You Can’t Hide

I’ve just started reading Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae- Is Your Marketing Out of Sync? Even after just reading the first two chapters, I need to post about it.  It’s another great book by Seth, distilling something I think we all know at heart- you can’t disguise mediocrity in louder and flashier messages and make it any different than what it is. And average is fine in a lot of categories.

I want a good dishwasher soap and laundry detergent. One brand is not particularly better than another, although I trend towards some brands by habit. I do occasionally splurge and buy Good Home’s Laundry soap that smells like a great day at the beach, because having my sheets and towels smell great is a nice touch, and it’s a little pleasantness that’s worth the extra trip to a special store and paying extra to get. My point here is that Good Enough accounts for most of my purchases in this mundane category, yet I am willing to make an additional, pricer purchase of the “special” version of this boring product, because it has a clear value add for me.  Now, it’s also too pricey to make the main detergent in our house, given the sheer volume of laundry in a family, so I make a choice to use both the pedestrian and the “luxe”.

I think this is a choice most of us make every day.  We could have a cheap cup of coffee at home, or at a diner, but instead, we choose a latte at Starbucks or the local coffee house, because we are also buying the atmosphere, the “treat” factor, on top of the caffeine buzz we seek.    We pay extra for special, within reason.

What About Price, and Supply and Demand?

We could buy generic products if it were just about price, but we don’t always.  We want that extra something, and are willing to pay a bit more for it, within reason.  People aren’t price insensitive, but they are willing to pay for perceived quality when it matters.

For example, for furniture in my kid’s room, Ikea works well, looks decent, and is reasonable.  It is pressboard, and it isn’t forever furniture, but I don’t expect that from it, either.  However, when we bought our dining room table and our bedroom furniture, we bought hardwood furniture from Ethan Allen, that we know will last for years.  When we were shopping for the dining room table, a salesperson from Thomasville told me his table had a hardwood veneer, but was made and I quote “From space-age materials that will resist warping”.  Well, I want a dining room table that I can hand down to my kids someday, a place where we will have holiday dinners and make memories, not send it on the space shuttle.  No amount of modern, “space-aged materials” shpiel would sell me that table- space-age is not what I want from a dining room table.  Wrong marketing, wrong product for the sale.  And here’s the kicker- I was willing and did spend more for “the real thing”- a hardwood table.

Quality vs. Quantity- making the decision
Quality matters.  There’s a vast middle of the marketplace where good enough is good enough, but no matter how much you scream and yell, it won’t ever be more than it is- perfectly good, utilitarian stuff.  However, special commands a premium, even though you will sell less.  I don’t buy jewelry very often, but when I do, the first place I look is Tiffany’s- if I am going to splurge and get myself something special, I want the best, not just average or utilitarian.  Utilitarian is fine much of the time, but special is special, and I am willing to pay extra for that.

So in my version of economics, I buy the best I can for the money I can afford to spend, and I assume everyone else does the same.  There are many things, like duct tape, where brand name and quality differences are negligible to me- any old thing will do.  No amount of mass marketing will change my opiion of the quality of duct tape between 3M, the Duck Tape people, or the generic- it’s all the same to me, and a roll lasts me so long, the repurchase brand loyalty is non-existant.  It is probably different for people who use duct tape every day, but I don’t, so I don’t care.

In contrast, with things I use everyday and run out of frequently, like shampoo,  there’s a much better chance of convincing me to try something new- I may like what I am using, but a new advance in conditioning may be worth a $5.00 investment, at least once.  However, $20 shampoo better be amazing to justify the premium, and if it’s not significantly better by the end of the bottle, I am back to the cheap stuff- the premium just may not be worth it compared to results and expense. I may be willing to take a chance, now and again, but you have to make it really significantly better to keep my loyalty- otherwise, good enough is really good enough.

With Infinite Choice, How Do You Survive?

