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Articles filed in: Marketing
The Secret Power Of Promises
Have you noticed that about a month out from Christmas people begin not to be able to promise you anything?
“We’ll try to fit you in, but…you know how it is at this time of year. We can’t promise you anything.”
Promises are the reason we trust the brands that we trust. Promises are the reason we care about the companies we care about.
The ability to make and keep promises is one of the last differentiators we’ve got.
Image by Timothy K. Hamilton.
The Question Your Competitors Forgot To Ask
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
The foundation of many businesses is a simple what.
What do we serve and sell, for how much, at what profit margin?
Getting stuck in ‘the what’ puts you squarely in the commodities business. If the value you create is purely tangible then you’re not giving people a reason to care about your brand, or ways to form a connection that makes them remain loyal to your business. Someone somewhere can produce shorts or bake a loaf of bread cheaper than you can. And the consultant across town can offer four coaching sessions for the price of your three.
If you want to build a brand that creates difference and one that people feel connected to, the better question to begin with is the one your competitors most likely forgot to ask.
How are we creating value for our customers?
Because when you begin by understanding the truth about what really matters to your customers and take action on that, you can’t help but become the competition.
If you need to be convinced that meaning scales this video from Patagonia should do the trick.
Image by Jorge Quinteros.
The Real Reason The Microsoft Store Is Empty
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
Clues about what matters to people and how their emotions drive their choices are all around us and there’s no better time to see evidence of this in action than during the festive season.
Slate recently posted two images that tell two very different brand stories. Both photos were taken on what should have been a busy Sunday afternoon during the peak-shopping season. One shows an empty Microsoft Store, the other a packed Apple Store.
No big surprise there you might say. Everyone knows that people use Microsoft products, but few are in love with the brand. Contrast that with how people feel about Apple products. We know that when Steve Jobs and his design team were working on the iPhone he charged them with designing the first phone people would fall in love with, but innovation and marketing at Apple goes one step beyond that. While Microsoft have been building utilitarian products for years, Apple has been creating products that people not only love, but the kind of products that help people to fall just a little bit more in love with themselves.
Businesses that have thrived in a Business 3.0 world have succeeded at some level in helping people to feel better about themselves.
The same opportunity is open to you…..and Microsoft.
Image by Joe Wilcox.
Price Is A Story We Tell Ourselves
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
I’m worth it. It might be gone tomorrow. You could make it at home for half that. This is a one off. People pay for intangible value all the time.
Consider Uber, “the app that connects you with a driver at the tap of a button” on your smartphone. If you simply need to get from point A to point B, why not just call or hail a taxi on the street? Well, apart from the fact that using Uber means you don’t have to wait in the rain, you don’t even need to have cash or credit cards to pay. The real value of the service is not simply in getting people where they need to go. The value of Uber though is in the perception of time saved and the elimination of uncertainty. The ability to know exactly where your driver is and to track him as he gets to you using GPS is something plenty of people reckon is worth paying for. People place a premium on their time. Uber doesn’t need to employ the drivers, or to own the fleet of cars to provide value (to the tune of a rumoured $1 Billion a year).
The sticker price may help us rationalise the decision to reach for our wallet, but often it’s the things we can’t see, and the emotional investment made where most value is created.
Price, and value are stories we tell ourselves. What story are your customers telling?
Image by Yang and Yung.
Seth Godin Is Coming To Australia
Seth’s never made it to Australia before, but he’s finally coming next year. Yes, those were cartwheels you imagined! Anyone who has been following Seth’s work for a while knows that this is a big deal. I’ve got no idea if he’ll make it back ever again, but I’m thrilled that he’s coming this time.
Seth is hosting an intimate Live Q&A event in Sydney on 9th September 2014. It’s going to be a life-changing day. There are only 180 tickets, I hope one has your name on it.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Image by Dave Pinter.
Ditch The Business Plan And Write A Letter To Your Future Customer
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
This might sound like a pointless and obvious exercise that’s easy to do…..so why would anyone bother? I guarantee you, that if more of the forgettable businesses you’ve visited and never been back to, had written this letter (or their own version of it), they’d be one step closer to remarkable.
Time to ditch the business plan for a second and begin…..
Dear ——————————,
It was great to hear from you today. I remember the day I saw you struggling to ————————, a hundred light bulbs went off when I realised at that moment that I could help you to ————————.
I know that you want to do/create/be/feel/have ———————— and I understand the challenges you face, like ———————— and ————————, because over the past five years I’ve been working on/helped ———————— to overcome similar problems. Understanding your experience is the reason I created ————————.
Here’s how it works.
Once you begin/finish/buy/use ———————— you will be able to ————————.
And that’s the reason I can’t wait to jump out of bed and get to work every morning.
You can try/start/buy it now [hyperlink]. If you have any questions you can contact me anytime at getitnow@whatyouvebeenwaitingforbutdidntknow.com
Best Wishes
Alex
CEO
whatyouvebeenwatingforbutdidntknow.com
Image by Rachel.
The Biggest Problem Facing Entrepreneurs…
…is love. People with great ideas (and average ones too) are in love with the idea itself. Because we’re human, we become irrationally seduced by the potential of our own solutions. This blinds us to what matters most, to the thing that gives the idea the best chance to fly.
Being in love with the idea is what made the Segway falter. It’s also what made Blackberry fall into the abyss and saw Kodak flounder after decades of domination.
Of course you’ve got to believe in the product, service, or solution you’re creating. But what you need more than a love of your product, is love for your customer. You have to care about them to want to make something for them. And you have to understand them to care about them.
Understanding of the customer is why Apple’s packaging feels like a gift. It’s the reason Instagram became unstoppable and how Lululemon amassed a cult following.
Because when you innovate and build your business from a place of empathy and a desire to create difference for your customers it bubbles up into everything you do.
Image by Gillian Chicago.
Why Is The Next Time Never Like The First Time?
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
Twelve years ago we took our boys on a family holiday to Tuscany. We spent a whole magical day just wandering the beautiful walled city of Lucca. It was there that we had our first taste of real Italian gelato. It turns out that Lucca is the perfect place for circling back on yourself, which is exactly what we did, not once, but twice that afternoon—to try just one more cup of gelato.
Of course we weren’t hungry for ice-cream, what we wanted was to replicate the feeling of the first time.
We often go to great lengths to create memorable experiences for our customers first time round.
It’s easy to set the bar and forget.
But if we are going to matter to our customers we need to think beyond the first time.
The challenge, and the opportunity is to make the next time, feel like the first time.
Image by Adam Bowie.
What Customers Believe Is Your Competitive Advantage
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
Ask any business owner about how they stand apart from the competition and they’ll probably begin with the tangible, the things they can easily explain. “We offer a more competitive interest rate.” “Our products have more features. “We have better distribution.”
In 2008 Windows accounted for 84% of personal computing devices shipped. Today that number is just 28%. It turns out that people weren’t buying monitors and motherboards.
Customers don’t often pay for the actual value the product delivers. If they did $4 cups of coffee wouldn’t exist. People pay for the intangible value, for what they experience and what they care about.
If you can’t finish this sentence, then like Microsoft, it might be time for a rethink.
“Our customers love how it feels when they ———————— our product or service, because ————————.”
Your competitive advantage is what your customers believe, not what you make in the factory.
Image by Bianca Nogrady.
What If Your Customers Could Talk?
When was that last time you couldn’t wait to click on a banner ad?
Marketers will spend $500 billion on advertising this year.
Someone clearly believes advertising is working, even if it’s not.
We still think that marketing is how we talk to people about ourselves.
Marketing is giving people something to talk about.
Image by Chris Booth.