How to promote and advertise a mouse trap?

Question

college assignment..opened a new business and want to promote and advertise a mouse trap

Answer 1

If you really want to make an impression with a new product like that, maybe try some guerrilla marketing. Buy 4 or 5 dozen nasty-looking fake rats from the dollar store and make up 4 or 5 dozen of your new mouse traps. Then place them in public places throughout your nearest large city (make sure it's a top 10 largest city). People will be wondering what the heck these new traps are and you'll create a buzz. You'll probably even get some press about it. Then make sure you have a website that people can visit, and if you don't know how to make a nice looking website then run an ad in your local high school's newspaper and you'll find a wizz-kid who will do it for cheap. And before you know if you might have some extermination companies or rat repellent manufacturers knocking at your door wanting to buy your new product. Good luck with that!

Answer 2

Be advised from personal experience that a mouse trap is an emergency item. People will spend extra money on a mouse trap because it is simply available. You may be able to market through 7-11 and other convenience chains. Of course you need a web site, because people expect to get information via the web.

In marketing, you have the 4 Ps:

Price - If you want to compete successfully, you will need greater margins than your competitors. Since your competitors will have lower costs, you need to provide a superior product that you can sell at a substantial price.

Product - It should have features that people want that are not provided by the other companies. Examples: No mess, live trap to avoid killing the creature, easy for a nontechnical person to setup and use, and so on. You want to differentiate your product so that it is the one that people want.

Place - This is an emergency item, so you cannot expect people to wait for the delivery of traps ordered via the Internet. You need to stock these traps at local hardware and especially the convenience stores. Even pet stores might be willing to sell live traps because people with small animals (birds, pet rates, turtles, and snakes) do not want to risk killing their loved pets.

Promotion - You may decide not to promote the trap except through sales rep visits to local hardware stores and convenience stores. Customers are most likely to take the advice of the sale people. Radio and television advertising may be too costly for this item and may not generate the sales you expect.

Good luck on this project.

Answer 3

A great way to promote the mouse trap is with your car. It is easy and effective to have mouse trap decals all over the car along with the telephone number for ordering and a logo or short message.

Check with the MVA if a prototype mousetrap can be secured to the roof of the car. Friends could be enlisted who would promote the mouse trap on their cars as well.

Regards,
Bistro

Answer 4

You are not trying to sell the mousetrap, you are trying to sell the benefits of it. Look at it from all angles, such as kills a mouse quicker, needs less food on it, comes in 20 colours to blend in with your decore, kills a mouse but can't harm the kids etc. Think of the main benefit that your trap has over all others. Perhaps all the other companies are making it too complex, maybe you end up with something really simple then.

Answer 5

Fine...tell me what's unique about it...otherwise it's just a mouse trap.