Snuggie’s marketing genius

When I told my brother in-law over the holidays that I was going to get him a snuggie for Christmas he thought I was a nut. Behold the marketing genius of Snuggie, the quirky, blanket-sweater that is the most oddly intriguing product I’ve seen in a long time. In essence it’s just another Ronco electric food dehydrator, but some how it was able to transcend purely made-for-TV fame and become a bit of a cultural icon. But why?

First, they were smart with advertising, buying on mass-purchasing “cheap” TV spots, and any spare banner space they could get their paws on. Was it highly strategic? Not so much. But with 4 million in sales and counting, I would say-not too shabby!

And then there’s the pure awesomeness of the product itself. Or lack thereof. In a time of such economic distress and uncertainty, there’s something oddly…comforting about this blanket with arms. It’s insane. Probably not worth the $19.95+S+H, but yet it gives us hope. Hope that we WILL smile again. Don one as you go on a Snuggie pub crawl, forgetting the trials and tribulations of your everyday realities. An easy, frivolous thing. For a second, let’s just NOT be serious. It’s okay. Let your hair down and throw on your snuggie.

Lastly: imitation is the greatest form of flattery? If so then as CNN recently reported in a segment on the Snuggie — “has spawned all sorts of online imitators” and later mentioned the Slanket as one “of the other versions of the Snuggie out there.” A slanket? Really?

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 1st, 2009 at 6:34 am and is filed under BRANDS, DESIGN and tagged with advertising, fun, innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.