We tend to believe that the best sales come from the best products.
Many great marketing managers spend a tremendous amount of time making sure their product is the best so that they have all the components and arguments they need to confirm they’re the best on the market. Seems like they’ve taken all the right steps, doesn’t it? Well, they didn’t count on the law of perception.
You remember the famous VHS videotapes that were so popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Yet the BETAMAX format was clearly superior in terms of image quality, and TV stations required it when we wanted to feature our clients. Still, VHS won out, claiming more than 60% of the market. The issue revolved around the major manufacturers: Sony, which relied on BETA quality, and Matsushita, which relied on VHS because it could record more than an hour of content.
And today, closer to home, the same kind of battles are being waged by local microdistilleries, which have been proliferating since the pandemic. Each of them is trying to ride the “buy local” wave. As you can imagine, though, the quality is not always there. These companies often know how just how to play to consumers’ perceptions. They use techniques that are as old as the hills, but still effective:
- Hire a celebrity who can rep for the brand and use their name to promote spirits, which, much of the time, are absolutely not locally distilled;
- Play with words and new names, such as “bottled locally”, when no local ingredients or expertise are used;
- Copy recipes from competitors to appropriate that local touch;
- Or invest heavily in ad campaigns, and meanwhile the smallest artisans lack the same resources.
These companies are relying on the law of perception. They try to get people to believe that their product is local. It’s easy to understand how consumers might be confused by these names:
o Bottled in the country
o Manufactured in the country
o Locally sourced
As the proverb goes: “Perception is reality”
In other words, we believe what we perceive to be accurate, and we create our own realities based on those perceptions. And although our perceptions feel very real, that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily factual.
Changing perception is a huge task, and, in my opinion, it’s unnecessary. It’s a losing battle, because when consumers assume that what they’ve read is the truth, it becomes real for them, and then it’s practically impossible to change their minds.
Do you want to talk about it? Sign up now for a free consultation.
Free consultation.
Sign up for our mailing lists for useful updates: www.natapr.com.