After hundreds of submissions, it seems we have a pretty clear winner. How bad is it? The commercial has been removed everywhere by the company that made it. You can go online in any number of places and see other ads by the company, but this particular one has been removed from every place we’ve found. The embed is still there, but the “This video has been removed by the user” notice comes up.

So what is the offender? It’s Target’s commercial “From Santa.” You might remember it as the one where parents are arguing on Christmas morning about the new flat screen TV that Santa brought. We’d love to show you the video but apparently Target is aware of the reaction it caused, so here is the text:

“Wow. Thanks, Santa,” says the dad as he sees the new TV. ”I thought we weren’t going to spend too much.”

“But these gifts are from Santa,” his wife shoots back. 

“Guess Santa forgot we’re in a recession.”

“Well, maybe Santa was a little thriftier than you think. Hmm.”

Keep in mind this is while their sweet, innocent child looks on.

The father starts with ”Well, maybe Santa…” and is cut off by his wife with “Maybe Santa doesn’t need any help doing Santa’s job” with a frozen smile.

Now we’re normally fans of Target’s commercials. They’ve had a lot of good ones in recent years, including several of their holiday ads. But this one really, really missed the mark. Here are just a few of the many reasons why:

1. Arguing in front of the kids on Christmas morning while opening presents. Nothing says great holiday like open family discord. Is there a more joyous time than opening presents on Christmas morning? There is if your parents are fighting.

2. How about we just pour salt in consumer’s wounds? This is the biggest one. What are the vast majority of American’s worried about right now? The fact that they are struggling financially. Christmas is expensive every year. How many people didn’t sweat about coming up with money for presents this year? Their main worry/panic/sleepless-night-inducer is the cost of the holiday (yes, we’re aware that not everyone celebrates Christmas, but this ad was aimed at those who do). So, for a commercial, why don’t we drag that fear up and throw it in people’s faces?

What they were trying to do was show that people didn’t have to have that fear because the TV wasn’t that expensive. The fundamental logic was there. But what they actually did was confront viewers with the very thing they were trying to avoid. Viewers don’t react to ads based on logic. They react based on emotion. They don’t sort through the underlying themes of a commercial. They don’t spend much time on it at all. They just walk away with an impression or a feeling, which in this case was panic, insecurity and dread.

3. This goes hand in hand with #2. They’re showing an unpleasant situation that hit home for far too many people. Most ads that deal with husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend or friendship issues use humor to illustrate the differences. This one didn’t get into the humor category, it was more of a barely-keep-the-lid-on argument. How many people that saw the ad hadn’t gone through a similar situation? How many couples didn’t have an uncomfortable talk or an explosive argument about how much holiday money was spent and on what? If there was a way to show that in a humorous light the commercial might have worked. But the subject is so raw for most people right now that it would have been incredibly difficult. It’s just not a funny subject for most people.

4. The gender roles were a gamble. Showing a guy getting upset with his wife for spending too much, especially with no humor, doesn’t play well with either sex. Reading some forum discussion boards about the ad confirms this, though there were a few (very few) that found the ad funny.

5. Overconsumption is a message that isn’t getting much traction right now. Even if the TV was cheaper at Target, they obviously couldn’t afford it. Another of Target’s ads, “Layaway”  understood this and conveyed it well.

What else? A lot of things, really. Leave a comment and tell us what you think.

I hope I’m wrong on this one.

This morning I went to Starbucks for coffee. After I handed the barista my money, she asked me if I would like to purchase a pack of Via (their new instant coffee) to send to the troops.

What could possibly be wrong with that? Who wouldn’t want to help out our troops who are currently deployed? I come from a military family. I understand the sacrifice and how much things from home are appreciated.

My problem is with Starbucks.

I’ve been searching this morning for information on the Via for the troops promotion and there isn’t much. So please, if you know more about this, let me know.

Here is the issue: Instead of participating WITH me, they are using the troops to sell more product. If they offered me coffee at a discount and actually had some skin in the game, I would have no problem with it. Instead, they’re asking me to pay for their promotion.

It’s fine if they make money off of me for this promotion. But they shouldn’t sell me something at full margin and call it an act of charity.

The end result is that the troops get coffee, so a greater good is served. And Starbucks, for their part, does have to do some work and ship the coffee, so they have some participation. But this is set up as a promotion for Starbucks rather than a goodwill program. 

