I was reading David Pogue’s 2009 “Best Tech Ideas”, and it made me think of yogurt.
Not just any yogurt but yogurt made by a Quebec company, Liberté, that features 8.5% milk fat. In a world dominated by no-fat and low-fat, a yogurt with 8.5% fat is extraordinary (and extraordinarily delicious!).
So how are “Best Tech Ideas” and amazing yogurt alike?
Innovative technology often goes against the grain by offering consumers something different or unique that makes it stand out from the crowd. In the same way, Liberté’s yogurt is different from most other yogurts by playing up its fat content in a world where fat is seen as bad.
5 Comments
i hope all the company will find green technology for us,…and then "green" food…but yoghurt???
Hi Mark (and Happy New Year!)
1. Total agreement on Liberte yogurt. I use it for cooking, and my wife is utterly addicted to it. She eats yogurt with maple syrup every morning — unless she can't find Liberte, in which case she will "accept no substitutes."
2. But I think you may be giving them too much credit. Although it does have more than twice the fat content of most 'full fat' yogurts (8.5% versus 3.2%) let alone the low fat varieties, the company doesn't market it on that basis. The fat content is on the label (as required by law) but there is no song and dance about it. Even in their ads I have never seen any sign that they are "playing up their fat content."
On the other hand, your central point is bang on. Innovation and great ideas often come out going in a totallly different direction than anyone else…even if that isn't the core of your marketing message.
Duncan
You're right, playing up the fat content isn't the most consumer-friendly messaging.
Happy New Year to you as well!
Mark
Yum, Liberté yogurt is extraordinarily delicious! Funny analogy, Mark!
Thanks for the comment. All the best in 2010!