For a year, I’ve had a photo on my phone that I just can’t stop thinking about. This photo was posted by one of my LinkedIn connections who had recently visited their local Whole Foods. When they passed the RTD (Ready To Drink) beverage cooler, they got excited about all the fun colors of the cans. Now, colors are cool and all, but it reminded me of a quote from the Incredibles 2 where Syndrome shared his plan to make everyone “super” and in making everyone “super”…no one would be. Silly example, I know, but the point stands. Especially if you are trying to play ball on a retail shel. If you are trying to fit in with your competitors (who share the same shelf space) your product might just end up looking like your competitors.

A few years back, I was working at a coffee roaster doing education…which meant I did account management, inside sales, events, and a whole bunch of other things. One of the “other things” I was involved in, was communicating to our current clients about the new coffees that we were about to launch. Sounds simple, right? Wrong! Every single time a coffee was released, I remember it being an intense, grueling, and cumbersome month(s) long process. Once, I remember, we received a coffee early in the summer and didn't release it till we were well into the fall.