Marketing a Brand Re-purpose Uses

[Sprinkler Buddy]

We all buy products and use them differently than the maker intended. My question is, Should a company share or market a product for its potential re-purpose uses?

My fear in doing so, is that the consumer won't take its intended use as seriously. On the other hand, I could reach a different clientele or market that most likely they wouldn't have known or heard of the product otherwise. In doing so, they may even decide to purchase it for its intended purpose.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

[ScriptMan]

Should a company share or market a product for its potential re-purpose uses?

Maybe I froze my brain while going to the grocery but I don't understand what you are asking. By company do you mean the OEM?

As a silly example re-marketing a heavy duty ladder as a scaffold walk board?

Or by company do you mean some one who buys a product and re-markets it for a different use?

[Sprinkler Buddy]

A customers bought a pack of my SB's and one out of the seven in the pack found a new home accidentally, one of his dogs snagged one.LoL The customer claims it's the best toy he had ever bought. So that got me thinking, maybe I could market my product in an additional way. Opening up a completely different market for the same product.

"Every Dog Needs A Sprinkler Buddy" LoL After looking up the cost of dog toys and the demand for them, looks like the market is there to. SB could be one of the most durable and affordable dog toys available on the market.

Thinking out loud here, just curious what you guys think of the idea.

[ScriptMan]

After checking to make sure it is a safe chew toy (non toxic) I would consider adding something that to my site if I were you. A little humor and a few incremental sales.

[cgwebsites]

I'd say go for it, if you can afford the additional marketing costs and you know it'll work for the new purpose.

It makes me think of P&G's new ad campaign (if you've seen it) featuring Kari Byron on "Have You Tried This Yet?" She performs science experiments using the P&G cleaning products. I'm sure a part of the ad campaign's goal is to get people to purchase the item to try the experiment for themselves. That's definitely a re-purposing of the item!

[Jim Gillum]

McDonald's always bragged about selling a zillion burgers.....
Never seem to mention dog food.....))

My wife likes the cheeseburgers....so does Max.....my dog....
Re-purpose?

[PromoDirect]

Its an excellent thing to do. You are adding a different phenomena to the customers mind. It will surprise them about the re-purpose of a certain product. You have to make your customers believe that this re-purpose of the product has some benefit in it.

[kju385]

Unless you're planning a pitch in terms of "super funny animal friendly sprinklers" I not sure how it would work. Had to visualize first what re-purposing means. Perhaps a more secure way to go would be to change the design slightly (make it a bit more different at minimum costs), check the regulations and offer it as a different product under the Sprinkler Buddy brand, i.e. Sprinkler Buddy Dog Toys.

[ChrisTrack]

Originally Posted by iloveprint

I think it depends on the object and what it’s being re-purposed for. Take your sprinklers for example. Before running out and telling people they should give them to their dogs you want to make sure that they are non-toxic and safe to chew on. If you told people it was a good idea to use them as dog toys and one of their dogs bit a piece off and a.) choked or b.) had intestinal complications afterwards you might be looking at a lawsuit on your hands. So just take precautionary measures. But if you’re selling something like a drinking glass and want to also sell it as a flower vase, go right ahead.

This is key, I agree with this 100%, if you decide to go through with this, handling things like this upfront will save so much headache later on down the road.. not to mention lawsuits.

I would recommend that you re brand it as specifically a dog toy. If you try and keep it for as a double use product then it may actually be detrimental as you are losing your specific target market. When people are searching for a dog toy, they want a toy that's been specifically made and tailored to the needs of their dog, they wouldn't want to know that it has been re-purposed.

This is

[Sprinkler Buddy]

I was just thinking out loud, I have no intentions of making it a dog toy. It's been tough enough trying to penetrate the market it's intended for. Much less trying to branch it out to a totally different category. lol

Some Very good feedback though.