Creating raving clients like Coke and Starbucks do
First things, first.
You do not sell a product. You do not sell a service.
You don’t even sell a ‘benefit’.
You sell something else entirely.
And until you figure out what that is it will be difficult to charge what you’re really worth, create a powerful connection which has your clients buying from you they’re whole life, and even their kids buying from you. And complaining if they can’t.
I was watching a documentary recently called “Pepsi vs Cola: The Marketing Battle of the Century” which is all about, as you’d expect, the rivalry between the two cola brands. It’s really interesting to hear the story but what really struck me was about three quarters in.
I had to stop, rewind and listen to it again.
Then I came back a few days later, scrolled ahead to that section and transcribed what was said.
It blew me away and confirmed what I’ve been thinking about, working on and implementing within my businesses and with my clients for a while now.
Here’s the thing:
You have these two huge companies — Coke had a revenue of 33 billion USD in 2020 and Pesis brought in 70 Billion USD. (Granted, they don’t just sell soda these days but these numbers are big anyway)
Also, after “OK” the world’s most recognised word is “Coca Cola”.
These are enormous companies.
But the part that gets me is what they’re selling.
A former managing director of Coca Cola featured in the documentary put it perfectly…
And this is the bit of the doco that blew me away…
“(We) must never forget that we sell coloured, flavoured, carbonated water. If you look at it from that point of view it would never have been a success, but if you look at it from a point of view of selling a concept, that was the secret.”
Coloured, flavoured carbonated water!
That’s their product. Seems almost worthless, something you a 3 year old child can make in daycare class with some food colouring, sugar and a soda stream. Yet they bring in tens of billions each year.
They can do so because what they’re really selling is something else. People are not paying for the water, they’re paying for the real product, which is the concept or idea that comes with the product.
For example, in the 1970’s, Coke was presented not as a soda but as an elixir of peace and youth.
A later tagline was, “Open happiness”.
They’re not selling a coloured, flavoured, carbonated water. They’re selling happiness in a bottle.
In the internet age, Coke created a website where users can “experiment with the idea of happiness provided by the opening and consumption of a bottle of coke.”
Happiness from a bottle of coke.
Mind blown.
The significance of this is monumental — they’ve taken a sugary water which is pretty much worthless and turned it into so much more. They’ve turned it into an idea, an emotion, that people want. A lifestyle that people want. A self image that people want.
People are not paying for the drink, they’re paying for all that extra stuff which they desperately want.
It’s the same with Starbucks.
Nobody really gives a shit about it here in Australia, but around the world Starbucks is a very popular cafe, brand and coffee.
They sell sugary, caffeinated, sometimes even hot, water. Yet they charge a premium and have over 30,000 stores around the world.
There’s a Starbucks documents about this on Amazon Prime Video were a commentator says,
“Starbucks took a boring beverage and turned it into something that changed you into a sophisticated human being, gives you the illusion that you make a difference and let’s you believe that you are above others.”
And it goes further.
They explain that it’s not about the coffee. It’s about the moment. It’s about the place, the break. Having a third space between work and home where you feel comfortable, can meet people or be alone.
They’re not selling coffee.
Coke isn’t selling a soda.
They’re selling an idea, a concept, and most importantly, an emotion.
That’s why people become so attached to it. When Coke changed its formula to “New Coke” in the 80s there was an uproar so big that within a couple months Coke went back to the “Classic” formula and taste, hence the name “Classic Coke”. (There ya go, you learnt something today, mate).
People formed an attachment to having a bottle of coke at the beach, at the movies, to celebrate, whatever. It became part of their lives, even a ritual, and as one commentator said in the doco, “it is like a marriage”.
Don’t forget, it’s just coloured, flavoured, carbonated water! If they can do that with something so inherently worthless and bad for you, then imagine a product that’s actually got some substance to it.
However you may feel about the ethics of selling sugary crap en masse, adding to the obesity epidemic and enormous health issues, the lessons here are powerful, if you use them for good and not evil.
What if you could create that kind of connection with your customers?
And do it on a budget? It’s OK for Coke to do it because they have hundreds of millions to spend on marketing each year. What if I’ve only got a few bucks?
The key is to understand your customer on a deep emotional level.
How are they feeling before they come to you? What are their fears, wants, secret desires? How does your product or service make them feel? What is their emotional journey from before they meet you to discovering there’s a solution or product for the problems, and then afterwards?
And then go even deeper and ask, why is that important to them?
You are not in the business of selling your product or service, you are in another business all together.
