“The Consumer, Not the Product, Must Be the Hero” (Part 2 of 19)

“The Consumer, Not the Product, Must Be the Hero”…

Those are the words that from the second of “19 things All Successful Direct Marketing Companies Know”

But what else did Lester Wunderman have to say on the topic?

Let’s take a look-see, shall we?

“The product must create value for each of its consumers. It must satisfy consumers’ unique differences, not their commonalities.”

OK… STOP right there! How in the heck are we supposed to make that happen?

If you, like me, have ever wondered… How do I make, or even advertise, one product to satisfy multiple thousands of unique consumers-

Ahhh, there’s the problem, isn’t it? We’ve slipped into thinking about us and the product again – not the consumer.

So let’s see what else Mr. Wunderman has to say…

“The call of the industrial revolution was manufacturers saying, ‘This is what I make, don’t you want it?”

Hmmm, that reminds me of the famous quote of Henry Ford about his first assembly line automobile… “It comes in any color you’d like – as long as it’s black”

Imagine going to the market with that idea today… chance are, unless you had an extremely rare and highly desired product, you’d get laughed out of the market.

Let’s continue…

“The call of the Information Age is consumers asking, ‘This is what I need, won’t you make it?”

Quite a shift, huh?

So how does this apply to your product or service? Do you have to make a unique product or service for each and every customer?

No, I don’t think so. But, I do think that every product or service should start out like it is for an unique individual.

And that is the essence of this point, right?

Start with the consumer in mind. The old saying about starting a business is “to find a need and fill it.” and that is still good advice. Because, in order to find a need, you must think about a unique problem experienced by a real person.

Now, you’ve got the product or service… how does it make the consumer a “Hero”?

This is where advertising copywriters can really earn their pay.

It’s one thing to explain a product… to merely describe the features of a product.

It is another thing entirely to expand those features into benefits that a consumer can relate to.

But to really hit an advertising home run, you must find the unique benefits that create an emotional response in the consumer towards the product or service. As advertising copywriter’s we must break past “useful” – to “desirable” – to “can’t live without because…”

You see, in order for your product to make the consumer a Hero, they have to see what happens because of using your product. What is the effect of using, owning, having your product or service? Will they be a better mom and loved and adored by their children, their spouse.. even their own parents. What about the neighbors?

Maybe it’s an office product… will your consumer think: “because of this product, I will be the office hero.” It may not be that obvious, but that is the basic rational for most products or services… “How will this make me look to others?”

And controlling that response requires work… lots of work.

It requires knowing your consumer in ways your competition doesn’t.

When we as advertisers can honestly create a “gotta have it because…” mentality in the consumer’s mind with a product or service that delivers to an individual, then you’ve got a long standing hit that will be wanted by many consumers.

Because, let’s face it everyone wants to be a Hero in some area of their life.

Your thoughts?