Last week I did a guest spot on The Big Biz Show, a national and international radio and TV simulcast. CBS is the primary carrier. I had been asked to share topics I think will work for both big and small businesses. That has turned out to be very easy to do as I’ve discovered that literally all of the marketing distinctions I have created while working on the big brands, are just as applicable to small businesses.
This was my eighth appearance, and as a result of a positive reaction from their audience, I am now considered a regular. This is all very new to me and while I was very intimidated at first, I now find it exciting, a lot of fun and I truly look forward to the next broadcast. I confess, I have been very surprised to discover that I am well suited to it. Given my limited experience, I can only conclude that training for such a thing must be secondary to simply having some degree of innate ability to just do it. I feel very lucky.
At this point, the hosts introduce me and I am allowed to take the show in whatever direction I choose. They jump in and it seems to go in a direction of its own. My first appearance was characterized to me as one segment in length, about ten minutes. That appearance went so well they held me through two. Last week they found the subject so interesting it went for three segments. I was blown away. After the session, while on the way home, I realized that I had learned something very valuable for myself during that appearance. While my intention was to share that “selling propositions have a gender,” I discovered much more for myself. I will share it here with you.
I began the first segment by suggesting that it is useful to look at your product or service as if it were alive and had a personality. I did so because consumers literally encounter hundreds of them on a daily basis. These selling propositions are quickly evaluated and either cast aside or acted upon. That’s very personal and I am clear that when a stranger encounters your selling proposition, it is a personal experience on many levels.
To begin with, I recommend you consider that your selling proposition is a one-way conversation with your target consumer. Right off, you better say something about them or they will think all you care about is yourself. The best thing you can possibly say about them is how they will benefit by using your product or service. Men’s Warehouse, “You’re going to like the way you look, I guarantee it. " Enough said there.
Our lives are very gender-centric and so are our products and services. Women respond to our selling propositions differently than men. Women are very comfortable with their sexuality while we men are less so. Given that, I recommend you make sure your selling proposition is somewhat more masculine than feminine if you want to be safe. Notice the Trojan package and how masculine it is. It is a fact that approximately 35% of all condoms are purchased by females…apparently comfortable with its gender.
I find it fitting that years ago I chose the word character to define what I say you should add to appropriate elements of your selling proposition, to make them appear remarkable to your target consumers. My definition of character is anything structural, graphic or words that cause the target consumer to develop relatedness to your product or service. Check out the abundance of character in the Go-Gurt package and imagine how remarkable it was when introduced years ago.
All marketers want their target consumers to be loyal and continue to purchase on a regular basis. Loyalty is of course a very human trait as is character. What I can share with you here is that there is a very direct relationship between character and loyalty. You show me a selling proposition with lots of character and I will bet that product will have lots of consumer loyalty.
I could continue talking about many more human characteristics but I am committed to a short blogging. The learning here is to remember to stay present to the idea that your selling proposition is human and in a one-way conversation with your target consumer. I promise, that mindset will be more a part of my own marketing context as I move forward. I’d love to know if it is part of yours.
Cheers,
Keith Chambers
Keynote Marketing Speaker
Creative Marketing Consultant
(310) 473-0010
www.chambersgroup.com
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