The Chalk Story: How Mathematicians got obsessed with a chalk and what it means
for your product
Google 'chalk mathematicians' and you would stumble on the astonishing story of
mathematicians obsessed with a Japanese chalk brand called Fulltouch. When
Hagoromo announced that they were ceasing production, it started a
'chalkapocalypse' where mathematicians started buying in bulk and hoarding it!
That sounded familiar - where have I heard about a fairly niche product with an
obsessed niche clientele that panicked because of news of the company's demise?
Kushal Kanthil! The throat lozenge brand is a staple of singers in India. When
there were rumors of the company stopping production, there was panic among the
singers community!
What happened with Hagoromo and Kushal Kanthil is a dream scenario for brands -
a dedicated subset of audience that depends exclusively on one brand,The brands'
need has been etched in this dedicated users' minds and they do the
word-of-mouth themselves.
The question is, how does a brand/product attain this haloed level? Is there a
formula to reach this stature? Can it be reverse-engineered by identifying a
niche user category and consciously (using research) producing an apt product
for them?
on some vague level, I feel 3M is perhaps that kind of a company that has scaled
the process to bring useful products to audiences (usually specific) on a
frequent basis.
Originally posted by Tejash D Mehta on Facebook
link: facebook.com/tejash24
for your product
Google 'chalk mathematicians' and you would stumble on the astonishing story of
mathematicians obsessed with a Japanese chalk brand called Fulltouch. When
Hagoromo announced that they were ceasing production, it started a
'chalkapocalypse' where mathematicians started buying in bulk and hoarding it!
That sounded familiar - where have I heard about a fairly niche product with an
obsessed niche clientele that panicked because of news of the company's demise?
Kushal Kanthil! The throat lozenge brand is a staple of singers in India. When
there were rumors of the company stopping production, there was panic among the
singers community!
What happened with Hagoromo and Kushal Kanthil is a dream scenario for brands -
a dedicated subset of audience that depends exclusively on one brand,The brands'
need has been etched in this dedicated users' minds and they do the
word-of-mouth themselves.
The question is, how does a brand/product attain this haloed level? Is there a
formula to reach this stature? Can it be reverse-engineered by identifying a
niche user category and consciously (using research) producing an apt product
for them?
on some vague level, I feel 3M is perhaps that kind of a company that has scaled
the process to bring useful products to audiences (usually specific) on a
frequent basis.
Originally posted by Tejash D Mehta on Facebook
link: facebook.com/tejash24