To do this right, they should have made a special offer, a discount or some other incentive. Instead, they’re asking their customers to sacrifice while they promote and sell a new product.

Maybe I’m jaded, maybe I’m wrong. I sure hope that I am.

If you have a different perspective, be sure to comment and let me know.

By Derek Fisch | President | Velocity Media

Follow Derek on Twitter: http://twitter.com/derekfisch
Send a Facebook Friend Request: http://www.facebook.com/derek.fisch

Successful advertising is studied and dissected by marketers and analysts everywhere.  There is no shortage of books written about marketing success- everything from headlines to colors to placement.  Every aspect of an ad is examined to find out what about it made it successful.  There is an occasional oddball in the group that breaks new ground, but the overwhelming majority have identifiable, predictable elements.  These are just guidelines, but they are guidelines that have led to consistent moneymaking success.  If you choose to break the rules, make sure you have an excellent reason for doing so.  You may think it’s earthshakingly clever, but its reception by the marketplace is what counts.  The history of advertising is littered with clever but unsuccessful marketing attempts.  This isn’t making a case for sameness, but rather for utilizing the fundamental building blocks of success, regardless of how the work ultimately turns out. 

Advertising: Direct Response or Institutional?

The advertising I’m talking about in this article is what is commonly referred to as direct response.  In other words, it asks the viewer for a response- pick up the phone and call, come in, visit our website or some other action.  It is more of a direct communication with the prospect, and designed with a short term goal in mind.  If it is well done, it also has a long-term goal, building on what has come before it. 

Institutional advertising is made with a long term goal of positioning the product in the consumer’s mind.  It usually doesn’t ask the viewer to take a specific action.  It is more of an image building ad.  Open a fashion magazine and you’ll se a lot of institutional advertising.  Entire pages can consist of just a picture of a model wearing a product and looking bored.  Somewhere on the page is the product name.  Both forms of advertising have their place (though by my calculations, an incomprehensible amount of money is wasted by most institutional advertisers.) For businesses not in the Fortune 1000, and who don’t have an enormous advertising budget, direct response is usually a much better choice. 

With direct response advertising, you’re able to find out quickly what works and what doesn’t. Since most of us don’t have millions of dollars to spend to find out what brings us business, we need to know what messages and what elements are working.  So let’s examine each of these elements in detail.

1. The offer

What are you selling?  Is it new or different?  Is it the same as what everyone else is offering?  If you’re not offering something that people actually want, or can get at a lot of other places, it won’t matter much how you offer it.  Before you place any advertisement, try to come up with something new.  Make a specific benefit-oriented offer that promises to quickly and measurably improve the consumer’s life, and you’re off to a great start.

2. The headline

The headline is the element that tells people right away if the ad is worth looking at.  If it doesn’t immediately promise a substantial benefit that is of interest to the reader, the ad won’t get read.  It wouldn’t matter if you were giving away free gold bullion in the ad itself, the reader would never get that far.  No matter what you have to offer, and no matter how good it is, it’s irrelevant if the headline doesn’t compel the viewer to read the ad.  It is by far the most important element.

If you have no headline, if you’ve used your name as the headline, or if your headline is clever instead of benefit-oriented, you need to start over.  Come up with something the reader cares about, or they’ll never read the ad.

3. The main graphic

The main graphic is usually a picture that relates to the headline.  Not every successful ad has a graphic.  Many advertisers, given the choice between a strong headline and a great picture, would choose the picture.  That is a very bad choice.  The picture should serve to support the headline, and help to quickly convey the benefit you’re offering.  So many pictures used are irrelevant or “clever” and ad nothing to the ad.  In many cases, they can actually detract, as the viewer’s eye passes over what looks like just another ad.  It’s easy to pass over a picture, but harder to pass over simple bold words that interrupt your thoughts.  Even if you only glance at the words, your mind reads them almost instantly.

With all that said, a great main graphic can help to make a great ad.  Concepts that are hard to express can me made clear with a picture. 

4. The first subhead

If your headline has worked, the reader will arrive at the first subhead.  It should help the reader understand how the rest of the ad will explain the benefit promised in the headline. 

5. The first paragraph

The first paragraph should summarize the benefit you offer, and promise the reader a clear and believable improvement to their life.  It should also encourage them to read further.

6. Additional subheads

Additional subheads are used for making your strongest points.  Don’t bury your best information in the body copy – pull it out and emphasize it.

