The Fad and the Star

A fad is a star that fades (hmmm ... is 'fad' a short form of 'fade'?) A fad product is usually well-positioned and may be a market leader for a few years (or many years as in the case of the frisbee or rubik's cube.) However, after an initial surge in growth, alternative products may start taking market share away. Or the target market may shift their attention to a new substitute activity or product.

Now let's take a look at two businesses:

1. Perfect Pushup (www.perfectpushup.com)
2. Crossfit (www.crossfit.com)

Perfect pushup sells equipment that helps you execute the perfect pushup. The positioning is perfect. And it has a patent. And it's sold heavily through the infomercial method. But in my mind it has all the characteristics of a fad. It's likely that in a few years, competitors with slight variations on the company's patent will enter the market. And that's a good thing since perfect pushup will then be positioned in the market leader slot. But the problem arises when the market gets bored with the product and moves on to the next big thing in fitness.

Consider Crossfit on the other hand. They have all the makings of a star. They have a passionate and active community who act as evangelists. They have a unique business model where they give away 90% of their content away for free and make most of their money through workshops which are almost always sold out. They have a unique, amazing system which gives absolutely fantastic results to practitioners. And they have repeat value - a user can presumably be a Crossfit practitioner all his life.

While I understand that a fad is a legitimate way to make a lot of money, I'd personally like to be involved with stars simply because the effect of a star is so much more long-lasting.