By Chris Swymeler
Ever read Aesop’s fable of The Wind and the Sun? Find it here,
It seems that strategy over brute force wins the challenge in both Aesop’s day as well as our own. Sometimes shining down love and appreciation is more powerful than all the “wind” in the world. Helping customers make good decisions and feel like they are doing it on their own is the magic stuff of brilliant marketing strategies.
“What marketers need to do is realize that the shopper needs to feel that she is making smart choices. It does not help the brand if she feels that she is being taken for a ride”. – Bindu Sethi, chief strategy officer, Grey Asia Pacific
How do you get your shopper to open up their purse and give you what you deserve? After all, your product is the best on the market. And naturally, your price tag is spot on to the value of your widget. And, you did invest lots of your own money into this adventure. So, you should get your just desserts, right?
Now, hold on there. If you are seriously pushing this self-righteous baggage through your communication efforts, you are probably thinking like the wind. First of all, you need to realize, it’s not about you. It’s not about your genius engineering. It’s not about your specs, benefits or return policy. It’s not about your hardware, software, uptime, download speed or anything else related to you or your company.
It is about building a relationship with your customer. It is about their trust in you. It is about how they feel when they put you on, take you off, call you up or drive you home. It’s about their hopes and their dreams. It’s about their self confidence and control, not yours. If you can influence a customer while they make their own decisions, you are on the right track.
If you are wondering why McDonalds’ just gave away millions of dollars in iced coffee at the beginning of a very hot summer, you might ask yourself this question: ”How does a small iced vanilla coffee sound to me right about now?”
I’m lovin’ it.
Looking for sound strategies that could help your business? We would love to hear your story.
