The old marketing adage „sex sells“ still works – only in the 21st century it sells itself … and it is usually not the product to which it is artificially attached.
However: The impetus must come from the product, directly. If one makes use of „means of transport“ of any kind, these must be communicated in such doses that with their help only impetus is caused. The product, its manufacturer and the commercial message, are what is needs to be remembered.
H. W. Hepner of Syracuse University, on behalf of the Gallup Institute and a leading international retail group, investigated the value, popularity and categorization of image motifs with the help of 29,000 personal respondents. He discovered patterns and established a ranking of desires. With those advertising companies can evaluate the quality of the stimulus which helps us to increase the probability that some form of communication would not immediately disappear from our minds.
Products and services are usually not that noticeable by nature. The result of solid craftsmanship or innovative thought processes (possibly peppered with technical refinements or other features) is hardly comprehensible to anyone who was not directly involved in the creation of the product- certainly not to the consumer. It is the story, the „packaging,“ that controls the filing mechanism in the mind.
The story, the packaging of the product is what leaves the embossing and steers the decision of our consummation, purchase etc. The quality of the story is what matters. And nothing else. As a rule, the customer is not looking for a product anyway, but merely for a solution to a problem. For example, nobody needs a toaster, and very few people are interested in how it works. All the buyer is looking for is good toast for breakfast, preferably fast and inexpensive. The same applies to a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner or a frying pan.
The product and its technical advantages, however ingenious they may be, do not have the slightest chance of gaining a place on the shelf in the mind. It is the advantages of its use that require staging. These and only these factors are the ticket to the contested list of favorites in our heads. And not only for the person who happens to be standing right in front of a purchase decision, but also for the person who doesn’t need something today or tomorrow, but maybe later. The whole thing sounds complicated, confusing, and extremely cumbersome. But it isn’t – if you keep an eye on the right impetus, the suitable approach, the appropriate story and the target. The first thing to do is to create an impetus – it’s as simple as that.
Stay tuned on our blog “Think before doing”.