Bait & Switch…maybe

I travel back and forth from LA to New York on a regular basis and have had many friends on both coasts complain about the $47. massage.

My experience is that the going rate for a massage is around $60. or more for an hour. I think the American standard is set by those one-hundred thousand plus skin and nail care salons that are scattered across our great nation. When I go to mine, I am encouraged to run up the bill one minute at a time. An extra ten-minute foot, hand or shoulder massage is always tracked by the little egg timer… a dollar per minute.

Several months back, I was taken by a sign outside “The Massage Place” that read $47. massage.  “The Massage Place” is a west coast company offering this proposition. I’m no fool. I know a bargain when I see it. I called, confirmed the $47. one-hour massage and booked it.

When I arrived, the place was busy and I was asked to wait for a few minutes. While doing so, I did not notice a very small sign in a frame on the front desk. That little sign became relevant an hour later.

I was called soon, introduced to my massage therapist and received a very good massage. Upon completion, the massage therapist thanked me then left the room. I dressed and as I did, I noticed a large sign on the wall next to the door that recommended I tip the massage therapist $20. I got the impression that I had just rented the room from the “The Massage Place” and now needed to compensate the massage therapist separately. I did the math. Forty-seven and twenty are sixty-seven which is no bargain. I felt duped. And yes, this is what the little sign in the lobby was all about.

This is not the old Bait and Switch. That is where they simply trade you up to something more expensive. This was close. This is a clever twist on it to be sure and is what my friends were complaining about.

So, ask yourself. Is this cheating? Is it an unfair trade practice? Should something be done?

I say no. It’s really smart marketing and I love it. These people have stimulated the massage category with a simple change to the Selling Proposition. I do it all the time.

As a consumer, I am an incurable early adaptor and I always go for the deal. Even knowing I had encountered the age old “if it’s too good to be true” pitch, I still went for it. I love watching Locked Up Abroad on TV and am always blown away with the total disregard for a little scrutiny even when faced with a prison term in a foreign country.

My hat is off to the folks at “The Massage Place” for rejuvenating the massage category…our economy needs the boost.

The learning here is to take a good look at your sales message to see where you can rework it to make it appear Remarkable to your target consumer.

Cheers,

Keith Chambers

Keynote Marketing Speaker
Creative Marketing Consultant
(310) 473-0010
www.chambersgroup.com

follow my blog by clicking one of the links below

PRECIOUS MEMORIES…MARKETING?

I got an email last week from Ricky Farmer telling me his sales have increased 250% since I repositioned his business about a year ago. He expressed his gratitude very eloquently, which put a big smile on my face. At the same time, I realized I had completed this project without sharing it with friends and clients. I have always assumed that those who read my blog are only interested in what I do for the big well-known brands. As it turns out, my staff says, “not so.” So here you go. The smallest client I have ever worked with and yet this project was no less of a job than repositioning the Miss America beauty pageant.

It started last year when I created America’s Marketing Makeover and agreed to do it on the Big Biz TV show. The idea was to select a small business and reposition it based on all my BIG business marketing experiences with America’s most famous brands. The producers loved the idea and broke it into eight staged out segments on the show.

I selected a small pet crematorium located in Cleveland, Georgia and have since been asked many times why pick that? It’s simple. I interviewed many business owners and one stood miles above all others. I’m referring to “salt of the earth” Ricky Farmer. One phone conversation and he had me. I had to help this guy. You can meet Ricky for yourself by viewing the recap below from the Big Biz Show. You will soon see what I mean.

Ricky’s business fate pretty much hangs on a small brochure that he places in veterinary offices and hospitals within a thirty-mile radius of Cleveland, which is about sixty miles south of Atlanta.

Unlike the big brand Positioning I routinely work on, there was no budget for anything on this project. On this one, I draw on my years of learning from watching consumers react to the positioning stimulus I have developed across tons of assignments. Over time, I have become deadly accurate at organizing a powerful and compelling Selling Proposition, even without the advantage of research. The key changes were as follows:

FRONT PAGE:

-We designed it to be light in nature knowing that the consumer is most likely pretty stressed out.

-We created the benefit to strike at the heart of this emotional event.  The line, “Peace of Mind at a Sensitive Time” speaks directly to the experience we knew the consumer wants.

-We added three statements (drivers) that support the benefit.

-We added a photo that we knew would exude confidence needed to trust the Benefit statement.

BACK PAGE:

-Knowing Ricky already had client references, I looked for an endorser that would qualify as a celebrity. I found it. His quote, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated” hit the mark perfectly. Gandhi said it, we lifted it and Ricky’s clients loved it. Frankly, I think Gandhi would be very proud to represent Ricky’s business and even if he were alive, he wouldn’t send Ricky a bill for doing so.

INSIDE PAGES:

The inside pages are important, of course but in this case, the purchase decision is made based on the words and graphics used on the front and back.

Nothing else about Ricky’s business circumstance changed during this period. The radical increase in his business is simply based upon the Marketing Triggers we used to restructure his Selling Proposition.

Working with Ricky was great fun and as rewarding as any project I have ever taken on. Along my career path, I have learned something new about becoming a great marketer on every assignment. On this one, I learned more of what it’s like to be human.

Cheers, 

Keith Chambers

Keynote Marketing Speaker
Creative Marketing Consultant
(310) 473-0010
www.chambersgroup.com

follow my blog by clicking one of the links below

Something For Nothing...Yes!

Do you remember the Beatles' song “Love, Love Me Do?” Well, you can use it, its title, its lyrics or melody free of charge because yesterday it became fifty years old and is now considered public domain property. This is true in Europe, whereas it takes ninety-five years in the US.

Disney has known this from the time they produced Cinderella and all those old fairy tails that followed. No royalty needed. Did you notice the blatant use of the title Hansel & Gretel? It matters not that it bares almost no relationship to the original story. They have a well-known, highly memorable movie title and do not have to pay for its use. Very smart.

You can go further with this concept and take it to a product endorsement, or have it seem so.

Early last year, I did America’s Marketing Makeover on The Big Biz Show where I took a tiny business in Cleveland, Georgia and transformed its Selling Proposition into a powerful message. The result is that Precious Memories, a Private Pet Crematorium experienced a 250% increase in sales in less than a year. An important piece of this message was an endorsement that its owner, Ricky Farmer, paid nothing for.

If you were to read Ricky’s brochure, you would see the following quote. “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Gandhi.  The inference is that there is a relationship between Ricky Farmer and Gandhi.

So, how can you take advantage of this in your Selling Proposition?

Cheers, 

Keith Chambers

Keynote Marketing Speaker
Creative Marketing Consultant
(310) 473-0010
www.chambersgroup.com

follow my blog by clicking one of the links below