Showing posts with label Selling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Selling. Show all posts

October 25, 2019

Sizzle Is Not Steak

There was an interesting quote in the Wall Street Journal the other day.

It was about how the stock brokers all too often hawked hot stocks to their unsuspecting and foolish clients:
You sold the sizzle, not the steak!

Wow, isn't this all too often what happens with products and services in the marketplace?

People get you hyped up on all the excitement of something.

The latest and greatest widget or whatever. 

It's gonna revolutionize the world!

Even when the thing itself may not be all that it's cracked up to be.

Or in fact, it may be a complete dud!

But whatever sells goes, unfortunately, whether it's right or wrong

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle. 

Doesn't that sizzle really make you want to buy the steak?

The Greater Fool Theory in full blossom. ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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February 3, 2019

Tag Lines Deliver

Ouch!  How is that for a tag line?
Unlike Your Boyfriend, We Deliver.

That certainly has a sharp bite to it, but you know what?  It works. 

Witty, funny, and maybe even true. 

It's the old adage that "sex sells."

That's a delivery service that I'm sure many would nod their heads to. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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November 18, 2015

I Couldn't Do It

No this isn't my car, but it's definitely old. 

So we were going to go sell one of our older cars tonight. 

One of the warning lights recently went on and when we took it to the dealer he told us it would be thousands to service it. 

After agonizing about it, we resigned ourselves to just getting rid of it and not investing anymore $$$ in an old car.

We went to the car to empty it and get it ready.

As I watched Dossy cleaning it out, all these memories started racing through my head--seeing Dossy behind the wheel as well the kids. 

Remembering all the good times we had driving here and there together. 

But this was Dossy's car and it was special to her and I knew it. 

I looked again at her and said, "I can't do it--let's just keep it."

She looked at me--and gave me the biggest smile. 

When we went back inside, she said to me, "You love me!"

And I said, "Of course, I do."

Now, we get the car fixed--some things you can't put a price on. 

P.S. Last week, she threatened to move out if I didn't agree to fix it. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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April 3, 2015

Lauding Over A Toilet Brush?


Not sure about this video on the SimpleHuman Toilet Brush

On one hand, it's funny to have such a serious video lauding the functionality and design of a toilet brush.

But on the other hand, the video is pretty darn convincing:

- Slim for easy placement and accessible for quick use. 

- A magnetic collar for picking up the brush and housing with one hand--no messy spills.

- With a stainless steel rod for stability and durability.

- Specially innovative design crescent-shaped brush for those hard to reach areas under the rim.

- Easily detachable brush for when you need replacement. 

- Comes in black and white--so fashionable. 

Ok, so now I have to admit that I ordered one of these today.

I'll let you know if it really works (Uh no!) ;-)
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March 30, 2015

That's Getting A LIttle Personal

This was a funny advertisement hanging in Hot Topic in the mall. 

It says: "Get in our pants"--well, excuse you!

Using sexual come-ons to sell, sell, sell...is not a new marketing strategy. 

As they say in the biz world, "Sex sells!"

Perhaps a more targeted ad about quality, fit, and pricing would be more to the product point.

But why sell with facts, when you can sell with fantasy. ;-)

(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
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April 6, 2011

Ads Here, There, Everywhere


This is wild--Adzookie, a mobile advertising company that puts location-based ads out on cell phones, is doing some unbelievable advertising of its own...

They are offering to paint people's houses and even pay their mortgages every month that you let them have their brightly colored billboard painted onto the side of your house.

In less than a day, they got applications from 1000 homeowners (and even one church)!

Is this a sign of the tough economic times or what?

A number of important lessons here:

1) In case we already didn't learn from Google, advertising is really big business--my G-d, this company will pay your mortgage for you just to advertise on your house. (okay it is a big advertisement and all...)

2) Advertising going online, is old news; the new news is that it's going mobile, big time. Folks, the ads are following us. Wherever we go, the ads will be there. From print to TV to billboards on the side of the road and at bus stops, to the Internet and to our smartphones--there is no escape!

3) People will do almost anything for money (this is an old lesson revisited)--even make their "home sweet homes" into the laughing stock of the neighborhood--or do some people actually think this looks cool?

4) Technology is an enabler to make our lives more convenient (news, shopping, etc.) and a richer experience, but it also lets those obtrusive advertisements pop up or crawl across the computer screen when/where NOT desired. As technology is part of virtually every facet of our lives, the potential for advertising here, there, and everywhere can really go overboard. Perhaps, the time is ripe for additional privacy settings on our computers/phones, so that we could block ads (when we want to) and have the equivalent of a "do not call list" for those pesky ads that just never seem to give up--like the Energizer Bunny--"they just keep going and going and going."

When it comes to technology (and the rest of our environment), I believe that we have to be able to control the flow--whether it's information or advertising.

Even too much of a good thing, can be a real eye sore.

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