Marketing Strategies for the 21st century
Wanna see whatcha gotta do online to get someone to actually press the
“add to shopping cart” or “buy it now” buttons onscreen???
Supposedly, if you make a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to
your door.
Mousetraps are not my meat, but hair removal is another story. I’m going to
point out a typical new-technology product that’s being offered on television,
internet, anywhere they can get a foot in the door…
In a moment, you’ll have an opportunity to see this marketing blitz for
yourself, but take a moment to reflect on what you’re about to see.
I challenge you to discover the actual price of the item anywhere on the
selling site!!! Anywhere!!! You will note that they offer you a $100
DISCOUNT on the item…oh, wait just a moment…did I say “item”?
Try to do anything but buy the item. Try to find out anything, get any real
answers… they may be there, but everything is directed to drive you toward
the “buy it now” button ever-present, ever-hopeful, on your screen.
It’s not just one item, by the way…it actually comes to about a dozen items,
some of which need replacement. There’s also an instructional CD that tells
you how to use it safely, more or less. Here’s the url in question:
http://www.trynono.com/ will get you there, but you’ll note that you are
immediately switched over to a referral page.
There’s a program you’re expected to follow, a regimen that requires some
discipline, and in the videos on the product, it doesn’t look all that pleasant
to perform this ritual many, many times, to get the effect — if there really is
one.
If you actually wanted to find out more about the price of this product, you
couldn’t do it on their site or by calling them. They’ll never tell you how much
it’s actually going to cost you. They keep charging your card until you
scream “stop”, if you ever manage to get them to hear you.
What’s the gimmick here?
Real serious need. Most folks can’t stand to shave five or six times a day to
manage a continuously growing face or chest or leg or arm or back of
unwanted hair, and performers are doubly cursed with the repeated use of
heavy cosmetics, grease-paint and built-up or constricting costumes, that
make any itchy or scratchy area doubly or triply so.
So a system of self-performed hair-removal that inhibits hair growth and
reduces the effort to keep it down, answers a very profound need. Some
people are not merely bothered by facial and body hair, it causes them
some very serious discomfort day and night, and at some point, in sheer
desperation, they shave it, hoping for at least some momentary relief.
Consequently, something that offers freedom from that incessant shaving
chain will surely attract millions of delighted customers, especially if it
actually works.
If something answers some personal misery with a better solution, you
better believe that it will sell regardless of price. Money becomes a very
secondary issue against discomfort, pain, misery, failure and depression.
Solve any major issue of personal suffering, and you have a potential
goldmine. Mousetrap, hell !!! Get ready for a pathful of people!!! For
marketing to the Great Unwashed, give me a hair-remover anytime!!!
gorby