“IF IT WORKS, DON’T FIX IT”

I have been in a series of discussions with a U.S. based company who is currently marketing a well-known consumer service. They are particularly excited that they are doing well in this lousy economy. I would be too. My natural reaction was to ask what they plan to do next to move the business forward to which they responded; “we’re going to ride this baby for a while”.

Stop here and ask yourself what you think of that reaction and let’s see if it aligns with mine. What they are saying is that they are going to do nothing until their business turns down. In my world that is a losing strategy.

Many of the assignments I get are simply the result of a client sitting on success. There is an old saying, if it works, don’t fix it”. That sounds correct and a very “cool” saying on the surface but read this carefully, “NOTHING, THAT’S NOTHING, COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.” Do not fall into that trap. Thirty-five percent of my assignments are due to a business in trouble because of that philosophy.

This is really simple. Every category of product or service I have ever been in has operated as a dynamic. The only thing you can absolutely count on is that nothing will remain as it is. What’s next is coming. Your choice is to be the cause of it or you will surely be at the effect of it. Being at the effect of what’s next is usually very painful.

If you are on top and waiting, you are guaranteed to fall. The easiest and most effective area of marketing for you to create what’s next is in your sales message. If you are making a series of simple yet effective changes to your selling proposition, you will become the leader in your category. Your competition will be reacting to you just to keep up and that posture guarantees you will grow and they will shrink. There are many examples of this kind of activity. Simply look at Tide, Southwest Airlines or Allstate Insurance. Relatively small, consistent and innovative changes in their products and services and their accompanying sales messages have kept them on top.

Kudos to the above brands…well done.

You don’t have to be a big company to do that; you do have to be smart and somewhat aggressive. Creating what’s next for your business will keep your target consumers’ interest and in turn their loyalty to you and…you will drive your competition nuts.

Good Luck,

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

 

    

”WOW”

For years, marketers have been looking for “Wow”! They are referring to the reaction that a target consumer will have to something they perceive as a breakthrough. An example would be the first time you encountered a dry cleaner with a big sign claiming all of their chemicals were “environmentally friendly” … WOW! Or the first time you saw an ad for a Prius and they announced it would parallel park itself … WOW! Or when Tide added Febreze fabric softener to their detergent…WOW!

I first heard it from my clients in the mid 80’s and it became a cliché by the early 90’s. They also referred to it as “New News” but wow continues to prevail to this day. Beyond the wow factor I can tell you that it is far more important to determine exactly where, within your sales message, the target consumer is making the buying decision and treat it like the wow but I call it a Trigger. A Trigger by my definition triggers a purchase reaction to your sales message. A Trigger also by my definition does not have to be caused by a change in your product. It can also be a change in your sales message. You can create a trigger. You simply state something new about your existing product that appears as a trigger and there are many ways to create one.

If you have hung around me for more than five minutes you will have heard me site the example of 3M Sandblaster sandpaper. Let’s say you were clever enough to find a compelling benefit like “Less Work” for sandpaper and you added an Attribute driver like “Cuts 3 Times Faster” to it and voila, you have a trigger. In this example, we add “Cuts Three Times Faster” to the ‘Less Work” and together they become a trigger. It only becomes a trigger when they are joined together.

There exists a natural tendency for marketers to want to play up a trigger if they feel they have identified one. It is usually done graphically with a burst of color and large type shouting the information as prominently as possible. Unfortunately, my experience is that this is not the strongest way to use a trigger. In fact it is the wrong way to use it. Here is why.

While creating a Selling Proposition (sales message) it is smart to remember that it is no less personal than a conversation with a stranger on the street. In fact, the similarities are many and the differences are few. Notice that in a conversation with a stranger, you cannot treat them as you would a friend. You may be able to hug or pat a friend on the back but not a stranger. You simply do not have the relatedness required to do so. If so how does this translate to marketing?

I have observed for years, that all humans operate from “what’s wrong here”. That means they, you and I too, are looking for what is wrong. Notice when a stranger approaches and begins to talk for no apparent reason, you initially think they are after something and you become defensive. The same is true with a Selling Proposition when it is first encountered.

