Richard Trocino, a business owner in Austin, had a great idea for a product. And, like thousands of other creative people with a new idea for a product, it's hard to get that idea into a market dominated by long-standing brands with deep ties and a strong presence in stores. In the land of opportunity, where there are mega-corporations, Walmarts, venture capitalists, and small businesses, one entrepreneur with a great idea or product may be seen as irrelevant and unimportant by any of these groups. In today's market, another problem that small businesses face, like Trocino's, is getting an idea made and making sales.
Even though it shouldn't work, Trocino's invention is selling almost as fast as his factories can make it and send it all over the world. The big companies that had the chance to brand and make it may now wish they hadn't turned down the popular product so quickly. Not when the blogosphere can spread information around the world faster and farther than a speeding bullet. Some of the comments include, "OHSO gets my vote for the most stylish and futuristic toothbrush/toothpaste device on the market today," "The Coolest Toothbrush Ever," and "World's Most Elegant Travel Toothbrush."
Trocino got small amounts of money from friends and family to build prototypes and make a small number of copies after his attempts to license the product to toothpaste and toothbrush companies failed. In a similar way, Trocino couldn't sell his new idea through normal retail channels because he didn't have a well-known brand name.
Trocino gave up on trying to sell the product using traditional marketing methods, but he didn't give up. Instead, he went by gut instinct and the seat of his pants, just like other business people who have had unexpected success in the past. On a hunch, he put it out there only on the internet, ignoring the "wisdom" of traditional marketing methods. He didn't use phones, faxes, or printed junk mail. He only used the internet. Corporate giants can afford to waste 98 percent of their marketing dollars on a numbers game because it's their investors' and stockholders' money, not their own. This is because their business model justifies and covers their wastefulness by charging those customers more to cover the costs of marketing to everyone else.
Trocino decided to be a "Swamp Fox" marketer and break all the rules of modern marketing warfare, just like General Francis Marion did in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. Marketing is like war, and many business owners have learned that the business battlefields of today are real. In today's market reality, corporations and financiers have stacked the deck against new competitors by raising the stakes in the game of business. A business advice columnist on the Internet who did not want to be named says that it costs between $25,000 and $250,000 to even be considered for funding by an angel or VC group. That's just for making the business plan, getting consulting before starting up, paying for general costs, and getting into their secret inner circle. Trocino decided to go into the internet and blogosphere, which he didn't know much about, to see what people would do when offered his new idea directly.
Like most entrepreneurs, Trocino is willing to take risks, but like most smart business people, he tries to cut risks wherever he can. He knew that a good idea that wasn't carried out well wouldn't do well on the market, so he took his idea to a design firm called "Design Edge" that was based in his hometown but was known all over the world. There, he negotiated a co-marketing partnership to help him "package" his idea. Trocino knew that people who travel a lot would like the idea of a toothbrush with built-in toothpaste that comes with a case that protects clothes in suitcases and keeps things clean and organized. With the help of the co-marketing partnership with "Design Edge," the product got a new look: a sexy, futuristic design that took the basic idea of being useful and wrapped it in elegance and fashion.
Then, with a few well-chosen words, a friend with a good eye for photography, and a bit of html code, Trocino set up a website. MySpace would be the place where his product would be tested and where it would finally go on sale.
The buzz it made in cyberspace was a bit of a surprise, given its stylish modern design and elegant photography. In fact, it went off like a bomb!
Because of how the blogosphere works, where being cool and trendy is a sign of personal taste and sophistication, the OHSO toothbrush quickly became the coolest thing since crystal ice on the personal blogs of graphic designers and jet setters. When Josh Spears, a popular blogger, wrote about how great the product was, sales and global awareness went through the roof. Even the famous Steven Wozniak, who helped create another innovative product called the Apple computer, uses and likes the OHSO toothbrush.
Today, the product can be bought in high-end stores in posh places like Beverly Hills and Brookstone stores all over the country, where it can be found next to cappuccino makers and executive toys. Blogs have turned the sensible, functional, and practical toothbrush for busy travelers into a fashion statement that gives high status and coolness, even though it costs less than $20.
Not a bad situation for the happy Trocino, who is now adding more designs to the line to meet the needs of the market. The success of OHSO is due to the fact that its creator just went with the flow and used guerilla marketing to beat the big companies. He just put it out there in the vast, uncharted world of cyberspace, where the old MBA strategies have about as much effect on the hip youth market as the full-color fallouts in the Sunday paper, which people are reading less and less.
Today, the global Blogsville is ruled by the freedom of the personal press. A small voice with a message or a product like the OSHO toothbrush can become a global phenomenon. When people like what they see, they tell their friends, who are everywhere today.
