There’s a famous case involving legendary copywriter Claude Hopkins and the Schlitz Beer company. In his book “My Life In Advertising” Hopkins describes an advertising campaign where he explained the enormous lengths the company went to in making the beer and the great care they took to make the beer as “pure” as possible.
The campaign was a great success and in just a few months Schlitz jumped from fifth place to neck-and-neck with first place. The amazing thing was that Schlitz wasn’t doing anything significantly different to the other brewers! However, they were the first to explain to the public what they did and by doing so they secured the position in the public’s mind that their beer was of the highest quality.
There are a number of lessons from this case. One of them is that it pays to educate your customer in the benefits of your product and its superior features.
Now I’m not talking about “educating” your customers in the sense of arousing in them the understanding that there’s a problem they have that they really should do something about even if it’s not really been a big concern before. No, no, no! Remember that we start with the “Conversation that’s already going on” in the potential customers mind.
What I’m talking about is explaining to your customers all the unique and superior benefits of your product and hence why they have to have it.
I was reminded of this the other day when indulging in some purchases at Haigh’s Chocolates in Sydney. Haigh’s is a small Australian company (based in Adelaide) that makes very high quality chocolate and other confectionery. To my knowledge, they are one of the few companies in the world that makes their chocolate purely from real cocoa beans (most mainstream chocolate brands contain little actual cocoa) and you can taste the difference.
Now Haigh’s go to great lengths to make sure their product reaches the customer in good condition. In the summer months in Sydney, every purchase is wrapped in a foil bag to help keep the chocolate in good condition. And on my receipt I noticed this piece of information…
“The optimum temperature for storing chocolate is 15-20 degrees centigrade. During hot weather avoid leaving chocolate in a parked car and store away from heat and light.”
Little details like this all go to add to and reinforce the perception of quality and that you’re dealing with people who really know and care about chocolate. It helps differentiate Haigh’s and makes them stand out from the crowd.
So, look for opportunities to showcase in your marketing how your product or service is different or superior. Remember the Schlitz Beer case. What you might think is ordinary or commonplace might be something that your customer will value highly.