We live in a time of massive change. Major institutions from Wall Street to the Middle East are falling. And still, big consumer products companies are behaving as if time stopped 20 years ago.
I’m not going to restate the litany of cultural changes that are upsetting markets. I trust you know these by now. But I want to highlight one implication: the era of smoke and mirrors is ending.
Once upon a time, marketing used to be about matching demand (including demand that the demanders didn’t know they were demanding) with supply. Basically, figuring out what people wanted or needed, placing that thing in their hands and getting paid for it. The part about placing the thing in their hands includes designing and manufacturing the thing and letting people know it exists and encouraging them to go get one. But it’s hard work to design and manufacture the thing. And over time, marketing practitioners got lazy. They fell in love with their ability to persuade people to buy the thing – any thing. They focused nearly all of their energies on clever ways to “tell the story” of the thing rather than on understanding peoples’ evolving needs and designing new things to satisfy those needs. Thus began the era of smoke and mirrors.
Consumer products companies hired big ad agencies to develop TV commercials (mostly) that said very little about the product but that were “on brand” and had an “emotional connection” to “the consumer.” When big became uncool, smaller hotter shops popped up that basically did the same things as the big agencies but in cooler offices and with people who were much better at spending lots of money buying clothing that made them look like they didn’t have any money to spend on clothing. [BTW, people who work in advertising love to pretend that they work in a “shop.” Especially one that is “hot.” It’s a terribly unfortunate condition and if you know someone in advertising, try to be empathetic.]
Today, I came across an announcement for a Robitussin promotion that epitomizes the era of smoke and mirrors. It is perhaps the dumbest promotion I have ever seen. Take a minute to read or skim the announcement here.
Now ponder the following:
- What on earth does ice skating have to do with cold and flu symptoms?
- What relevance does a 1960s Olympic champion have to how stuffy or runny your nose is today? (Apart, of course, from the fact that Peggy Fleming “knows how important it is to keep going when suffering from a cold…”)
- Apart from the fact that her last name sounds like “phlegm,” does Peggy Fleming have anything of value whatsoever to offer you to make you feel better when you’re feeling sick?
- Has Pfizer given you even the tiniest reason to buy their product over the competition?
Question 4 above is particularly important. If the price for Robitussin was the same as the price for its competition, you might be swayed by nostalgia for the halcyon days of Peggy Fleming’s Olympic reign. Or you might simply be tickled by the cutesy “Fleming” – “phlegm” comparison. When the price and the benefits of a product are the same as the competition, there is nothing left but trivialities to help you choose. You might as well just flip a coin. Or, get tickled by the last name of someone who did something amazing 40 years ago. Whatever.
But the price isn’t the same. In fact, Robitussin is a great deal more expensive than its competition.
Check out the price of Robitussin DM at Walmart. It’s $4.74. Now check out the price for the same product only from Equate – Walmart’s private label. It’s nearly half the price – $2.72. But here’s the kicker: the Robitussin product is a 4oz. product while the Equate product is an 8oz. product. On a per ounce basis, Robitussin is 3 1/2 times more expensive than Equate. That’s 350% more expensive! For the same damn thing!!!
This is what’s wrong with consumer products marketing today. They’re still busy focusing on the smoke and mirrors – little cutesy-pie ways of trying to get you to pay 350% more than you need to. Instead, they should be focusing on substance – actually doing something for you that’s 350% more valuable than what their competition can do for you.
Think about it. These companies are busy laying people off while dedicating themselves to overcharging you for a commodity. Do you really want to support this?
