SLOW BURN MARKETING
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Branding
    • Audio / Video
    • Print
    • Web
    • Collateral Etc.
  • About
    • Blaine Parker
    • Honey Parker
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • Do You Fit?
  • Stuff
    • Speaking
    • Books
    • Newsletter
  • Story Lab
  • Contact

ARE YOU A SKEPTIC?

7/25/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture...or hear to it in the author's own voice.
Do you doubt the Slow Burn Marketing Mantra--the one that says your brand is the one way you core customer should feel about your business?
 
Because certainly, there are the doubters out there. 
 
There are those who argue that it's really all about having a better product, and making an intellectual argument for it. 
 
Well then, just to prove a point (and have some fun at the expense of others), we are now going to look at a market where emotion rules. 
 
This is a market where intellect flies out the window. The products are often ascribed evocative qualities they do not possess in any way. This is a market where the product name is all about imaginary sizzle and there is zero about product superiority in the initial effort to reach the customer. 
 
You ready?
 
 
WE ARE NOW SELLING YOU A FIBERGLASS BOX
 
Yes indeed.
 
A big, fiberglass box. 
 
And it has wheels. 
 
What's it for? 
 
You tell me. 
 
What on earth would you do with a gigantic fiberglass box called, "Raptor"?
 
Hmm. Raptor. A bird of prey. It has a talons designed for grabbing and clutching, and a beak designed for ripping and tearing. It has extraordinary eyesight and hunt with dead-accurate precision to survive.
 
 
THE RAPTOR IS A FEARSOME CREATURE 
 
Members of its group are admired by Native American tribes who have made it a significant feature in their mythology. Various raptor names are used to honor their people. 
 
The word comes from the French, "rapere," to seize or take by force. 
 
Nothing says "Raptor" like a fiberglass box with wheels.
 
But then, there's another fiberglass box called, "Bighorn."
 
Another nod to the animal kingdom, the bighorn is a sheep. 
 
This wild animal is revered among game hunters, and is another creature that figures prominently in the mythology of certain Native American tribes. 
 
The animal is strong, and fearsome like the raptor, though for different reasons. 
 
And nothing says, "Here's your fiberglass box with wheels" like a bighorn. 
 
 
IN A DEPARTURE FROM FEARSOME CREATURES, MEET "PINNACLE"
 
We all know the pinnacle. 
 
Fundamentally, a pinnacle is an architectural feature. It is long and pointy, like a small spire.
 
In nature, the rock pinnacle is a small spire of stone, often difficult to reach. 
 
Metaphorically, the pinnacle has become something to which one aspires. The ultimate pinnacle is the success and greatness for which one was destined. 
 
It's about aspirations and accomplishments. 
 
One who has reached the pinnacle has arrived. 
 
Nothing says "Pinnacle" like a fiberglass box with wheels. 
 
Except, maybe, this next one. 
 
 
PINNACLE, MEET "VENGEANCE"
 
It's root word is "Revenge," a form of justice usually taken outside the law. It is a form of payback, often made into a mission. 
 
One wreaks vengeance upon one's enemies with great lust and zeal. 
 
There is often tremendous blood spatter amidst a swinging of great blades. 
 
Vengeance is raw and savage. 
 
Vengeance feels good. 
 
Or so we might imagine, for who among us has ever actually sought vengeance? But we can imagine!
 
 
Nothing says, "Vengeance" like a fiberglass box on wheels!
 
 
DO YOU WANT A FIBERGLASS BOX ON WHEELS NOW?
 
If so, which one? 
 
And really, what are they? 
 
A little backstory.
 
The Fabulous Honey Parker and I are on the road in the Mobile Branding Response Unit. (It is built on a precision German chassis and is small and fast.)
 
We've just driven from Utah on I-80, where we are finally preparing to leave this historic Interstate Highway to peel off into New Jersey. 
 
But during the last several days, driving along flat, seemingly limitless expanses of great American farmland, we've seen a lot of these fiberglass boxes. 
 
Watching their approach on the Westbound side of the highway, and looking at their names emblazoned on their gelcoat skins, it's a marvel how much they are a testimony to the irrational side of decision making.
 
 
BIGHORN AND BROOKSTONE, MEET MONTANA AND EXCEL
 
Names that all evoke a particular kind of machismo, but each one different and ranging from grandiose to absurd. 
 
We are speaking, of course, of the fifth-wheel travel trailer. 
 
The fifth-wheel trailer is usually quite large. People can live in them comfortably for months at a time. 
 
They are typically towed using a full-size pickup truck with a fifth-wheel coupling in the bed, hence the name. The coupling is similar in design to the coupling you see on a tractor trailer. 
 
They can cost from the mid-five figures into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
 
And the trailer names are all a product of an effort to evoke an emotional response in the prospect. 
 
HOW ELSE DO YOU EXPLAIN NAMES RANGING FROM RAPTOR TO EXCEL?
 
Fundamentally, these boxes are all the same. 
 
They are fiberglass boxes on wheels. 
 
They contain furniture, kitchens and bathrooms. 
 
And nothing that differentiates them from one another, from the range of conveniences to the quality of the appliances, speaks to anything like bighorn sheep or getting revenge upon an enemy. 
 