The solution here is that you should never start your sales message with a trigger, i.e.; if the first thing you see on the package is “Less Work”, consumers will challenge you immediately. The smart marketer will get related first by directing you to the Brand/Product name as an attention getting graphic, and immediately flank it with a Generic Descriptor. At that point the consumer is grounded and far less likely to disbelieve your trigger. Now, they are ready to be pitched. Move them on to the trigger, the Benefit/Attribute driver. The perfect sequence is first The Sandblaster/sandpaper…then…Less Work/Cuts Three Times Faster.

The learning here is clear. My concern is you will take this lightly. Be very clear, I now have volumetric research evidence that this insight is valid. This one is easy to screw up because many of us think we will be successful if we over shout out the key feature of our product over all other communication. If you do, you will likely suffer the consequences.

Good Luck,

Cheers, 

Keith Chambers

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

ollow my blog by clicking one of the links below

The Power of Metrics

I just got back from surfing one of the premier surfing spots in the world and was inspired to start my next book. That’s how life works. You take it when it comes. Prior to this, I had no intention of writing another. 

So here I am in Uluwatu on the island of Bali three days after addressing over 300 marketers in Sri Lanka who were very interested in what I had to say about marketing. As I began my speech, I alluded to the fact that I had discovered many significant marketing insights over the past twenty-five years and that I had selected two that I was sure would resonate to all of them. In fact, I offered up a promise to all in attendance. I said that all of them would leave the session with a clear sense of exactly what they would do next to their business Selling Propositions that would generate an instant improvement in their business.

This is the Uluwatu surf:

I planned to reveal one insight before the lunch break and tease the second for after. I did so perfectly and we broke for lunch. During that time, I was approached with a request to from the organizers of the event. The question was, how many insights was I referring to and could they hear more than two. They continued to push me. How many are there all together, they asked? Are they all included in your presentation today? There was clearly more interest in the numbers than my promise to increase their businesses.

I have often written about the advantage of incorporating metrics into your Selling Proposition when possible. Apparently, I had under estimated the true power of doing so. In that instant I realized I made a mistake by alluding to the fact that, even though I had customized a powerful event for them, it would not contain all that I had learned over my career. They were hooked on the metrics.

I thought I fully understood the role of metrics in Selling Propositions but now had fallen victim to it myself. They were into the count and how much of it they could get out of me that day. So, I did the only thing I could, I threw a number at them. There are twenty- three, I said. Truthfully, I had never stopped to add them up, and was just guessing. I promised, I would cover as many as possible after completing my previously planned presentation. They seemed pacified for the moment.

 As I completed my planned presentation, I began what amounted to an impromptu rundown of the insights that came to mind and that I could support with slides that I had at my disposal. I am happy to report that as much as they loved my planned presentation, they seemed even more interested as I rambled through even more insights. Time ran out and I received a stunning ovation, which included the gift of a jeweled elephant followed by a lengthy photo session with pretty much everyone in attendance. What a great group of people they are in Sri Lanka. I would love to go back.

That evening, I sat down and listed all the insights I thought significant enough to impact sales volumes, as it turns out, there are twenty-four. Pretty close. More importantly, that evening was also when I decided to write what will be my second book. Given the power of metrics and the nature of the experience, I am titling it “24” “Marketing Insights to Grow On.” I might work on the tag line but you can be sure the title is “24.”

I will not belabor the metrics point here but to say if you can incorporate them into your Selling Proposition, so much the better. In countless research sessions I have seen the difference with and without and can state equivocally, use them if at all possible.

I think two things occur when consumers see a metric. First they assume that the company behind the product would not have used a metric unless it was to there advantage. Given that, the consumer need not fully understand the meaning to get the full impact of having encountered it. The second is that the use of a metric communicates that the product communication is complete and more importantly, authentic.

So, what follows is 24 Twenty-Four. A book of 24 extraordinary and proven marketing insights, all of which I personally have seen work over and over again. I fully expect they will continue to work until they don’t, at which point, I will remove those that don’t and replace them with new insights that do.   

It should take me approximately three months to complete the book.

Cheers, 

Keith Chambers

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

ollow my blog by clicking one of the links below

IT COULD PAY TO BE NEGATIVE

When I initially broke Product Attributes down into three types, Physical, Performance and Negative, I was sure that Negative Attributes were not likely to be very influential among all the other elements in a Selling Proposition. I have recently become aware of a second function that makes me think we should look closer at the possible role they play. A well developed Negative Attribute can now become a powerful element in your Selling Proposition that sets you aside from your competition and TRIGGERS the purchase.

