Daily Archives: March 17, 2014

Guns, Sex and Drugs.

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A question I always have in mind when doing brand and comms planning for clients is “Who is going to lose the sale you are making?” Often we think of competitors but sometimes, especially with start-ups and tech companies, it is money made in another category.  A carbonated soft drink loss might be won by a cold pressed juice company, for instance.

While reading an item last week and seeing that in 7 large NFL-size cities over $2.4B is being spend a year on guns, sex and drugs I began to think about business opportunities that might siphon off some of that cash.  This data point BTW was from 2007 so I’m sure it has grown considerably. And this number didn’t even include NY, LA or Chicago.

I suspect there won’t be an app for this replacement product, but there could be. What do all 3 of these pursuits have in common? If we say that guns are about protection, aggression or hunting then the motivation is about the self. As are drugs and sex. So this replacement behavior, this replacement product, needs to be similarly positioned. Plastic surgery? Clothing? Exercise? Diet? How about we invent a completely new sport?  How about a sport for the ageing population? Something that might be more fun and active than say walking or the elliptical machine? Something that generates some endorphins? Help me out here.

Hmmm. This one is going to take a while. Any thoughts?