC to a live internet audience? There is always a need for good deals on electronics and stuff like that which is why sites like woot.com have been so successful.

props to those who made these
34 Cleverly Designed Inventions