7.Body copy

Body copy should be used to expand on your promised benefit.  Keep it short, impactful and to the point.  You don’t want to make more than a couple of points in and single ad, and each should relate to and build on the others.  If you find yourself needing to make too many different points, you need to hone your message further.

8. Last paragraph

The last paragraph is the place to inspire action.  Make the reader feel that he or she is this close to enjoying the benefit you’re offering.  All they need to do is (insert your call to action here.)  Just pick up the phone, visit our website, or whatever it is you want them to do.  And make sure you actually know what it is that you want them to do.  If you leave it up to them they’ll likely do something else. 

9. Post script

The post script is a place to eliminate fear of taking action, or to inspire fear of not taking action.  Here you can take away the risk for them by offering your explicit guarantee.  Or you can tell them that the offer is good for a limited time only, or something else that will help persuade them to act on the desire you’ve instilled in them.

Still wondering whether you should start a blog? This post comes courtesy of Amber Hensley with Online College, http://www.onlinecollege.org/ :

When you have a small business, every little way that you can reach out and get in touch with customers and form a great brand can help. The internet helps make that whole process a little easier, especially with the advent of social networking and blogging. Creating a blog can be a great boon to your business and set up an avenue for you to get in touch with potential clients and customers. If you’re not sold on the idea of creating a blog, consider these potential benefits:

1. You can interact with customers.
With a blog, it’s simple to interact with those that are interested in your products through emails, comments and even posting reader letters. You’ll be able to really get to know a wide range of people who purchase from you, often in a way that you might not be able to outside of the internet.
 

2. You get immediate feedback.

If you’ve got new products or services or want to check up on your existing products and services, a blog can be a great way to do so. It allows you to get immediate feedback on how you’re doing and to find out new ways that you can adapt and adjust what you’re doing to be even more profitable.
 

3. It gets the word out about your business.

If you’re a small business, a lot of people simply may not have heard of you. Having a blog opens you up to millions of people who are on the up and who may have an interest in what you’re doing. Even if they don’t even up patronizing you themselves, they may remember and pass along your name to others.
 

4. You can connect with others in your industry.

Blogs can be a great way to network with others in your industry. Create friendships with other business bloggers, see what they’re up to and use their advice and expertise to refine your own blog as well.
 

5. You put a face with your business.

People want to buy products from businesses they think are trustworthy and that actually care about customers. By putting a face with your business you’ll be creating a more personal image that can work in your favor when it comes time for potential customers to buy.

This post was contributed by Amber Hensley, who writes about the accredited online college. She welcomes your feedback at AmberHensley1980@ yahoo.com

Derek Fisch  |  http://www.velocitymediainc.com

I was with my family this weekend in a mountain town in the Colorado Rockies. We were walking through an antique store full of stuff that the kids actually found interesting. I noticed my son had stopped and was staring at something on the wall. As I walked over to him, he asked “How did this work?” and pointed to… a rotary-dial phone.

We showed the kids how we used to stick out finger in the dial and spin each number. It occurred to me that my kids had never seen a phone with a cord, let alone a rotary dial. Newer phones today don’t even have buttons – they’re touch screen.

Kids adapt effortlessly to new technology, while most adults resist. When it comes to reaching your marketplace, are you a rotary dialer or a touch screen dialer?

With age comes wisdom, but mostly it just comes with more age. Every once in a while something pops up that tells me I’m getting old.

How about you? What things have happened to you lately that make you realize your years?

Follow Derek on Twitter at http://twitter.com/derekfisch

Derek Fisch  |  http://www.velocitymediainc.com

Here is a link to an article that does an excellent job of examining how a great marketing campaign works. It goes beyond the typical “What a great idea” to explain the full impact of a campaign that works on many levels.

Anyone wanting to know how to utilize both traditional and social media for geometrically enhanced results should read this article.

Derek Fisch |  http://twitter.com/derekfisch

Travel and hospitality marketers face unprecedented challenges as the industry struggles to adapt to the radical changes of recent years. The internet, fears of terrorism and an uncertain economy are just a few of the factors that have forced us to examine and re-examine our marketing strategies. At the heart of all of it, though, is what is being sold: the experience itself.

A hotel or resort is so much more than a place to sleep or maybe grab a meal. Companies that are to succeed will realize and embrace the concept that what is being sold is the totality of what the consumer sees, hears, touches, tastes and most importantly, feels. Some things have not changed since humans first appeared. We still sleep when we are tired, we still eat when we are hungry. It’s the way that we do these things that has changed. Consumers now have an incredible array of options at their fingertips.

