Sell me this raincoat

Umbrella in trash generated by Google Gemini

By Ariella Brown

The title of this blog is a variant on the "Sell me this pen" challenge. 

Confession: I find most marketing presentations a waste of time because they just rehash what I already know. But there is the rare exception that offers helpful insight and perspectives that spark my own #WriteWay creativity. 

That has been my experience in attending the Full-Funnel Summit.  Jen Allen-Knuth proposed shifting the sales intro from pushing your product of a $100 raincoat that may meet resistance from buyers who don't want to shell out that kind of money.

Jen said she'd frame it this was for a target market in the windy city of Chicago where it rains for about 1/3 the year: studies say only a small percentage of people remember to take their umbrellas. Those who forget will decide no to walk in the rain and so have to shell out $45 a pop for an Uber.

The implication that trying to save the $100 could end up costing you more if you forget your umbrella and end up paying for rides to try to stay dry.

As I wrote in the chat there, my approach would be different. I'd say "Ever notice how many umbrellas you see in the trash on a stormy day? That's because the wind rips through and breaks them. But have you ever seen a raincoat in the trash on a rainy day? No, you haven't. Here's why." 

And then I'd calculate the cost of multiple umbrellas purchased over the years vs. the one-time cost of the raincoat.

Why did I come up with this? Jen's framing refers to the forgetfulness of most people that you may think doesn't apply to you. You're smart enough to remember your umbrella, right?

 But even so, you have, no doubt, experienced your umbrella getting blown out from a strong wind and have seen multiple umbrellas thrown out that prove that even if you remember to take it, it can prove useless. Also the fact that you never see a raincoat peeking out of a trash can the way you see umbrellas creates a strong visual impression.

Another thing that made me come up with a different approach to Jen's was my thinking that it didn't make sense that her target market would hesitate over shelling out $100 for a raincoat would solve the problem of forgetting an umbrella by spend $45 on a single Uber ride to avoid walking in the rain. Generally, one would first look for a cheap umbrella, look for public transportation or just accept the inevitability of getting wet when walking home. 

If you're marketing to a price-conscious market, you have to speak to the in their own terms. They're not likely to indulge in expensive rides when they can walk. But they certainly can can calculate the cost of multiple replacements for umbrellas that don't stand up to the wind.

While I'm sure that Jen charged the client four or five figures for this marketing idea, I came up with it on the spot, and I'm sure I can come up with something that is equally sound and creative for your B2C or B2B.  The Write Way is all about putting yourself in the mindset of your target audience.

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