In working with my clients — and in speaking engagements where I make the point — I find a certain resistance to my preaching about the importance of packaging, image, and what is called "sensation transference." The later phenomenon is what occurs when the qualities of the "package" — let's say the hotel where a conference is being held — "transfer" onto the product, in this case, the conference itself. So, if the conference was at a wonderful luxury hotel, the attendees are much more likely to think it was a great conference than if it was held a budget hotel, even if the content and speakers are exactly the same.
My clients protest, "What should matter is what a great lawyer I am!" That often leads to a discussion of human nature, the fact that potential clients don't have x-ray vision, the fact that people listen with their eyes, the need to communicate visually, and much more. I sometimes feel I do not have their attention until I get to the part where I explain that having great packaging will allow them to charge higher prices.
This post by marketing guru Seth Godin beautifully illustrates how you turn $3 worth of soap into $20 worth of soap. That's almost seven times the price. The same principles and methods can be used to turn a $100,000-a-year law firm into a $700,000-a-year law firm.
You can understand human nature and use it to your advantage — or you can complain about how people "should" act. But you won't change it.
No doubt the instructions conclude with the most famous word in P&G history - 'repeat.'
Posted by: Eric Riess | August 25, 2010 at 12:26 PM