The scale of measuring success

Greetings!!

Innovations that are introduced in the market are declared worthwhile or worthless on the basis of public response. For instance, the introduction of “Omore” ice cream here in Pakistan and their marketing strategies had people asking for this brand even when it was not physically available in most places. But did this really mean the brand was successful? If this is how success or acceptability is measured, I think the rule is defective!

Less than a month ago, a home-made ice cream was introduced in my university café. The sweltering heat of this city Karachi keeps the demand for ice creams really high, especially in summers. We decided to give it a try – which turned out to be a disaster gone more disastrous! That day, that ice cream could have made a considerable sale, but did it mean the ice cream was successful? This question is already answered above.

These days, the success of introductions like movies, music albums, novel products etc are measured on how much sales were made the first day or the first week. I believe this success should be measured by how many people came back for more. The curious devil a human is, trying out novel stuff is much of a hobby these days. You need to have an experience (whether personal or induced) to have an opinion. Initial sales are this experience-gaining-and-opinion-forming phase of any innovation. If positive opinions are formed, this will bring the person back for more. This is the actual success of the introduction.

I believe it is very deceptive of the marketers to quote their initial sales and promote their product as “in-demand”. I clearly did not favor the ice cream I had! People need to become wiser in this regard so they are not misled into burning their hard earned finances!

Peace.