The Big "M" or A million ways to sell you something

The day I turned 16 I started my first job and I was fortunate enough to work with a retailing genius.  His wit and wisdom will never be lost as long as I am alive.  He once told me this gold nugget of truth, "Everything ever made is designed to do one thing - SELL."  Ben Sansom was his name and he added more to this gem of truth.  "Selling is not always about a cash transaction.  Sometimes the sell is to get you to buy into an idea or concept, whether it is right or wrong, good or bad."

Let's explore this deeper.  Everything leading up to that sale is "marketing."  I took some time to study marketing and, wow, it would take volumes to put down in writing all there is to know.  

This time around, I'm going to share with you some of the little nuances and tricks designed to separate you from your money.  

Marketing happens in several different ways.  There's what is sometimes referred to as the 'shotgun' approach.  That's when you distribute massive pieces of marketing materials either by mail, print media (newspapers, magazines, etc.), electronic media (radio, TV), or social media (Internet) and hope to capture that small piece of the pie that should belong to you.  

Another concept is 'Target' marketing.  This is when you understand the core of people you are trying to reach by demographics and apply your ads to that group.  

Following that concept is 'Micro-Targeting'.  With this approach you are shooting for a niche group within the demographic layer.  

Even with all of the above just mentioned, we've just scratched the surface of how business hooks you into the product they create.  

Marketing involves packaging, size, color, smell, font, overall appearance, texture, price, etc.  

Did you know 2 of the worst colors you can use as base colors for a product package are yellow and black?  I've heard several theories as to why these may be the worst colors but I've never heard a reason that is total concrete proof.  

Sometimes a product comes along that breaks all of the rules of marketing and becomes a huge success.  In the 1960's and into the early '70's a car wax did just that.  The product was "Kit" car wax.  Packaged in a tuna sized black can with yellow text, Kit was a huge success.  By all accounts it should have tanked, but it made millions.  It was the king of car wax until Turtle Wax moved into the market in the late 60's and kicked Kit out of the #1 spot.  

Colors that work on a product include reds, white, blues, greens, purples, and just about all bright colors that are well coordinated.  If you doubt what I'm telling you just open the cupboard where you keep your groceries and look at the packages.  Now look under the sink at your cleaning products.  Ah, you see I'm right, huh?

Now I'll share with you a story of a product that had the right package but nearly died within 2 years of being introduced.  It was a great product with plenty of market research to back it up.  The price was equal to that of it's nearest competitor, but still it nearly died.  The product was Zerex antifreeze by E.I. DuPont.  Introduced in the early 1960's in a round white can with red letters all indications were it should have been an instant success.  It wasn't.  DuPont struggled to find the answer until one day when a sales rep was in a store taking to the manager.  The store manager gave the sales rep the ultimate answer.  "Why don't you just ask someone about to buy antifreeze which one they would buy and why?"  The sales rep did just that and the answer was so simple it was nearly unbelievable.  The customer told the sales rep he would by Prestone over Zerex because Prestone was permanent antifreeze.  It was printed right on the can.  Zerex made no mention of it.  The sales dude went back to corporate and the very next year Zerex had "Permanent Type" in big print on the can.  Every new add pushed it as permanent antifreeze.  Within 2 years Zerex tied in sales with Prestone and for years after as well.  The word PERMANENT made the difference.  

In a grocery store vendors bargain for space on the end of the aisles.  It's a great spot to generate sales but not always a great spot to find a bargain.  The smaller sized item is always on the left, with the largest size always on the right.  The reason.  People are predominately right handed and will pick-up the larger size whether it's a good buy or not.  Sometimes it's not a good buy.  

Not to long ago this was started and some stores still do this.  They will spray a "Fresh Made Baked Goods" smell in the bread aisle.  Using your sense of smell to encourage a purchase.  Disneyland and Disney World have a fan located on the popcorn carts to blow the smell around.  It works.  

You may have gotten one of those ads from a car dealership inviting you in for a "special event" and, of course, there is a car key enclosed because they are going to give away a new car.  Here's the rub.  Generally this event is set-up by a company that specializes in this type of promotion.  Several dealerships are involved in several different areas.  These are mass mailed and the promo company knows the demographics of the people offered this promo.  They also mail out 1 car key to someone in the demographic that is highly unlikely to respond to the ad.  In addition, the promo company takes out an insurance policy to cover the cost of the car in the unlikely event it gets given away.  The cost of the car is only equal to the cost of the insurance premium and the only ones getting stung are the consumers that end up with a bad car deal.  

A Las Vegas casino called Palace Station was one of the first businesses to get good information on players for Micro-target marketing.  That information came by the way of a players card.  Using a players card gives the casino tons of information about you.  How often you play, what you play, day of the week you play, how much coin in, how much you win, a theoretical value for the casino of your play, your birthday, your anniversary, etc.  The idea is to get this information and pseudo-reward you for your play and loyalty.  I call it a pseudo-reward because you are actually paying for it.  And you thought you were getting something for free.  WRONG.  There is a cold reality for casinos.  Fact is, most are not very good at using the information to get a positive return.  Casinos are the worst at it because of the many layers of bureaucratic management involved in marketing decision making. 

It didn't take long for other businesses, like grocery stores, drug stores, and pet stores to realize the value of getting good consumer information and now many stores offer "Loyalty" programs.  Grocery stores are probably the best at it.  They can see how much of an item sells each week and can target ads and specials to appeal to the largest groups.  

I believe every consumer should take a few courses in marketing.  Once you understand how you are played in the business marketing game you build a wall of resistance to some of the games and gimmicks which separate you from your hard earned $$s.  

I am extremely skeptical of nearly all marketing.  Okay, with one exception, my sense of smell.  Do I smell popcorn?  Yummy buttered theater popcorn??

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