How would one even enact revenge using a travel trailer? "Look at me! Living well is the best revenge! Ha! I smite thee!"
 
Especially if you want a deeply passionate outdoorsman to look at your trailer, you're probably going with Bighorn. 
 
If you're attracting a motorsports enthusiast who takes the trailer to racing events, you might go with Vengeance. 
 
If you're not really thinking about your customer's mindset too much and just want to pretend you're better than everyone else, maybe you go with Excel. 
 
I WAS NOT IN THE ROOM WHEN THEY HAD THESE MEETINGS
 
One can only imagine the conversations. 
 
"Our customer is more of a raptor in his characteristics."
 
It's like they have a special Chinese calendar of customer types. But nobody has named their trailer the Rat or the Pig.  
 
How much fun would that be? 
 
Anyway, the point being, if you've ever doubted the emotional component to branding, here is a great, big, shining example of emotional appeal run amok. There is zero effort to appeal to the prospect's rational side. 
 
The products might as well be breakfast cereal. They are big boxes with wildly different names, but all are essentially the same inside. 
 
If you want success in branding, marketing, sales and advertising, all but abandon the rational. 
 
Yes, you need the rational parts to help justify the emotional satisfaction that comes from a silly name like Vengeance. 
 
But in the end, if you don't get emotional and look for the evocative, you're going to be pulling your trailer uphill.  

As always,
Blaine Parker
Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in
Park City

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Blaine Parker is prone to ranting about any and all things related to brand. In many ways, he is a professional curmudgeon. While there is no known vaccine for this, the condition is also not contagious. Unless you choose it to be so. 

    Archives

    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015

    Categories

    All
    Abe Lincoln
    Advertising
    Advertising As Art
    Ad Writing
    Amazon
    Apathy
    Art And Advertising
    Attack Ads
    Authenticity
    Beat Bobby Flay
    Besotted
    Best Ads Of 2017
    Big Ideas
    Billboards
    Bobby Flay
    Book Marketing
    Brand Advertising
    Branding
    Branding Book
    Branding Santa Claus
    Brand Names
    Bud Light
    Budwieser
    Burger King
    Burger King Advertising
    Burning Man
    Burning Questions
    Business Book
    Buy Now
    Car Advertising
    Carefu;-ish
    Careful-ish
    Casablanca
    Christmas
    Commercials
    Commitment
    Communication
    Content
    Core Customer
    Corny
    Corporate Culture
    CoupleCo
    Couplepreneurs
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Crazy Ivan
    Creativity
    Creativity Over Message
    Cult Brands
    Customers
    David Ogilvy
    Dick Orkin
    Diisruptive
    Down Market
    Dr Sam's Eye Care
    Effectivness
    Electronics
    Entrenched
    Exceeding Expectaion
    Facebook Advertising
    Feeling
    Focus
    Focus Grouping
    Fonts
    Food
    Fraud
    Gary Vaynerchuk
    Hair Club For Men
    Hanukkah
    Holidays
    Hotels
    Hugo Boss
    Hurricane Relief
    Ideas
    Influence
    Inspiration
    Internet Radio
    Jeep
    Jerry Lewis
    Johnnie Walker
    Jungles
    Krylon Spray Paint
    Lawyers
    Lightning Branding
    Logos
    Lulu Lemon
    Mackerel
    Make Customers Care
    Marketing
    Masks
    Meaning
    Media
    Medical Tourism
    Membership
    Me Too
    Millennials
    Milton Glaser
    Must See TV
    Napa
    Nastalgia
    New Clients
    New Skills
    New Years
    Nicaragua
    Niche Brands
    Offers
    Ogilvy On Advertising
    Outdoor
    Pasta
    Patriotism
    Pen & Paper
    Personal Brand
    Pizza
    Podcasts
    Poetry
    Point Of Purchase
    Political Advertising
    Political Correctness
    Price Advertising
    Pringles
    Procrastination
    Product Experience
    Publicity Stunts
    Punctuation
    Puppy Monkey Baby
    Radio
    Reader Question
    Reality TV
    Relationship Marketing
    Repeat Customers
    Research
    Rhode Island Tourism
    Road Trip
    Romance
    Rosser Reeves
    Sailing
    Sales Staff Writing Radio
    SEO
    Small Business
    Small Business Branding
    SnapChat
    Social Media
    Social Media Marketing
    State Farm
    Story
    Struggling
    Subaru
    Super
    Superbowl
    Super Bowl Ads
    Sushi
    Sy Sperlling
    Taglines
    Thanksgiving
    The Big Short
    Trademarks
    USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
    Vail
    Velcro
    Vernacular
    Vocabulary
    Wine
    Words Good
    Writing
    Writing Advertising
    Zeitgeist

    RSS Feed

OFFERING:
Branding & Marketing
Speaking
Books
Newsletter


INFO:
Services Breakdown
​
Clients
About
Testimonials
Contact
STORY LAB
Picture
​
​
© Copyright 2020 Slow Burn Marketing LLC
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Picture
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Branding
    • Audio / Video
    • Print
    • Web
    • Collateral Etc.
  • About
    • Blaine Parker
    • Honey Parker
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • Do You Fit?
  • Stuff
    • Speaking
    • Books
    • Newsletter
  • Story Lab
  • Contact