The internet has brought us virtually infinite choice, which means you have to be special and different to stick out above the rest.  You have to have something worth noticing, and worth spending time, money and attention on.  If you are just average, and cannot achieve the mass required to make money at average, you won’t last long.  Even if you are special, but can’t let people know, or convince them you are worth the premium, you won’t last long.

This is where the New Media marketing becomes the extra bonus prize inside- you can reach a targeted community who is more likely to be your customers- and if you can convince them that you are special and remarkable, then you have a chance at a wider appeal.  But if you can’t sell to your targeted demographic, if you can’t convince the people mot likely to be an easy sell, how will you convince anyone else- those you need to bridge the gap between niche and a real market for your goods or services?

From my point of view, I’d rather test my ideas on a targeted group of easy sell types, and see what they think, rather than look at the “everybody”.  The easy sell types will let you know pretty fast whether you are good enough to take the next step towards wider appeal, and if you can;t sell to the easy people, to your community, you don;t have a prayer with everyone  else, and you should do what Seth recommends in The Dip- know when to quit, and try something else entirely.  That’s smart business.

Social Contracts and Constructs

A friend of mine from out of town came to spend the night- he had a speaking gig nearby, and so he came to the “Hoffman B & B”- bed and breakfast at our house.  It was super to see him, and I am so glad he stopped by.  He also did something really nice- he brought us a bottle of wine as a thank you.

When I was growing up, this was normal.  If you went to someone’s house, even for dinner, you might bring flowers or a bottle of wine;  if you stayed there, you always brought a small gift of some kind.  It may not have been “necessary”, but it was always appreciated.  Thank you notes were also part of the process, and especially at birthdays and holidays.

These “traditions” seem old fashioned these days.  I remember not loving the process of writing thank yous to all the relatives after the holidays, but my mom insisting on our doing so.  I have not always pushed my kids to write thank yous, but I am changing that this holiday season- and here’s why:

I think we are not as appreciative of the small favors and kindnesses that others do for us as we should be.  The act of bringing a small gift or writing a note is a gift of time, thought and effort.  We don’t see these very often any more.  Those people that do take the time have become remarkable- what was commonplace courtesy is now a rare personal value.

I think the act of writing a note from a kid’s perspective can seem tedious and formulaic.  I remember grumbling and writing “Dear _______, Thank you for the _______.  I will use it when I _________.  Thank you for thinking of me, I hope you have a happy new year.  Love _________”  and looking at it as a silly thing to have to do.  Now, as an adult, in a world that is getting more and more impersonal, i am seeing it differently.

What the thank you note should do is instill a sense of value, and maybe even reciprocal obligation, in them, and make them consider the time and effort someone else took on their behalf.  It’s making an effort to see things from another’s perspective,  and to instill gratitude, even if the gift is only “ok”.  These values are important, especially later on in life.

I don’t know when or why good manners and common courtesy became old fashioned and got dropped out of the vernacular. I do know that having a sense of being thankful for all that we have, and all that we can share with others is a value I want my children to learn from home, so it becomes a part of them when they are adults.

Manners, courtesy, and all those little touches that can make us think Martha Stewart is a perfectionist with too much time on her hands, are the small things that make interactions with others special.  In terms of social contracts, the small touches and efforts make people feel welcome, and it helps bring people together, knowing someone else thought enough to make the extra effort on your behalf.

Seth Godin talks about things being remarkable and this then making them valuable.  It’s true.  I always notice this small touches, like my favorite barrista who can even make a pumpkin in the latte foam, and this keeps me coming back for more.  The small stuff, from mints on the pillow, to homemade anything, is now what I value more than ever before.  I have enough stuff, I don’t have enough value.  The trick is to create value in everything you do, and it may be as easy as being kind, courteous and thoughtful of others.

Rereading this post, it  sounds like I am Emily Post’s secret love child.  Maybe.   But I guess what I am really trying to get at is that in a community, online or off line, the personal effort and special touches go a long way to building your reputation as being remarkable.  I hope I can pass these values on to my kids, as well as help them learn to appreciate a little more in life, rather than take everything from things to people for granted.

Thanks, Howard, for reminding me how important this is.