Only 60 Calories
March 11, 2009
One of the “occupational hazards” of embracing our style of marketing is that you become a keen observer of everything around you. I can’t tell you how many of our members tell me things like:
Yeah, whenever we walk through the airport, I point at the signs on the wall and say, “Hey – that headline is awful! There’s no benefit, and they don’t even have a call to action!” – My wife thinks I’m crazy when I do this…
But this is a really good habit to get into, since it exposes you to a vast collection of “swipe file” material, and is an incredibly effective exercise for sharpening your own creative abilities. Plus, in my case, it provides a never-ending source of stories for this newsletter and for our monthly Inner Circle 12-page newsletter.
And, of course, this week is no exception. Because I saw an ad for a new “Lite ‘n Fit” yogurt that claims to have only 60 calories, less than a normal container of yogurt. That part, of course, is true – it’s hard to make up cold, hard data like that.
What they left out, however, is that their product comes in a 6 oz. container, when the normal size for a yogurt is 8 oz. It’s easy to have fewer calories when you have a smaller portion. This is similar to other interesting claims I’ve seen, like the 12 oz. package of potato chips with the following copy taking up a very large part of the bag:
Now: 20% MORE
(than a 10 oz. bag)
Well, yeah, 12 oz. is 20% more than 10 oz., but all most people see is the 20% more part. And if they raise the prices 20% to cover the additional product, then all you’re doing is paying more for more chips. No real bargain here – only increased consumption and more money spent on an individual purchase.
Mind you, this is very creative – perhaps a bit murky – but definitely creative, and it demonstrates an understanding of the psychology that drives human behavior.
Are you as clear about what motivates your customers? You don’t have to go quite as far as these two examples, but getting into your customer’s thought processes will help you do a better job at delivering exactly the right product or service, and presenting it in the way that will get the best possible results.
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