In the past, I have defined the Negative Attribute as a feature of the product that may be needed in order to overcome a potential negative. I said they are well known to most of us, No Preservatives, No Artificial Flavors, Won’t Leave Residue, Gluten Free, etc. My assumption was that they were only rarely needed and even then were expendable if the Selling Proposition was complex and already had an abundance of communication elements in it.  They don’t generally score very high when compared to all of the other communication elements yet curiously, consumers frequently insist on including them in the Selling Proposition. Why do they do that? Here is the answer.

For a long time, I have referred to what I call the operating state of humans. That state is “What’s wrong here?” By operating state, I am referring to their frame of mind. If you were just thinking to yourself “yes, but not me”, look more closely. This goes for you and I as well. We do it on a subconscious level constantly and jump into and out of it thousands of times daily. Its presence seems to vary on our mood or circumstance but I say it is always right there. I think it is a holdover from the days of the caveman when things went wrong on a frequent basis.

In the past, I recommended we be aware of this consumer behavior and avoid several things that will turn the consumer off simply by making it difficult to work through your Selling Proposition. Here is a short list:

-    Avoid a sentence with more than four words.

-    Avoid more than five key elements,

-    Communicate on an eighth grade level,

-    Make smooth transitions from element to element,

-    Avoid long words.

-    Avoid any word that may not be widely understood.

-    Avoid small type or anything else that may be difficult to see.

-    Make sure there is contrast in all graphics.

This list was built defensively. That is, with the attitude that one needed to be careful not to sabotage your own Selling Proposition. Now, there is a positively motivated action that I like much more.  A reason that offers an advantage over your competition.

Let’s assume you still check the above list to be sure you are not inadvertently turning the consumer off. What’s next is to find a negative attribute simply to satiate the operating state of your consumer. I believe if you do so they will lower their level of interest in finding an objective that will disqualify their purchase. This will be most effective on a product where you are relatively sure there are no Negatives in the consumers mind to overcome.

Let’s get creative for a moment. Let’s say you are selling an electric fan. It has in it a simple circuit breaker that is already required by law in case of a short.  Electric fans have been made this way for years. The consumer, on the other hand, has no fundamental fear of a short as they encounter the category.

The opportunity: The consumer approaches the category looking for a fan with little knowledge of how fans work. He scans several fans that boast similar performance features making the decision difficult. But when he encounters your Selling Proposition, it includes the words “Automatic short safety protector”. This line is intentionally worded similar to a “surge protector” that the world has come to accept as necessary. Now we have invented a Negative Attribute for our own use to set ourselves aside from our competition. Which one does he buy?

Continuing the thought, I have seen the line “gluten free” on food products that are completely inappropriate like preserves and juices. I suspect it was added by marketers who are hoping for a ride on that bandwagon.

The learning here is that in the endless quest to drive your competition crazy, three words at a time, take a look at the Negative Attribute. Your competition is likely unaware of this opportunity.

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

HOW SEXY IS YOUR SALES MESSAGE…it makes a difference!

I discovered a long time ago that the most effective way to create a powerful Selling Proposition (sales message) is to break it down into separate communication elements and work on them individually. They include components such as Names, Generic Descriptors, Benefits, Attributes, Key Graphics and so on. I have come to learn that this area of study is not unlike that of quantum physics. Particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider at Cern Switzerland crash atomic particles into each other at near light speed allowing scientists to evaluate the debris. Our Connectics^® process does pretty much the same thing without the crashing. We deconstruct the sales message into its basic components, and we work creatively at that level.

Working with the meaning that consumers assign to the individual communication elements has been the access to creating many new solutions for our clients. This is a world I have been exploring for at least eight years now. The rest of the marketing world continues to develop multiple complete concepts. Having done so they evaluate and modify each of them until they can agree on one to move forward with. That process now seems outdated to me. A side benefit of working with a deconstructed Selling Proposition is that I often find previously unknown factors, much like the Hadron scientists, that influence the buying decision. I will share one here.

Over the last two years I have come to suspect that gender may play a role in driving consumers to purchase particularly on products and services that seem to have no sexual overtone. I am now convinced that gender in fact always plays an active role in motivating purchase intent. I will share it here.

