Moshe Engelberg On Everything Marketing

My wife just told me about sticks - actually a chunk of a branch - that a pet store was selling for dogs to chew. Super Pet Branches are here!

Really?? Sure, dogs like to chew. And most dogs love to pick up a stick or branch and run with it, chew it, and if you throw it, chase after it. But do we really need to buy them? Last I looked, it wasn't too hard to find a branch around that would satisfy our so picky canines.

What's next -- buying perfectly sculpted stones in a store? Umm, oops.

Most of us assume customers want a lot of choices. Nobody likes being told what to do. Right? Maybe not.

In the book The Paradox Of Choice: Why More is Less, psychologist Barry Schwartz tells the story of going into the Gap to buy a pair of jeans. The salesperson asks him what kind of jeans- slim fit, easy fit, relaxed fit, or baggy? Stonewashed, acid-washed, or distressed? Button fly or zipper? On and on the choices grew. He replies - a bit confused - jeans, just regular jeans like he always buys. Then he started worrying, well maybe it matters and should he try on 14 different styles? The myriad of choices created an uncomfortable "need."

In our consulting work helping companies really understand what their customers want, need, and value, we invariably find that too many choices is just as bad as no choices. For example, when working with our federal Medicare agency (CMS) to investigate what choices seniors want in selecting health insurance plans, we found they tended to want two or three good choices. And they really valued a trusted resource that could present them with the best two or three options for their situation.

Therein lies the marketing opportunity. Sometimes people are overwhelmed by choices. They want to be told what to do, especially in a domain where they have little or no expertise, like say, evaluating healthcare systems. So step up and make it easier for your customers by reducing their number of choices. Call it "peace of mind" marketing.

P.S. This is where my marketing pseudonym "Les S. Moore" comes into play.

Who new that the sipholes in coffee cup lids at Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and other caffeine purveyors were affecting the human condition? I just ran across the little green siphole plugs that prevent coffee spilling, splashing, staining and other evils.

I applaud the inventor's open mindedness that led to his epiphany and turned a problem into a solution. You can see how they work in this 32 seconds of action-packed video:

However, what is most interesting to us marketers is the creation of a "need." Now coffee drinkers everywhere will be worried about unplugged sipholes! Some experts say that revealing unmet needs (are there other kinds?) is what marketing is all about. I believe we need to tread lightly here. As a culture, we are trained to confuse wants and needs. Like when my kids used to say "I need candy" in the supermarket. In my book, these little green plugs are about a "want" - plain and simple. While there's nothing wrong with innovating new problem-solving products, as marketers and consumers we need to be aware and honest about whether we are really satisfying a want or a need.