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Marketing Strategy
50's Style
What started me
thinking about all this was a story my Mom told me. She's
visiting and she brought me a picture of myself from many years ago.
She told me how the picture was 'sold' to her. I've filled in the
details a bit.
It was a summer day
in the 1950's and this man walked into our neighborhood with a camera and a
pony. Of course all the kids gathered around. He told us that he'd take our
pictures on the pony for five dollars each. I ran home and asked my Mom if
I could get my picture taken. She said, "No. We can't afford it."
So I walked back and
told the man. He said, "That's OK. Let's just put this hat and these
boots on you. You can hold the toy gun. And I'll put you up in the saddle.
Now, let's go see your Mom." When I yelled for my Mom to come outside
and see me - well, you know the rest of the story. The man walked away
with five dollars from my Mom, and I'm certain he got another
five dollars from almost every other Mom in the neighborhood.
Was he a sales star?
I don't think so. He was a savvy marketer who knew how to package his
product so that it sold itself.
Let's deconstruct
his marketing strategy:
Product
He didn't sell the
product. That's only a piece of paper with varying shades of light and dark
on it. He sold sentiment - an opportunity to relive a fleeting moment in
time.
Place
He brought the
product to where the buyers were. And he timed it too. I'm willing to bet
he only worked the neighborhoods between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. And just
on weekdays. He knew that the Dads would be at work, the Moms would be at
home, and the kids would be outside playing. Just the sight of the pony and
the cowboy getup sold the kids. But it was the Moms who had the five
dollars.
Price
Five dollars was a
lot of money back then. I'm sure he tested his pricing. What was the best
number to maximize profitability? Through trial and error he learned the
best price was five dollars. It was steep, but not too steep. He knew every
Mom had a little pin money stashed away somewhere in the house. It'd sting
a bit, but she could come up with it.
Promotion
He had his props and
window dressing. The hat, the boots, the gun, and especially the pony. The
pony had to be big enough to carry two or three small siblings, but not so
big that it frightened the children. The pony had to have a good
disposition. (If you look closely at the photo, you'll see that the pony
was smiling along with me.) And of course, the clincher - that supreme
differentiator, the mother's own child for whom there is no substitute.
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