Let’s pretend for a moment that all products and services have a gender. Scan slowly, left to right, across the images below looking for the gender in each. It’s easy to see how the role of gender plays out on the Trojan condom package and the Playtex tampon package but what do you see on the Splenda and Tide packages? If gender plays a part in the two on the left, is it possible, in fact probable, that it also plays a role on the two on the right? If so, are marketers unaware of the role that gender plays on products thought to have no gender? I now have what I am reasonably sure is the answer to these questions. My experience is that gender does play an active role in motivating purchase intent irrespective of the nature of the product. 

I cannot share the exact experiences due to having signed non-disclosure agreements with my clients, but I have recently witnessed the following on enough projects (16) to conclude it is a valid marketing insight.

Below is the result of two exercises that I have been running with consistent results across multiple categories. Let’s say we are working with four different graphic presentations of a Selling Proposition, A, B, C & D. This could be a website home page, a billboard ad, a package, a storefront, a print ad etc. The first exercise determines which of the four is the strongest at communicating performance. Let’s say graphic A won. The second exercise determines where each layout falls along the gender scale you see below.

The highest performing Image always falls to the right of the 1 on the Masculine side of the scale. Others will typically be too feminine or too masculine. Mostly, they will be too feminine.

 

The learning here is, when you are not sure, keep your message and your image slightly masculine. I know you may not have the tools that I have that allow me to read each Selling Proposition, but you can use your best judgment. You can mock up each option and conduct your own research with friends. Simply show two at a time and ask which is the most masculine. You will be surprised by how consistent the responses will be. Read the results and choose the one you feel is somewhat masculine. By the way, almost all of the work I have done to date is with female consumers. They, as you are likely aware, make most of the purchase decisions and this is where this insight is most useful.

If you are marketing to males, this insight is an obvious one. In all of my experience, females are simply more secure in their sexuality than are males. Sorry boys, that is just the way it is.

Good luck!

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

How vague is your Selling Proposition?

My mother used to say; “I learn something new every day.” It’s an old and worn out cliché for sure. In my life, it developed into more of a challenge. It seemed both natural and necessary in order to ensure I stay relevant in business life and ahead of my competition. “Learn something new every day or go broke” is how it played out for me. Nothing could be more accurate in the global society we humans have created for ourselves.  If this sounds familiar, then you are human just like the rest of us. Having said that, what follows is a significant insight that I only recently picked up. I’ll share it here.

Below is a document that I use in the early stages of any project. It identifies all of the elements in a complete Selling Proposition (sales massage). We review it with clients to determine the elements we will include in our quest to develop their most powerful Selling Proposition. That includes revising a sales message currently in existence or creating one for a new business venture.

Over time I have become aware of how each of these elements work in distinct ways, and of the relationships that exist among many of them. This information has been gathered in a very special way that allows me to conclude they are absolutely valid.

Approximately ten years ago I invented a process of exposing element by element, the elements of the Selling Propositions of many different products and services. The projects ranged from cooking sauce to cat litter to condoms to video games and far beyond. In doing so I also tracked the results and observed how consumers reacted to them. These insights are powerful not because of their brilliance, but because of their origin. The more I dig, the more I find and the more I share them with those of you who have an appreciation for their value. Their value is that they are real and can be counted on.

What follows is a recent insight as a result of several client comments on the nature of the Benefits (highlighted in yellow), which I had recommended we consider in the development of their Selling Proposition. The comment was that they were too vague. The tendency was to want to work on them to have them be more specific. That, as it turns out, is not a good idea.

I say the function of the Benefit is to express what the consumer gets out of using the product or service. “Less Work” is a great benefit for sandpaper. Notice that less work is not about the product; it’s about the consumer/user. My client wanted me to be more specific, asking, “What does that mean?”

For a number of years now I have been creating Benefits and then driving them with Attributes (highlighted in yellow) that empower them, and watched the research scores soar. I use the sandpaper example frequently. LESS WORK when followed directly by “Cuts 3 times faster” and “Won’t clog” literally drives sales. All that is great, but here is what I did not know.

As a result of the client request, I went back through nine recent projects to review the nature of the benefits that scored well and they were all vague. I now know why.

