Tide Wisdom Part 2 - Marketing Points from the Mundane

This is the second installment of “Tide Marketing” based on observations I made from a Tide to Go pen that found it’s way home with me. The first part of the story can be found here: Tide Marketing Part 1

Looking over the Tide to Go pen I was amazed to see plainly placed near the instructions on the package these words, “Works well on these stains - tea, wine, grape juice, …” followed by “Does not work well on - grease, blood, ink”.

Truth in advertising, do people really do that? Apparently Tide does and I have to say I was really struck by it.

At my house we have bounced around between several brands of laundry soap, Tide among them. As silly as it may sound I was so pleased at seeing Tide tell me what to expect when using their product that Tide will probably become the default purchase. Here was a compnay actually telling me what to expect and I appreciate it enough to reward them with my business!

On the opposite side of the coin, I’ve been looking recently for some task/project management software. Each and every one I look at tells me that they do everything and they do it superbly. Of course once I download a trial copy I find a number of things that they don’t do well and any good will I had about that company is gone. I’m sure they get a number of people to give up their credit card numbers because of the excellent marketing copy but I’m too cheap to buy the product until I’ve tried it. Besides, I’ve learned the hard way that there is a big difference between software being able to do something and being able to do it well!

While telling people the truth about your weaknesses may hurt your initial sales you can be assured it creates an enviornment that breeds satisfied (return) customers.

Does your widget burn through batteries? Alert your visitors to this problem by suggesting they use high-output rechargable batteries and offering them for sale at a discounted price.

Does your book on widgets not go into depth on the subject since it’s aimed at the novice crowd? Tell your potential customer this and team up with another writer/book publisher. You can offer both books on your site (for a cut of the profits on their book) and they can reciprocate on their site. Chances are both books will have increased sales and you end up with a satisfied customer.

In both examples above you garner return customers and free PR as your customers tell others of their good experience. As a bonus, satisfied customers won’t eat up your time (or your employee’s time) with grumpy phone calls and chargebacks.

For more information check out how to boost your company’s credibility.