Is it Your Product That's The Problem—or Your Marketing?

Image: ChatGPT (2026)

You might've heard the phrase, success has many failures, but failure is an orphan, a time or two in your life. Essentially, what the idiom is meant to convey, is that whenever something—or someone for that matter, becomes a success; the line for those willing to take credit for it will always be endless. 

On the contrary, in most cases, those who are willing to volunteer to take blame for failures are...scarce at best. Perhaps that would explain the reason why so many company product post-mortems feel more like a funeral—than an actual team review meeting. 

Nevertheless, each day, thousands of startups around the world whose products fail to meet sales projections are left with two questions: Is it the product that is to blame? Or the marketing? 

When products fail to meet expectations 

Whether it’s introducing products with advertising budgets so enormous—most people would think they’d be fail proof like Crystal Pepsi; or items so bizarre, product analysts would question your sanity for investing in them like Chia Pets—whatever the case, predicting a product’s sales expectations solely based on its utility is an inexact science. 

The fact of the matter is that regardless of how great—or terrible a product is, unless it is poorly manufactured and has significant defects, in most cases, whenever a product fails to meet sales expectations, it usually comes down to one thing—marketing. 

And the reason for that just may surprise you.

Why the culprit is to blame 

Although the phrase has only been around for roughly 20 to 30 years, product-market fit (PMF) has always been an important philosophy used to help brands determine potential product demand based on whether or not a targeted customer base would buy, use, and recommend the product to others in a manner sufficient to the brand’s expectations.

Typically, the responsibility of determining PMF is shared by a company’s: Founder or CEO, product managers, product marketers, along with its sales and customer success teams. 

Albeit a shared responsibility, whenever PMF evaluations go wrong (which is ultimately determined by market rejection), when the rubber meets the road, you could best bet that the first team upper management will turn to for answers—will be product marketing.

Which is why in most instances, whenever a product fails, it’s usually because the product wasn’t marketed properly towards the right audience. 

Make no mistake, product-market fit definitely plays an important role in determining whether or not a product could catch the buying interest of a targeted customer base.

But the success of…let’s just say odd, but well-marketed products like: The Pet Rock, Big Mouth Billy Bass, and Squatty Potty is proof that with great marketing—anything is possible!

Need help successfully marketing your startup’s products?

We’d love to help you successfully identify and market your brand’s products to their ideal audience. Contact us today to schedule a complimentary client consultation call and together—we’ll help your startup advance!