Stories Are Hard Pricing Is Easy - April 21, 2007

In baseball a tie goes to the runner. In the mind of your customer a tie goes to price.

This is true 100 percent of the time. If your brand equals another with a lower price you have lost a customer. It's that simple and that immediate.

The most misunderstood question in marketing today is, "How much is it?" There are exactly two biases contained within that question. 'How much' - is the bias of price. 'Is it' - is the bias of the story in the mind of your customer.

It is not possible to change the bias of price. It exists equally in all of us.

Some years ago 60 Minutes asked Bill Gates why he did not fly first class on commercial airlines? He replied, "Because it doesn't get you there any faster." That's how marketing works when your customer (even one as rich as Bill Gates) can evaluate your brand through the bias of price. A commercial airplane exists in the mind of Bill Gates to go from A to B. In Bill's mind what goes on inside the plane matters less than what goes on inside the engines. That's Bill's bias when it comes to commercial air travel.

It is possible to change the bias of a story. It does not exist equally in all of us.

In May of 1985 a commercial entitled, Jordan Flight, wrapped the Michael Jordan story around our mind and feet. The ten year result was an increase in Nike sales from 18 percent of the sneaker market to 43 percent. Also, the price of sneakers went to triple digits. But that COULD NOT matter because a Michael Jordan sneaker existed in the mind of customers not on their feet. What went on in the minds of these customers mattered more than what went on inside their sneakers. Be like Mike - no problem just pony up $200 bucks.

In 2006 New York Knicks superstar Stephon (Starbury) Marbury introduced the Starbury line of sneaker. They cost nowhere near triple digits, in fact at $14.98 they're barely priced in the double digits. Here is the story Stephon tells about the relationship between the cost of sneakers and basketball.

"The shoe(s) ain't going to make you jump higher. It's definitely not going to make you run faster. It does nothing but say you got $150 pair of shoes on, that's it."

Stephon proves it by wearing his shoes when he plays. Stephon's story works. Starburys sell as fast as they show up on store shelves.

I've spent a lot of time in meetings arguing the evocative qualities of price. Here's the bottom line. Price only gets to play when the stories are equal.

Will Starburys win the sneaker race? You bet! After all, in their customers mind they only have to tie.

Technorati tags: Customer DNA, price, Stephon Marbury.

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By Matthew Manna on April 21, 2007 11:34 AM to the Customer DNA category.

What Communication Is - April 14, 2007

Communication is what our mind makes of the information that comes through our senses.

Communication is not about the technical or logistical requirements of delivering information to one place or another. Communication always occurs in the same place ... in the mind of the person(s) receiving information.

If you are hurrying to catch a plane and someone stops you and starts talking, you have been interrupted - technically. Interruption changes to enlightenment when the person says, "Sorry to bother but you dropped your cell phone back there." The technical requirements of delivery and physical place in which the message is delivered have not changed, but the communication sure has.

The method our minds use to make sense of information is evocation. The decision as to what information to use in a communication is wholly dependent upon the experiences of the mind(s) that will receive the information.

Often there are multiple ways to deliver information which result in the same communication.

"Sorry to bother but you dropped your cell phone back there," might just as well be delivered by a pointing gesture or a handing over of the dropped cell phone. In each case the communication is the same even though the method of delivery is different, (words, gestures, physical representation).

The task of a communicator is to create information that is evocative of the desired result in the mind(s) of the receiver.

Technorati tags: Communication, Sculpture.

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By Matthew Manna on April 14, 2007 03:10 PM to the Sculpture category.

An Unusual Mind Ghost Story - April 08, 2007

Successful marketers like children are Unusual Mind practitioners.

Marketers use their unusual minds to create, communicate and carry out successful ventures.

It's what allowed Howard Schultz to think of an Italian espresso bar as a source of human connection rather than a source of coffee.

It's what allowed George Ballas to envision a Weed Eater while looking at the spinning bristles of an automatic car wash.

Children use their unusual minds to make sense of their surroundings.

The sense children make is concomitant with what the world presents. This is a lovely literacy rooted in experience, not academic fulfillment.

Last October my niece was drawing something green.

I asked, "Madeline what are you drawing?"

"A ghost" she said.

I said, (and I should have known better), "That's nice but how do you know what ghosts look like?"

She pointed at her drawing and said, "They look like this."

Wonderful stuff!

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By Matthew Manna on April 8, 2007 07:38 PM to the Unusual Mind category.