Why did this product fail?

[Hai]

I found this interesting campaign for a vase that waters plants automatically. I´m sure some of you guys have plants that died due to overwatering or underwatering.
Did this campaign fail because of failed marketing efforts? Or did they not validate with customers?
They developed for 3 years and chances are, they didn´t do any focus groups?

Link Here:
bit.ly/theplanter

Looking forward to hear your opinion.

 

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[devine]

No clarity of message and idea.
"We"-centered business.

I don't want to even try to understand what exactly they do, so I won't continue. That's enough.
As an entrepreneur, I find this page unbearably cringy to read. All those "We", "Us", "What we do" is the most idiotic thing one can do in business.

They even put their photos and company overview in the main section.
That's just hilarious.

 

[JDx]

Seems like one of those "nice to have" kind of things, where you think it's a great idea, but nobody actually buys one.
Why did it fail?
Probably because they started working on it because they thought it was a good idea without checking if there might be a demand(or dare I say need) for it.

They developed for 3 years

Did this campaign fail because of failed marketing efforts? Or did they not validate with customers?

Step 1 is making sure you have an actual idea that brings value or fills a gap. Step 2 is knowing how to market this product or service. You have to solve these "steps" before starting.
If you think of something and randomly start to work on it, chances are it fails, like the above, because you didn't do your homework first and just got started.

"I'll just do a crowdfunding campaign after I made the product" appears to not be the best strategy

 

[Paul Thomas]

I think they should have described it as "vase that waters plants automatically" like you said. Instead of self irrigating reservoir complex planter.

 

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[Scot]

I'm gonna have to agree with @devine. So cringe worthy. I wanted to stop watching because it was so bad, but I stuck through it.

Here's what I saw.

• No one cares about why you created this pot.
• No one cares about your hand crafted sample
• Your attempt at humor, pouring water on your head was unnecessary
• Your idea isn't original, I can buy it at Walmart for $2

I cringe at how much that video cost to make for no reason. It may have been an ok behind the scenes thing, but not your lead long copy video.

You can tell the chubby guy is narcissistic, because there really is no reason for him to be in the video other than self importance.


But the biggest thing is, it doesn't solve a need. It's not self watering. This concept has been around for years. You have a pot with a dish under it. Put water in dish, plant sucks water up through holes in pot.


Now, if someone created an electronic pot that knows which species of plan, has a monitor for moisture levels and self watered, I'd buy that.

 

[G-Man]

Have to agree with @devine and @Scot

Going through the front page, I still don't know exactly what the product does or why I should buy it. I do know I want to punch these guys in the face though.

 

[Snoophek]

No clarity of message and idea.
They even put their photos and company overview in the main section.
That's just hilarious.

I thought: 'Well, it can't be that bad'

I checked: It was even worse.

I mean, WTF. I came to read about the product, but first I have to:
1. See your ugly faces
2. Read about who are YOU
3. Read about YOUR freaking 'journey'
4. Watch photos about how YOU developed your product
5. ???
6. Guess what, now IDGAF about YOUR 'sleek, self irrigating planter'

 

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[B V Marlon]

But the biggest thing is, it doesn't solve a need. It's not self watering. This concept has been around for years. You have a pot with a dish under it. Put water in dish, plant sucks water up through holes in pot.

Yep, that's what every plant in our house has, at a cost significantly less than that product.

They get more water poured in the dish when they look a bit droopy.

 

[Get Right]

Damn designers...

 

[Hai]

Don´t know whats up with self-watering, but this kickstarter did this with a way better design:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/185396570/ultimate-self-watering-flowerpot-the-natural-balan

 

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[devine]

Don´t know whats up with self-watering, but this kickstarter did this with a way better design:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/185396570/ultimate-self-watering-flowerpot-the-natural-balan

The design is not a concern. This campaign is actually doing awful and its design orientation is wasting their only chance to actually kickstart their business.

They ask for $7k. $7k is nothing.
For this amount of money nothing but production can be done.
Once they fund their production, they're out of funds for actual business setup and marketing, meaning no business for them.
Because their margins clearly cannot get them to scale efficiently.
They will need funds for literally every aspect of business. It will cost them a lot of equity and they still won't be anywhere but online. Retail is mission impossible.

Money =/= success. It's not enough to win any battle. And it's misleading when you win battles like this.
Don't ever build your business around design. It will make you think that your product is good enough, when it's obviously weak.
It's better to fail right away due to bad design, and focus on more substantial concerns about your product, your business and its model.
Otherwise you will waste tremendous amount of time only to find out that you inevitably get nowhere.

 

[Hai]

The design is not a concern. This campaign is actually doing awful and its design orientation is wasting their only chance to actually kickstart their business.

They ask for $7k. $7k is nothing.
For this amount of money nothing but production can be done.
Once they fund their production, they're out of funds for actual business setup and marketing, meaning no business for them.
Because their margins clearly cannot get them to scale efficiently.
They will need funds for literally every aspect of business. It will cost them a lot of equity and they still won't be anywhere but online. Retail is mission impossible.

Money =/= success. It's not enough to win any battle. And it's misleading when you win battles like this.
Don't ever build your business around design. It will make you think that your product is good enough, when it's obviously weak.
It's better to fail right away due to bad design, and focus on more substantial concerns about your product, your business and its model.
Otherwise you will waste tremendous amount of time only to find out that you inevitably get nowhere.

