The man who invented the Shake Weight talks about bringing a successful product to market, sexual innuendo, and Michelle Obama's arms.
Movers and Shakers: The Shake Weight infomercial inspired segments on Saturday Night Live (left) and Ellen.
3
votes
369diggsdigg 
<a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/mansueto.inc/runbiz.successstories;sz=50x50;pos=top;dcove=d;tile=9;lan=en;c_type=article;cms=inc35142;chn=mktgnewideas;chn=managecreativity;chn=innovation;chn=directmktg;chn=mktg;chn=slsmktg;chn=bringinnov;chn=successstories;chn=runbiz;ord=123456789?" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/mansueto.inc/runbiz.successstories;sz=50x50;pos=top;dcove=d;tile=9;lan=en;c_type=article;cms=inc35142;chn=mktgnewideas;chn=managecreativity;chn=innovation;chn=directmktg;chn=mktg;chn=slsmktg;chn=bringinnov;chn=successstories;chn=runbiz;ord=123456789?" width="50" height="50" border="0" alt=""/></a> 
Arms and the Man: Shake Weight inventor Johann Verheem had no idea his product infomercial would go viral.
Related Articles
Suggested Links
- Zumba Turns Dancers Into Entrepreneurs
- The Best Hotel Fitness Centers
- What Do You Need to Change?
- These Cities Offer the Best Ways To Stay Fit on the Road
- How Does Jack LaLanne Do It?
- Best Hotel for Fitness: Topaz, Washington, D.C.
So how did you come up with the Shake Weight?
The basic principle of using this kind of inertia in exercise was something first done in the '90s, to create weighted resistance, and I thought there was more potential there. There was a product that was sort of a bow that you shook, but the exercise was really unfamiliar to people, so it didn't do well. For people to understand it, I figured you'd have to integrate this idea of dynamic inertia into a dumbbell. So, I developed the Shake Weight with our design group in Taiwan, and had it patented and prototyped, and then it sat around for a year. Ironically, we were just not sure you could sell a dumbbell on TV. Then, I read an article about Michelle Obama's arms, and how more women wanted the right to bare arms, to show off their arms. And I thought that suddenly it was the perfect time to come out with the Shake Weight.
Why do you think this particular product took off?
You know, there are a number of good business reasons the Shake Weight took off. It's a good product that fills a real need, and there's science behind it. There's not another great product out there already that specifically works women's biceps. Women don't like heavy gym equipment that's designed for men to bulk up – most of the weight products on the market are designed for weightlifting. I mean, when you look at it, we're still using the same dumbbell as in the Roman era.
Because of the unique way the Shake Weight works, you can leave it on your coffee table, just do a couple minutes here and there, and see results.
Of course, the reaction to the Shake Weight wasn't strictly about what a good upper-arm workout it might be. How did the product's viral popularity come about?
We were doing a very quiet test one weekend, spending $10,000 to $20,000 on ads and treating it as a focus group. We did this with Shake Weight, and it did fine on its test weekend. On Monday, we came in and said, "It did okay, but nothing special."
By midday Monday, our web hosting was calling saying servers were crashing due to immense traffic. We were shocked – it was going viral. By Tuesday, it was on Jimmy Kimmell, and then The View. By Friday, we had millions of hits on the video, and people were making fun of it. Then Ellen picked it up, and featured it on several different programs. I mean, that was amazing, because even though it comes with a laugh, the product placement for those three minutes of air-time would have cost us millions to buy.
You can't design these outcomes. They take you by surprise.
How much do you believe the viral appeal contributed to sales? I mean, are people buying a Shake Weight because they want toned arms or because it's funny?
This product definitely has a split personality. Scientifically, it is a sound product that creates results. We had two different studies done at San Diego State and by a private company that does work for NASA. The research shows that when you use the 2.5-pound Shake Weight, it burns as much energy as using a 12-pound dumbbell.
So we had incredible evidence on a product that worked, but it also looked provocative. It's not just that sex sells, but one of the other things very important in direct selling, in infomercials, is that a product looks different enough for someone to stop and watch it. And that movement you make with a Shake Weight, well, it looks different.
That's one way to put it. Sure, infomercials can be a bit steamy – think back to the Power Rider, and Suzanne Somers and the Thigh Master – but isn't this different?
I think there are sexy bodies selling lots of things—clothes, magazines, fitness equipment—all the time. There are a lot of 30-minute infomercials that use sex and good-looking bodies to get people's attention. We probably got more attention than most because our product was funny. And back when we were making the show, there were a couple of jokes going around the set about what it looks like if you do it a certain way. But that wasn't our master plan and we've had to spend a lot of money on PR so people knew it actually worked.
What about the Shake Weight for Men – was that a trickier video to make ready for marketing?
Well, in the men's there's no room for sexual innuendo there, because it's such an intense workout. We did it with Navy Seals and Army Rangers, and saw if they could do it for three minutes. They couldn't.
No comments:
Post a Comment