Organic Sales v/s Modern Syntheticisms

Some Scots catch their fish by hand. They wiggle their fingers slowly in the ice-cold water until a fish gets inquisitive and thereby closer. It then enjoys a gentle (read sadistic) massage on its belly and before it could even feel things well, plop! A Quick scoop out of the water and into the basket.Charlie Murphy described it as a "sensuous and extraordinary technique for catching fish that involves hypnotic predation by seduction." I love this technique, the Scottish rendition of Halal.

It is a beautiful technique that bears scary resemblance to the sales technique in the so-called ultra-premium lifestyle retail concept. Its interesting how subliminally persuasive salesmanship can actually corner the consumer at range point-blank, and without the use of any obvious force (mental or physical) create a buyer out of an otherwise casual window shopper. Think of it, how many times have you entered a store and bought something awful just to compliment the beautiful smile of the sales-woman? How many times have you been compelled into buying a product by the mere act of having browsed through the store looking for something interesting? How many times have you ordered for that least-expensive espresso on the menu while waiting for your friend at the café ?

What is it that gets people to make that million-dollar decision –whether or not to buy ? I do not even know if the floor executives of most branded stores have been trained to execute these clairvoyant assassin techniques or are it the nature of the job that forces us to buy. Regardless of the reason, the fact remains that many of us buy for reasons unknown and slightly discomforting. It is not just the human element that gets into the hospitality mode, the setting, furniture, lights, sound, the display, and the plush trial rooms everything silently conspires the flattery that most of us fall for and then the decision to be made is only about which one of the selected. The fundamental is forgotten and we start to operate on the tomorrow-the-apocalypse/on-my-way-to-be-Bill-Gates mode. Our rational brain has been assassinated cleverly by the seductive luxuries one can experience (but never take away).

Yes, thanks to the internet, we now know that most of these techniques were intentionally planted to do just what they did to you. The color of the store, the music being played, the mechanical smiles and “sir and madam”s, everything is there to play a specific individual role in a collective responsibility.

But is this the right way to sell?

Would you want a “billed” customer with a bad after taste or an “unbilled” window shopper with an aspiration still alive in him. Instant gratification is the mantra of this fast world. We would like everything to happen just as it is being dreamt of. There is absolutely no space or the time for the techniques developing organic relationships. We have developed a more “competitive, potent and durable” mutant. Synthetic feelings can be injected via unimaginable channels without even making the patient (read consumer) feel like he’s just been poked.

It is a nice way of conducting business indeed, lot of science employed and heroic formulae drawn to conjure up the magic consumption-inducing potion. It certainly makes all of us feel good.

But, for how long? Is the question.

Black suits and Shiny Shoes !

We do chat, We do mail

We do all on the move …

We’re the Blackberry boys

Oh yeah ! ...

I like the new Blackberry commercial for more reasons than one. It is fresh, entertaining and compelling. For once, it has found a seemingly perfect blend of elements that make a good Ad. There is the humor underlined with a strong message, there is visual chaos unified by uniformities of music, there is action throughout which maintains a healthy engagement with consumers. Above all, it is the take-away for a consumer that does the entire metabolism – The music. Agreed that there are plenty of commercials that have given us memorable tunes, but this one stands out quite confidently with the quintessential Vodafone touch. But is it a good strategy to stand up and be loud disregarding the consumer-attributed conventionality to the product?

Blackberry, although quite unintentionally, grew up to build a “professional” aura around it. Its architecture, embedded features and the whole user experience was, to put it bluntly, monotonous in a world that was increasingly looking towards innovative technology that catered to our fancies. This was a no-frills phone in a sense that it catered to the basic needs of its user-base. More like if-you-want-music-buy-an-iPod kind of a philosophy. Hence, its popularity was limited to the ever-concerned, “Black-suit and shiny shoes” corporate honchos. They were not playful and did not have the time to experience the luxury of features that other phones provided. At least the conversations of common man conveyed such perceptions about the product.

Shattering all such conventions surrounding the product, this Ad was refreshing .Refreshing because the message was crisp and brilliantly executed. It endeared a whole new segment of consumers and at the same time made sure not to estrange its existing users. A conscious effort to dispel myths around the phone that this was, it played out the intelligent card of brotherhood. It was very important for someone to break the ice and shout it loud and clear - Why stereotype people or products? This almost brahminical image built around “professional” is so outdated. The new age corporate is young, trendy and uber-cool.

Another thing I found extremely interesting about the Ad is the confidence with which the Young guns enter the screen space. Although the “Black-suits and shiny shoes” seemed perturbed, it really didn’t bother the new entrants. They came in, all of them, bringing their own moods and colors into the space and not for a second intending to intimidate the ruling party. At the end it was a good ecosystem where everyone found their reason for their Blackberry.

The campaign is also an interesting extension of the widely quoted “Blue-Ocean strategy” where the value innovation was in identifying a whole new customer base. Re-engineer the product slightly to fit the needs of these new consumers (which in this case was cost consciousness) and reinvent it for their convenience. I think this could do for Blackberry what Air Deccan did for Aviation or 1100 did for Nokia.

Indeed, you don’t need to do things differently as long as you can find ways of doing them differently !