The Mistake
In 1963, the Post research and development department, using some of the same technology that made Gaines Burgers possible, figured out a way to keep fruit filling moist while inhibiting the growth of spoilage-causing bacteria. The obvious application: a fruit-filled pastry that could be shipped and stored without having to be refrigerated.
On Feb. 16, 1964, Post unveiled its new product, Country Squares. The food industry oohed and aahed; the business press buzzed; grocers waited expectantly.
But Post was slow getting Country Squares onto store shelves.
Back in the ’90s, The Tribune interviewed a retired Post food technician, Stan Reesman, about the Post/Kellogg timing debate. “They kept fooling around with it in our labs,” Reesman told the Tribune, in reference to Post holding Country Squares back from the shelves.
In September 1964, just six months after the public unveiling of Country Squares, Kelloggs came up with a new product called “Fruit Scones” and later introduced as Pop-Tarts (which is a pun to the then popular Pop-Art movement) in several test markets around the country. It was sold out in 2 weeks after first shipment in 1964, and the rest is just Pop-Tarts history.
MVP
When Kellogg’s first introduced the toaster pastry in 1964, it was unfrosted and came with four flavors: Apple Currant Jelly, Strawberry, Blueberry and Brown Sugar-Cinnamon.
Iteration
In 1967, the first frosted Pop-Tarts hit the shelves with four flavors, as well: Dutch-Apple, Concord Grape, Raspberry and Brown Sugar-Cinnamon. Today, there are over 30 kinds of Pop-Tarts (and many special edition ones).
Listen to the user and improve the product
If you look at the old ads and design of the Pop-Tart, it appears that you used to “cut along the dotted lines” and pulled them apart. The filling oozed out of the middle where you split it, but now you just have one solid pastry to heat up and then chow down.
What has Pop-Tart got to do with digital products
The Pop Tarts story inspires me to iterate the importance of how companies should look at digital products, how product owners should plan their product road maps and the importance of launching to the market as fast as you can with the most lovable features. And how every digital product can be tested, improved and perfected over time as long as your MVP does the job it promised to do.
Kellogg’s didn’t produce a MVP that was uneatable due to the rushed timing, instead, they produced lesser flavours and spending less time “perfecting” it. They focus on launching a fruit filled toasted pastry to a test market. And focus on improving, expanding the range and perfecting it later. If a toasted pastry can be launched in that manner and gain great success, why can’t we launch digital products the same way?
Focus on your MVP, prioritise the job(s) your product should be doing for the users and ship valuable incremental with a team you trust. There is no secret recipe in creating a successful product, there is only the desire to produce something that get “JOBS” done for people.
