I don’t usually click on the Google interactive doodle. But I have a light day today and am open to playing around a bit.
Here’s today’s Google doodle celebrating Winsor McCay’s cartoon strip Little Nemo:
Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo cartoon celebrated in Google Doodle
And for that matter, what does a flying dinosaur have to do with a computer processor chip:
Why does Caterpillar go to the trouble of selling hats, watches and boots:
And why is Paul Ryan cute:
For all of you people that spend all your time working on details, being the best, doing the highest caliber of work, this is going to hurt:
Most people don’t buy your stuff because you are the best.
They might mumble that phrase as they plunk down their money. But they rarely have any way of proving that fact.
People buy instinctively. People buy emotionally.
Whether it’s a pair of pants or it’s a president.
There are simply too many variables to know which product is best.
Victoria Secret may sell underwear:
But that’s really just a coincidence as to why they have super hot women on all their marketing material.
It is no random coincidence that DKNY has the most ridiculously hot, rich looking people as the background image for their website:
My heart races faster just looking at that woman. Where is she looking? What is around that corner?
I don’t know if they sell those cloths or not. They probably do. But it’s not the cloths I’m looking at.
Why don’t they just have a bunch of boxes on the home page with pictures of clothes and accessories?
You should know that I’m not saying the details don’t matter. They do.
Once the buyer uses your product the details matter a whole hell of a lot.
But the details aren’t what gets them in the door or makes the purchase.
It’s all emotion.
The process isn’t too hard:
- Jot down who your typical customer is.
- How old are they?
- Are they primarily men or women?
- Do they live in the country or the city (where do they want to live?)
- What are their hobbies?
- What do they do on the weekend?
- Are they nerds or are they sophisticated?
- How important is family to them?
- Who do they admire and look up to?
- How important is money to them?
- How important are fancy cars and houses to them?
- What kind of life do they wish they had?
Give that to them in your marketing.
Paint them a picture of who they want to be.
Make your imagery look obtainable but in reality it’s probably not.
Your model should be the girl next door. But really she’s the girl next door in the movies.
You will never be her. Nor will you ever get her.
But let your audience think they can.
You have to create a desire. A longing.
You have to take all the 7 deadly sins and give it to them.
As I write this it sounds evil.
It sounds like I’m Satan.
But make no mistake. In no way am I saying you sell your customers a shitty product.
Your product has to perform.
Otherwise, especially in the user generated content world of today, you will be out of business faster than you can get your next campaign together.
But what you are doing is compelling people to buy.
You sell to people the way they want to be sold to.
People buy when you take their breath away. When their heart pounds.
That’s the way they buy everything!
And the best companies in the world know it.
You need to know it.
Don’t lead with your product.
Lead with a dream.