 Anyone with any internet savvy can compare prices and features of countless destinations. The industry has been pushed hard toward transparent pricing and commoditization. Yet buyers don’t always go for the cheapest or most convenient option, even with all the information at their disposal. Except for a handful of price-only buyers, consumers continue to seek out a more complete experience, one which meets their criteria and delivers what they perceive to be their best value. Even small hotels that derive nearly all their revenue from lodging can’t fall into the trap of only promoting just a clean, comfortable bed. Nearly any hotel can say the same thing. If you can’t find a way to differentiate yourself, and promote what makes you unique or at least uncommon, you’re not in control of your destiny.

Don’t be a Commodity
With the rise of the internet and the shift toward a more educated consumer, it’s more important than ever to promote the uniqueness of what you offer. You have something that only you can offer. Make sure the consumer understands that.

What makes you you?
Some businesses have an easier time conveying this than others. For an adventure oriented resort, it’s fairly easy to show the excitement of helicopter tours to exotic locations. For a business hotel, it’s harder to relate the convenience of quick check-in and automated check-out. Whatever it is, make it explicitly clear to the customer. Not only will you get the feature of easy check-in and check-out, for instance, you get the benefit of convenience. You get the experience of a wonderful, hassle-free stay, which allows you to spend your time doing what you came to do. Help consumers put themselves mentally into this picture. It may be that your competition does the same thing, but the marketer who communicates this clearly to the consumer, the one who sells the experience, is the one that will garner the most business.

We’re Not as Logical as We Like to Think We Are
Human beings are not very logical creatures. Most of us like to think we make informed, logical purchasing decisions, but it’s simply not true. As an example, consider toothpaste. Which brand do you use? Why? Did you spend time combing through consumer comparison magazines, evaluating every brand side by side, feature by feature? Did you consult a wide sampling of dentists or chemists? Or do you use the brand you grew up with, or maybe the one your spouse buys? Maybe you use the one whose commercial connected with you the best. Chances are it wasn’t a fully informed, strictly logical decision. Now expand that line of thinking to your bathroom. Look at all the products you have there. Were they all decided upon as the result of a fully informed, strictly logical decision? How about the countless products in the other rooms in your house? Can you fully articulate why you bought each one of them?

The fact is that people usually buy on emotion and justify with logic. It only makes sense to present yourself to the consumer that way. Engage their emotions, get them involved, or they won’t take action. If you don’t believe that, think about your car insurance. Are you getting the best rate you can? Unless you’ve gone comparison shopping very recently, you can’t know for sure. Logically, it makes sense to compare rates often. By doing so, you save money. Very logical. You can go online and do it very quickly these days, so lack of time is not an excuse. Or you can make one phone call and have a broker do the comparing for you. Logically, it makes perfect sense. If we were actually motivated by logic, we’d do it often. But most of us don’t do it at all, let alone often.

Logic is not enough of a motivating factor in the vast majority of cases, even when significantly potential money is involved (for example, saving just $20 per month x 12 months a year x 20 years = $4,800. And that’s just on car insurance.) It’s emotions that cause us to take action. The best marketing is that which connects with us emotionally, and then makes it easy for us to justify our actions logically.

Communicating Your Message
Does everything you produce sell your experience? Do your brochures, catalogs, website, advertisements and promotional material make it clear what you offer, and why you’re the clear choice? People won’t spend time trying to figure out what you’re saying. If you don’t make it crystal clear, they’ll move on, because your competition is only a page or mouse click away. Use descriptive language to tell consumers exactly what it is you offer.

Avoid hyperbole and superlatives (how about a new word for the worst offenders: “hyperbolatives”). So many things are touted as “incredible” or “breakthrough” that the impact of those words has been lost. Buyers are increasingly sophisticated and skeptical, and quickly discount the believability of advertisers. Don’t simply tell someone that what you have is awesome, tell them why.

Never use long words when shorter ones will work. Shorter words are easier to read, flow better and are much more likely to be fully understood. Remember, the buyer has access to incredible amounts of information, including that from your competitors. There’s so much information, in fact, that the buyer often has a hard time differentiating one business from another, or deciding if anyone actually offers better value.

