What is the best way to market a product that is different and boring?

Interesting question.  Maybe I'm hopelessly optimistic, but I don't equate "different" with "boring".  Second, if you have keen insight into the target audience/customer, and the product solves an unmet need or a huge issue, it's not boring to that individual. It may not fall in the "sexy" category of flat screen TV, high-performance car, or the MacBook Air.  But a handheld ultrasound?  Could be boring to the average consumer, but an incredibly powerful, and exciting device for medical technicians and new parents.  Lactose-free milk?  A different way to share milk, which for many, is a really boring category.  But Hood came out with Lactaid, and it solved a huge need --- it's milk, with all the vitamins and minerals and taste, but without the lactose that cause the issue with lactose intolerant individuals. So, let's assume someone, somewhere finds a product interesting because they're the target.  Then the questions is what's the best way to market the product?  Navin's comments above clearly are sound advice.  I'd also look at what the competitive set is doing, or at least those products that profess to resonate with the target audience around the same category.  Then you can determine the right mix of content, marketing channels, offers, sampling, and partners.  For Lactaid (a client), we noticed that the bulk of the category was addressing the situation in a very clinical, scientific way.  Which isn't very exciting, especially since some studies have shown that 3/4 of people who say they are lactose intolerant actually are not --- they simply had poor diets, or gas, or too much to eat at one point and leapt to the wrong conclusion.  So we created branded content, online distribution, key partnerships (foodbuzz, joost, food bloggers, etc) to create an experience that is doing quite well in terms of visitors, level of engagement, and understanding/preference for the brand.  It's called http://www.moovision.com Hope that helps.

One approach you might want to consider is to start with the audience for your product.  Is there a particular role or person within an organization who is responsible for finding and implementing tools such as yours?  With a reporting tool, perhaps there are a lot of different end user personas, but maybe a few who really live and breathe it, and will really see the benefits of your product. Knowing your audience, how can you target them?  Are there specific online networks where they discuss tools?  Are there specific media that serve their industry?  Journalists and bloggers that write about it?  Any and all of these can help build awareness and interest in your product. When you get that brief moment of the right person's attention, how do you want to make them perceive your product.  People are only able and willing to learn a few things about a product in a short time, and they want to frame you versus what they already know.  Is your tool much faster to use than Excel?  Much better looking than some competitive package?  You'll keep their attention if you are different in a way that matters to your audience, so really hammer home your differentiating features, and leave the 'table stakes' for the fine print! Finally, it helps to make it dead simple to try your product.  Is there a free trial?  Or a free version to get started with?  If you can deliver nearly instant gratification on the claims you've made in your positioning, then you should be well on your way towards earning a new customer.

Could you try to demonstrate on video how your approach is different and better? Seeing something on video often gets the attention and focus that marketing copy or advertisements fail to seize. You can use those videos on YouTube, in your blogs, on your website, and even create a small business-card size disc to send to prospective customers. Just one thought for you!

The Best way to market a product is through a Video. Even a boring Product can be made to look interesting and exciting. Gone are the days where people would sit and go though the boring mind-numbing textual content to understand a company or a brand. In this fast paced world, people hardly get time to even sit peacefully and drink a cup of coffee.  Marketers should bear this in mind and try to entice their prospective customers within just few seconds. Yes, SECONDS! What do you think is the best way to catch your customer’s attention and get your message across in the most appealing but an effective way in this minimum time provided? A Punchy Video has this undeniable power! There are many reasons why a business should incorporate Video Marketing in their strategy. 1.    Video Marketing draws large volumes of traffic to your website. 2.    It engages your customer and keeps them on your website for a longer time. 3.    Videos stand out in the Search Engine results. 4.    Your Youtube Videos provide quality backlinks and help you in the Search Engine Ranking. 5.    Creative videos are always fun! Your customers would love to watch them. 6.    All the Facebookers and Tweeters love visual content. They spread them like wildfire! 7.    Movements, Voice and Emotions are very contagious . They automatically attract humans. 8.    Last but not the least, research has proved that human brain remembers and grasps visual information much better than the textual substance. Take a look at some of the videos here (http://www.brandepix.com/category/portfolio/ ) to get an idea.

Like Navin said, there are several examples that you can look at and learn. Look at how people market toilet paper. Another premier brand is Dyson - they market fans, vacuum cleaners in a different way extolling the benefits to customers and cool practical designs.

If the people you are marketing to find your product boring, then you are marketing to the wrong people. Nobody thinks having their problems solved is boring.