The twist tie saved sliced bread. Back in the day before bread was sold pre-sliced, bakeries did not package bread in plastic. When sliced bread was invented, it was the greatest thing, as the expression goes. But the problem with pre-sliced bread is it goes stale rather quickly without two key inventions. First, the plastic bag that kept air from getting to the bread and kept it fresh. But a plastic bag had an opening that needed to be closed. It was the twist tie that provided the airlock for the plastic bag.

Little things can become very big ideas when they meet a common need. Think of the impact that the twist tie and the plastic bag have made on us beyond sliced bread. How bad would the stench of garbage be if the trash bag and a twist tie had not been invented? You would be hard pressed to find anyone who has not used a plastic bag and a twist tie in the past 24 hours. Think of the big inventions that have impacted lifestyles around us. Here are some technology advances that we use every day.

Texting communication on a mobile phone

The remote locking device for your car known as the key fob

Garage door openers

Magnetic strips on credit cards

All of these have become staples for the way we live. You could say that they have become necessities of life. Big ideas abound. They last about as long as the next big idea, but taking care of a necessity of life effectively has a much longer shelf life. The key to making your product or service a staple of life relies on two things: solving a problem and creating public demand through marketing.

Most inventions do not start out as essentials of life. They begin as luxuries. Each of the items I mentioned above were once thought of as items only the well-to-do could afford. Somewhere along the line, they became common – so much so that they are now relied upon by multitudes of people. How does this happen? Typically they solve a problem by replacing something else that was more cumbersome and less efficient. So what did the twist tie replace? Actually the predecessor to the plastic tie was a paper and wire tie that came about during the 1930s to replace grass ties used in the produce section of grocery stores. Imported grass was hard to come by and, out of necessity, a twist tie was invented. This was improved in the 1950s and made of plastic. The magnetic strip on the back of your credit card made it quicker to pay for an item with just a swipe. Prior to this, credit cards had to be run through a press device that made a copy of the raised numbers on your card on carbon paper. It was slow and bulky. The magnetic swipe was quicker than paying with cash. Texting replaced instant messaging. Key fobs replaced metal keys and door locks. Garage door openers replaced human brawn. All of them made life a little easier by solving a problem.

But solving a problem is only half of the equation. To make a product or service a necessity in the collective mind of consumers, you have to have effective marketing. This includes not only making people aware of it, but also getting them to try it for the first time. That first trial is critical to the acceptance of your product or service. One of the most effective ways to make this happen is to define a group within your target market who are the key influencers of opinion. For the twist tie and plastic bag, it was mothers of young children. In the 1930s, they were the decision makers of what bread was purchased. When a loaf of twenty-sliced bread stayed fresh for a week with a plastic bag and a twist tie, they bought nothing else. And they helped spread the news. Speed forward to our time. Who were the early adopters of text messages on mobile phones? Before texting gained any business acceptance, it was the main method of communication by teenagers. If you can find your key influencers and focus your marketing efforts on them, convincing them to use your product will become paramount to acceptance as an essential of life.

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Photo by kledge