If you want to cut through the clutter, speak directly to your prospect. Tell him or her exactly how you can make life measurably better, more enjoyable and easier. Don’t be shy about relating the details. Make sure to start with the broad concepts, but anchor them with specifics. Whatever experience you’re selling, the people who are interested in it are interested in the details. In a brochure or on a website, you have more room for small points than in a newspaper ad or thirty second television commercial, so be aware of the medium and what it is appropriate for. It’s the details that often really set one destination apart from another. With so many indistinguishable products and services on the market, sometimes a few small things can make a big difference.

The marketer who can help the whitewater rafter feel the cold water splashing her face, help the skier picture the series of 14,000 foot peaks visible from the top of the chairlift or help the businessperson see himself on the 19th hole, trading stories of sand traps and spectacular chip shots, can inspire people to action. If consumers can’t picture themselves enjoying the benefits of what you offer, they’ll never do business with you.

If you simply offer lodging, can you partner with nearby adventure or cultural destinations? It’s more than just having a brochure rack in your lobby. Can you include it as an option for customers? People understand that very few places can offer everything they could possibly want, so involving another non-competing business won’t conflict. When you take this step, you move beyond simply being a supplier of a commodity and become instead an integral part of a complete experience. Consumers demand more every day in terms of convenience, content and reliability. Anyone who can become a trusted partner to deliver in these areas will be rewarded.

In the end, the consumer is more interested in the outcome than the process. Going across the country or even around the world is not nearly as big a task as it used to be (airport screening aside.) These days all one has to do is call an agent or go online to find nearly any destination, followed by price packages competing to be the lowest. It’s not just a matter of where people want to go anymore. Sightseeing isn’t the end goal. It’s just as much how they want to get there and what they want to do when they arrive. We can see pictures and video of nearly anywhere in the world. These days people want to go beyond merely seeing- they want to engage all their senses. They’re looking for more customizable experiences as well.

Consumers have much more power when it comes to designing a package that is just right for their needs. Marketers who are able to offer customizable experiences have a measurable and communicable advantage.

Re-Selling the Experience
Repeat customers are the lifeblood of so many hospitality businesses. Are you effectively working this goldmine? Even if you sell a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it’s important to keep in touch with past customers. No individual exists in a vacuum. We get older, we get married, we have kids, we talk to friends. Our life circumstances are constantly changing. The person we targeted in years past may now want to bring children, or they may recommend us to someone else. You have their information (hopefully), so it’s easy to stay in contact. Give them every reason to believe that there is something new and exciting going on with you and that they need to come back. If they had a positive experience the first time, they’ll certainly want to, it’s just a matter of staying in touch until their circumstances permit. Social media, postcards, websites, newsletters, and increasingly, e-newsletters make targeted past customers relations easier than ever before.

What Experience are You Selling?
More importantly, what experience are your customers seeking? To put it another way, why do people choose you? In almost all cases, the consumer has other options. Do you have a system for getting customer feedback? Do you talk with customers during or after their stay? This can be some of the best market research you can do, if you take the time to get honest responses. While a customer is with you, they’re fully engaged. They’re reacting to their environment, and you get firsthand reactions. After they’ve left, the information they relate is what has stuck with them. Positive and negative, these responses help you determine if your marketing is consistent with what you deliver, and with what consumers expect.

If people aren’t getting the experience they expect, they won’t be repeat customers and they won’t generate positive word-of-mouth. People can find a bed and a meal just about anywhere. They can golf or go rafting, hiking or have a reunion in countless places. It’s the totality of everything their senses encounter while doing it that determines their overall experience, which in the end is all they come away with.

Put them in the picture mentally, engage their emotions and help them understand not just the features you offer, but what their entire experience will be. Marketers who can do that will never lack for customers.

About the Author
Derek Fisch is founder and President of Velocity Media, the leading marketing and advertising agency for small business:  http://www.velocitymediainc.com .
Follow Derek on Twitter at http://twitter.com/derekfisch or connect on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/derek.fisch .

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a link to your reprint to derek@velocitymediainc.com.

By Derek Fisch. Follow on twitter at http://twitter.com/derekfisch

Incorporate this into your marketing and watch your sales soar

The world’s most important marketing concept. Wow, pretty grandiose title. But this is one area where understatement just won’t do. If more companies understood this one concept, their marketing would actually stand a chance of doing its job.

