Stuff grows legs

Ever noticed how you don’t find things when you are in a rush or when you need them. In our household we have this happen with salt, sugar, chips, snacks, etc. The recent McCormick ad is a classic example of how this happens. In the advertisement the kid of the family is using the McCormick black pepper grinder while mom cooks a meal and can’t find the grinder. Mom asks the child and she hands over the grinder so mom can complete making meal for the family. Years ago I remember when I moved to Cambridge, Mass for school/work I lived out of my car for almost a week until I found an apartment. I slept in a hotel but my stuff stayed in the car. Even after I settled into an apartment things took a long time to leave the car and often accompanied me between the apartment and the car.

We had several similar experiences with folks misplacing brands from designated spots particularly the popular brands, causing the cooking to take longer than it really needs to. Over time I noticed the more popular brands and fancy new packaging is a major driver.

All this got me thinking, As a marketer an idea popped – Could brands have invisible feet?

What drives these products to ‘travel’, not something we have leveraged yet?