Advertising legend Peter Arnell once faced a client convinced their pet food category was hopelessly saturated. Charts and pie graphs proved it. Arnell watched, then walked to the whiteboard. He drew a dog food bowl and said, “That’s your market.” He drew a second bowl and added, “Next to every food bowl is a water bowl. You can own the pet water market.”
Bold. Obvious. Brilliant.
The pet water story is delightful because it exposes a common blindness – companies define their markets too narrowly and miss the obvious white space beside them. The pet care industry, once a niche, is now a multi-billion-dollar ecosystem — treadmills, insurance, gourmet treats, even testicular implants for neutered pets. The lesson isn’t that every idea will succeed, but that rethinking the category can open whole new revenue streams.
Consider grilling. At first glance it’s a solved market – big-box retailers sell grills, specialty stores stock smokers, accessory aisles overflow. But margins on grills are thin and seasonality bites. Specialty retailers offer backyard fireplaces and pizza ovens to survive. So, where’s the margin? Accessories. Experiences. Underserved audiences.
Here’s the blind spot – barbecuing has long been marketed as a hyper-masculine ritual — tailgates, huge cuts of meat and endless charcoal vs. wood debates. The imagery screams “men” and sidelines half the population. That’s not just tone-deaf; it’s expensive. Women make most household purchasing decisions. Yet barbecue marketing keeps reinforcing the stereotype: men grill, while women watch.
That stereotype is cracking. Female grill masters now headline television BBQ shows and win competitions. More women attend grilling classes and buy premium equipment.
Brands that keep serving the old script will shrink to a shrinking audience while those that redesign the narrative — tools for shared cooking, products pitched to home cooks of all genders, workshops that welcome female attendees — will unlock demand competitors never imagined.
What ties these examples together is simple – industries become prisons when companies accept narrow definitions. A market map drawn too tightly blinds you to adjacent possibilities — the “water bowl” to your “food bowl.” Creative growth is rarely about inventing entirely new categories, it’s about spotting the overlooked need next door and owning it. Here are three quick rules to avoid being blinkered:
- Reframe your market. Don’t ask what you sell — ask what problem you solve in a broader context. A grill isn’t just for men – it’s a tool for shared meals, outdoor entertaining and culinary exploration.
- Question your imagery and assumptions. If your ads are all the same faces and rituals, you’re excluding customers. Test alternative narratives. Run a promotion targeted at solo women grillers or couples who cook together. Measure and scale what sticks.
- Hunt for adjacent value. The margin is often in the add-ons and the rituals around the product – dispensers next to the bowl, premium utensils, classes, subscriptions or a community platform. Accessories and experiences are where loyalty and higher margins live.
Peter Arnell didn’t sell bottled pet water (nobody expects pets to sip Evian). He sold a shift in perspective. That’s the real creative act, changing the question you’re asking. Look at your category map and draw bigger circles. Tear down the assumptions everyone treats as facts. Find the neglected bowls, the overlooked rituals, the people who’ve been excluded by your imagery. The market you think you’re in is probably smaller than the market you could own. Don’t miss the obvious next to your bowl.