Think of the Benefit and the Attribute as working together. The benefit comes first and acts as a bold claim. By itself, it has no credibility and is disbelieved. It’s perceived as just BS as far as the consumer is concerned. Followed directly by the supporting Attributes, the two work than as a unit and we know they literally drive purchase. Equally important, the benefit needs to be vague so it has broad appeal. As it becomes specific, it begins to eliminate consumers from consideration. It should act like a huge funnel that grabs the consumer and shoots them to the Attribute driver that closes the deal.

Also remember the proximity of these elements. If you locate them together on a package or in a commercial message, they will perform for you. If you spread them around the package or throughout the commercial, you will lose. I have had all this verified by observing research. This is very real. I work with the brightest marketing minds on the planet and even they often miss this.

Here’s a challenge. Now that you have read this, go check your sales message to see if you are conforming. My experience is that very few, less than 10%, of the sales messages I encounter daily, even contain a Benefit. Let alone use it in a powerful way.

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

Free Enterprise is a Fundamental Law of Nature

I remember my marketing professor back in college explaining the fundamentals of Free Enterprise as if it were created at a prestigious university back in the eighteenth century by a group of learned professors. It was not. It is instead a law of nature that came into existence several thousand years ago in consort with the arrival of Homo sapiens on this planet. Furthermore, I suspect it has existed before that on other planets that were capable of sustaining intelligent life.

Isn’t that a weird thought? Consider the following:

As a guy who works with Free Enterprise on a daily basis, I spend significant time analyzing how it works with the idea in mind that I might get a leg up on all the other marketing minds in this great country of ours. We are, by the way, the marketing capital of the world.

With so much attention on Free Enterprise, I naturally began to wonder how and where it came into existence. There are those who would say we, in this country, chose it back in our formative years when we chose capitalism. They say we chose capitalism over a dictatorship, or socialism, or communism, or a monarchy or whatever else was available at that time. Those who chose capitalism back in those days characterized Free Enterprise as the mechanism that makes capitalism work. They would often say, “it’s the engine that drives it.” Again, they referred to as if it was somehow created to accommodate us humans. I suppose there is a modicum of truth in that point of view, but I think, it is to miss the true origin of Free Enterprise.

So, who is responsible for its` existence? Well, I say no one is responsible, but I know who caused it. I give all the credit to two people. They are and shall remain forever nameless.

I say one day, a very long time ago, there was one person on Earth. That was the first person and on that day there was no Free Enterprise. That person roamed around picking fruit, nuts and other food to placate hunger as it occurred. Life was pretty simple. In short order, because this person was intelligent, this person began to collect the food for future consumption. That was very logical and also very simple.

On another day, I’m not sure how long this took, but on another day, a second person showed on Earth. These two soon met and guess what? The second person looked at the first person and said, “you have what I want”. In that instant Free Enterprise was born. It only took two people. It was never going to happen with only one person and it will always be present until or unless somehow this planet once again becomes inhabited by only one person.

As more and more people appeared, they all continued collecting stuff and noticing the stuff of others. Notice how often you and I notice the stuff of others. That fundamental law of nature is the basis of all the “stuff” that we humans collect and exchange. As individuals, we have absolutely no choice in the matter of Free Enterprise any more than we can choose or not choose gravity. In populated areas of the world, gravity is no more prevalent than Free Enterprise. If you think not, try to stop it or try to find a populated place where it does not exist. There is no place on Earth where people inhabit that it does not function. Think about that. Not in prison. Not in a cult. Not in a commune. Not on the street. Or, anywhere else I can think of.

So what is to be learned here? First off, I think it is a great societal equalizer and is in the main responsible for the downfall of Communism, Socialism and all of the other “isms” that do not accommodate or acknowledge Free Enterprise into their systems. It is akin to trying to design and manufacture airplanes without accommodating or acknowledging the law of gravity. It simply can’t be done.

Secondly, I think it is useful to understand that no matter what down trends or, for that matter, up trends occur in the marketplace, the natural law of Free Enterprise will level the playing field. For instance, how far down can the stock market go? Is there a limit? You bet there is. I say it can’t go to zero or anywhere near zero because buyers will appear. They just will. For those of you who are feeling insecure with the current flakey stock market trends, take heart in what you just read.

Here’s the punch line and I suggest you stay present to it as long as you are selling anything (stuff) to anyone. It will serve you well. The ultimate and forever the strongest Selling Proposition is, “I have what you want.” Make sure you communicate, “I have what you want” and you will be successful…I guarantee it.

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