I often talk about the second rule of attraction, “the problem is more important than the solution.” This often strikes marketers as odd, since we have been taught to always speak in terms of the “solution” that we offer. In fact, this just drives people further away from us rather than attract them to us. I have noticed that more and more advertising is talking in terms of the problem rather than the solution.
Recently someone forwarded me a 30 second TV commercial that I think makes fabulous use of this rule. Take a look at it here:It goes like this:The scene opens with a man driving down the freeway traveling at 60 mph. His windshield gets some dirt on it and he flips on the windshield washers. Instead of washer fluid, black oil spurts out onto the glass therebycompletely blinding him. He loses control of his car and smashes into another car nearly killing himself and several other drivers. All this happens in a few seconds. The next scene is of a small boy, around 8 or 9 years old. It shows him on a little step-ladder leaning over the open hood of the car. He is pouring oil into the window washer fluid compartment. The announcer says, “a bored kid at home might be dangerous, keep them entertained this summer.” Then the graphics for the “Children Crafting Guide” flashes on the screen.This is a tremendous example of how powerful it is to tell our marketing message from the point of view of the client’s problem. If the commercial would have talked all about how the Crafting Guide had hundreds of things for you kids to do, or showed a testimonial from another parent, no one would pay attention. Only by aligning themselves with the parent’s potential “problems” can they get greater attention.Think about the “problems” that your clients are having. How can you align your marketing message to their problems? By doing so you will create greater attraction and become far more interesting to your clients and prospects.
I hope that this “Business Update” has been helpful in assisting you to improve the performance of your organization. For more information on how the Small Business Advisory Network assists companies in improving their performance, please feel free to contact us at 310-320-8190 or email mark@markdeo.com.
Have a great week!