Before we get to this big idea, though, let me define what the job of marketing actually is. Ultimately, it should be designed to convince people to do business with you. That’s it. Every thing else related to marketing should all be done with that end result in mind, because that’s where it should all lead. Product, pricing, placement, promotion, and people need to all point in this direction. Every campaign aimed at increasing mindshare, raising product recognition level, penetrating new markets, or any other specific short-term goal is designed to convince people to do business with the marketer. Or at least it should be. So how do you do that?

I’m not going to talk specific tactics in this article, but rather about the common unifying concept, which if understood, will direct a marketing campaign to success. The idea is actually so simple that you might be disappointed. But it’s so powerful that it will determine the outcome of your marketing. Here it is: everything you do in marketing should clearly and explicitly tell the consumer how you will make his or her life quickly and dramatically better. If you can communicate that concept in a way that the consumer believes, and more effectively than your competition, you’ll never lack for business.

The problem that the overwhelming majority of businesses I work with have is that they are approaching their marketing from the wrong end. They’re focused on their company and their product rather than their customers. The ask questions like “How can we show people how great our product is?” rather than “How can we show people how much we can improve their lives?”

I often get initial disagreement from company owners and managers when I first propose this. To most of them it’s a completely new concept. They have, since the beginning of their business life, been trying to figure out how to outshout the competition. The problem is, they’ve been shouting the wrong thing. For those who disagree on this point, let me make this statement: the consumer doesn’t care a bit about your product or service. They really don’t. They care about what your product or service does for them. Or in other words, how it makes their life better. The product or service is just a means to an end.

Most marketers have gotten comfortable with the idea of selling benefits rather than features. But let me take that one step further by introducing a concept I call the Ultimate Life Benefit (ULB). The ULB goes beyond selling benefits. It shows the consumer how his or her life will be quickly and appreciably improved. And most products have many ULB’s. To get to this way of thinking, list the benefits of your product or service and then ask yourself “And then what happens?” For example: Feature: SPF 90 Benefit: Protection from sunburn ULB: Your kids don’t suffer pain or skin damage. They are happy and healthy. See what I’m getting at here? If you just go as far as selling the benefit, you haven’t communicated to the consumer how his or her life will clearly be better. The benefit is “Protection from sunburn.” Go ahead and tell the consumer that they’ll be protected from sunburn. Repeat it as many times as you like. Shout it loudly. You’ll get some results, but not great results. Shift your message to showing the results of the benefit, and the mental connection is made quickly and completely in the mind of the viewer. Show them exactly how your product delivers the benefit and produces the ULB and you’ve got them.

The trick here is to show exactly how your product or service leads to the ULB. Don’t just say or imply that it does, but rather demonstrate it explicitly. Don’t assume that the consumer will make the mental connection. I don’t know about you, but most people are too busy to figure out what advertisers are trying to say. Next time you’re watching television, pay attention to what advertisers are showing you. Most national advertisers are showing ULB’s. One of the most frequent and most obvious is commercials that show how using their product will make you more attractive to the opposite sex. Use this razor and get the girl. Use this mouthwash and get the girl. Drive this car and get the girl. Wear these clothes and get the girl. You get the point.

The successful ads are the ones that make the connection clear. Car commercials are another good example. They don’t just say that the car is fast. They show you how you can enjoy unlimited freedom with that kind of horsepower. Jewelry advertisers don’t just talk about the total carat weight of their diamond jewelry. They show you the reactions of your friends when they see your new necklace. A lot of advertisements miss completely, though. The advertiser is trying hard to get us to associate their product with something. But they fail to communicate it in a way that causes the viewer to make the mental connection. The commercial makes no point and is quickly forgotten.

Even the most mundane product can benefit by incorporating a persuasive ULB. Whatever you sell, there are benefits to it. Take copier paper for instance. Your paper may cost less, or cause less jamming, or maybe it’s brighter and sturdier. Whatever it is, it has a benefit. So then what happens? If it jams less, then you can concentrate on the important things, instead of continually fixing the copier. You get more work done, you make more money or get a promotion or whatever you choose to show. The benefit is that it jams less. But the ultimate benefit goes beyond that.

Every product has at least one ULB, most have quite a few. Find them and communicate them to the consumer, and they’ll have no reason to resist. They’ll see that it’s in their best interest to do business with you. And once that happens, just make sure you’re stocked up.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Derek Fisch is founder and President of Velocity Media, a full service marketing and advertising firm | www.velocitymediainc.com .

Follow Derek on Twitter at http://twitter.com/derekfisch

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a link to your reprint to design@velocitymediainc.com.