Remember mixed tapes? The old school cassettes made for friends containing your favorite songs, with clever titles such as “Road Trip Mix 91”?
Fast forward 20+ years and enter slotRadio. From the looks of their advertising, the new music player + music card is targeting moms … busy moms in particular (although really, what mom today ISN’T busy?). I fall into this category, and it seriously took reading the ad several times plus a visit to their website to help me understand exactly WHAT they were selling. Is slotRadio a music player? Actual music? A big idea?
It’s really all three. slotRadio is a music player, with special “pre-filled” cards loaded up with music from specific categories. For example, I can choose a card with 1000 country-specific songs ready to play in my slotRadio player. Or a health and fitness card that has seven playlists created with specific activities in mind (cardio, cooldown, yoga, etc.). Great concept. Appropriate target. So what’s the problem?
The name. slotRadio. Sure it’s descriptive. Yes, it’s functional. But this is a category definer. No other manufacturer has a product like this. Imagine if Procter & Gamble had chosen to use “Dust-Trapping-Cloth-on-a-Stick” for their inventive product in 1999.
To make things even more confusing, the pre-loaded cards are branded slotRadio, as is the player. But the slotRadio card can actually be played on the Sansa Fuze and the Sansa Clip+. Seems to me a better option would have been to name the player slotRadio, and give the card (new, unique, different) a (new, unique, different) name.
Apple defined the personal music category with the iPod. Now SanDisk has a chance to redefine the playlist. Unfortunately I think the choice of name leaves the door wide open for a second player to come in and dominate with a more original brand name.
