Tupperware filed for bankruptcy on September 18th. I have mixed feelings about this as my mother was a Tupperware salesperson in the late 1950s. I grew up with Tupperware containers in the kitchen cupboards, in the panty, heck, I even had some Tupperware brand toys. When my mother passed away in 2016, I took all of her Tupperware home and now my kitchen and pantry are filled will those same containers from my childhood home (no, the toys are long-since gone). Tupperware always reminds me of home, of Mom baking and cooking, storing ingredients in some containers and leftovers in others. Even decades after her last sale with Tupperware as a company, Mom always spoke highly of the company and the product. Even though the thought of Tupperware firmly tugs at my heartstrings, I am at the same time filled with frustration and anger. Bankruptcy never should have been in the cards for such an iconic brand. The answer as to why Tupperware finds it on the brink of extinction is that they forgot what made them special in order to be like everyone else. One of the “knocks” on Tupperware is that it’s not the fanciest or prettiest food storage container which is true, I suppose. Through the years Tupperware received feedback that to remain competitive it needed to make their containers prettier. So they did. And, when they did, Tupperware became just another storage container on the shelf. It was no longer special because it no longer looked like the iconic container America had come to know. What made Tupperware so special? The answer lies in Tupperware’s unique and innovative “burp” technology. When you sealed the lid on a Tupperware container, you knew your food would stay fresh. But it wasn’t the burp nor the guaranteed freshness of the contents. No. And therein lies what could have kept Tupperware thriving today if they hammered home a message only they could convey. You see, Tupperware was never about the burp, it was about the how your burped it and who it was meant to benefit…and this was the story Mom told me that I have never forgotten even though Tupperware has. Mom told me that Tupperware was “designed for old ladies who had lost strength in their hands due to arthritis”. Tupperware was not mean to be closed with fingers or even the palm of a hand. YOU SEAL TUPPERWARE WITH YOU ELBOW. Can you imagine if Tupperware went to market today with that message for older people or any individual with an injury or a condition that make closing things with hands difficult? No other container has been designed this way but in its efforts to be like everyone else, it stopped letting people know what made them unique and relevant and important. Recently I shared this story with some co-workers who then demonstrated the proper way to seal Tupperware. Watch it and ask yourself if you’ve ever seen that or wonder why you were never told the proper way to seal their containers. Then ask yourself if you’ve forgotten to tell your current and potential customers about what makes you, your business, your product singularly special because you are trying to position yourself just like your competitors. And, one day when I no longer walk this earth, my daughters can fight over who gets my Tupperware because it’s still the best thing out there…even if Tupperware forgot to tell us why. If you're looking to rediscover your "special sauce" and bring your message to the masses, contact me and let's make it happen.
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