Yeah, campaign is doing awful. So instead of focusing on "design", do you mean to focus more on making their whole business work in regards to their UVP or basic idea? At least, that´s what I understand.

 

[devine]

Yeah, campaign is doing awful. So instead of focusing on "design", do you mean to focus more on making their whole business work in regards to their UVP or basic idea? At least, that´s what I understand.

It's more about USP than UVP.
In 2016, UVP doesn't matter much for 90%+ of companies.
For a product like this the game is about covering and scaling:
- To get in as many stores as possible
- To establish a successful ecommerce system.
- To decrease costs and minimize waste expenses while keep scaling.

If you have a product that is self-explanatory in 5 seconds, your UVP doesn't matter.
You need to emphasize your USP and design is the last thing that helps it.

 

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[Almantas]

Because there isn't enough demand for it?

 

[Scot]

Because there isn't enough demand for it?

Watch the video. It's glaringly obvious why it failed.

 

[RHL]

Huge number of things:

No promotion/advertising. 18 backers=Just family and friends. They didn't try and get the word out.

Video is slickly filmed but horrendously composed.

1a. If you're going to make an English video, get someone who speaks English fluently to write and and voice it. The first designer's words were barely intelligible, and the voice-over they had done (probably by computer) was loaded with grammatical and syntax errors no native speaker would ever make.

1b. Same goes with the copy. All sorts of conventions (writing out numbers less than nine longhand, not using conjunctions properly, etc.) are ignored.

2. Video did not explain the most important aspect: How the pot prevents over-watering or watering neglect. Looks to me like the plants can still drown or dry up. Maybe not, but that's never explained. So the need I came to solve has not been solved.

3. As others have stated, very we-centered. I know some treps say that everyone loves a good story, but everyone loves a good story that gets them emotionally involved and has a payoff for them. "I went to Harvard." -Nobody cares. "I went to Harvard, and I can get your kids in too." -Everybody suddenly cares.

4. Mentions all these other designs and upcoming designs. This says that they don't think the product they have is sufficiently exciting on its own. Somebody might see those future designs and say, "I like those better; I'll wait." Never show what you don't have to sell. Ever.

5. This is a bit of a leap, but these guys may actually think that those little vents on the side are helping the plants to breathe. Which... I mean... I don't even know where to go with that.

 

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[KeepGoin]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FHAJ90/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

I've seen these things before. Aren't they the same concept?

Semi off topic but this reminded me of a video where a guy set out to automatically water his plant with an arduino. He ends up becoming obsessed with building the actual system and the process of perfecting it. Neat 9 minute vid if anyone is bored:

 

[Yratill]

So failure to Understand Consumer Needs and Wants, fixing a Non-Existent Problem,
targeting the Wrong Market and weak Team and Internal Capabilities.

 

[biophase]

The whole concept made no sense as it is literally the same as soaking your roots in water. Do they understand physics?

How do you refill that thing? Lift up the whole plant?

How is it different than a clay pot and dish?

 

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[Unknown]

They're selling a want, not a need. When you're selling a want you have to catch the person's eye in the first 5 seconds or it's already over. I didn't find the product design all that interesting, so I didn't really want to read anything more. Their first picture should have been some exotic plant inside their vase.

 

[458]

Because most products are dumb, just like most people are dumb. See the logic? It's circular

 

[Guest34764]

"After 3 years‘ persistent efforts, here comes our "OVERFLOW" planter. Simplicity outside: simple, sleek, fashionable. Complexity inside: enclosed reservoir/self irrigation/high quality/eco friendly. Expected shipping is in Nov."

The first thing I read was this.

The second thing I read was them repeating how long they've worked on their project.

The third paragraph again talks about 3 years.

Why do I care how long you worked on a product?

This is seriously depressing because people would have ate this up if they simply did everything a bit better.

Remember guys, just because you spend years at a time on a product does not mean it will sell, life can be a cruel mistress.

 

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[David Young]

As already mentioned the product is not new, though I do quite like the design.I do question this obsession with crowd funding and pre-orders. I get the logic / business model etc. However, I am not sure that this is the correct channel for a flower pot. A few years back I was involved in selling fancy flower pots - we went direct to the garden centres, retail outlets etc- as that is were the target audience shops. i can see a limit market for a product like this but the customer has to know about it- hidden away on kickstarter certainly wont help .

 

[Longinus]

Remember guys, just because you spend years at a time on a product does not mean it will sell, life can be a cruel mistress.

 

[amp0193]

I found this interesting campaign for a vase that waters plants automatically. I´m sure some of you guys have plants that died due to overwatering or underwatering.
Did this campaign fail because of failed marketing efforts? Or did they not validate with customers?
They developed for 3 years and chances are, they didn´t do any focus groups?

Link Here:
bit.ly/theplanter

Looking forward to hear your opinion.

I'm surprised no one mentioned how ugly that thing is. I don't ever want to look at that pot again, much less have it in my house.

 

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[jmomcc]

I'm surprised no one mentioned how ugly that thing is. I don't ever want to look at that pot again, much less have it in my house.

Yea, this is what I thought. I love plants and own several. Even if this did what is said on the tin, I'd never let something that ugly in my house.

I'd be very interested in a self watering herb garden that looked great in my window.

 

[Jon L]

I'd rather buy an artificial plant. No watering necessary.

 

[StrikingViper69]

Can't understand his accent half the time.

Also, if he can't handle taking care of a plant, how is he going to ship my over priced pot on time?

 

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