You know, that it is Christmas time when two things happen...
(1) People standing in line for 48 hours camped outside Best Buy during 48 hours of waiting for the latest version of the PlayStation, or...
(2) The Internet fever giveaway really later heats - more on this subject.
The current Playstation mania is an incredible marketing lesson. But I missed the importance of what was current until a friend me slapped in the face with it this morning...
DUMB LIKE A FOX...
Our friend - I will call him AJ - a, said this morning that he and his wife had just returned from Wal-Mart where they had been camping for 48 hours get a 4 available PlayStation 3, when they went on sale...
Incredible! I thought he was crazy when he told us this. Who wants a PlayStation bad enough to be maintained online 48 hours?
Well...
He said with a smile, "we have two!
So much! He was again 48 hours in front of a store, right? Really should your children I PlayStation that evil?
"Oh, they are not for children! We have listed their eBay less than an hour, "he said, still smiling." "And they are an average of 5 000 to 7 000 dollars." Some have sold for over $14,000. "Search for" playstation 3 "on eBay. I've blown the price.
I was stunned. Not because the price (people pay the outrageous price for anything), or because my "crazy" friend actually did $ 390 per hour if it sells for $7000, but because I had totally skillfully missed the lesson of marketing any drawn by Sony, and Wal-Mart.
Six advisers marketing base of classical book of Robert Cialdini, "Influence: the psychology of Persuasion", are in full view!
* Authority - R Love em or hate, they are the big kahuna in mega retail store. If they announce that they have 4 PlayStation in stock..., they have 4 and only 4 in stock. But they promise they can get more because... Well, they can.
* Liking - People live almost to the convenience of Wal-Mart and service translate into customers with unwavering loyalty to them, often because they have become the only game in town.
* Engagement with consistency - we will see. Standing outdoors in November under the rain for 48 hours to be the first online for the release of a new product. It's serious commitment!
* Reciprocity - Wal-Mart offers free (and massive) PS3 guide the buyer on their site that provides all the information you need to make a decision between the basic units of $500 and $600 and all necessary accessories. Giving information complete not only implements persuade authority but also makes you value the content and feel indebted to the retailer. Which is called reciprocity.
* The social proof - the press was lapping of the releases from Sony on the date of launch of PlayStation and the absence of a product. And game blogs can talk of nothing else.
* Rarity - Sony is really smart! They do every year. Release enough only for the product hot to create an insatiable appetite for it. They have warehouses full of PlayStation, but they did release until the market asks for more information.
HOW DID I MISS THIS!
AJ knew - before he invested the time to stand in line - that the market has been redesigned for the product. And he saw the opportunity.
He did not intend to keep the PlayStation itself. His research on eBay has confirmed that the PS3 fans were rabid and would pay any price!
As any good marketer, he forgot the first rule: determine that wants to market and sell to them. As Mark Hendricks, a master marketer and creator of the gifts of Christmas season, likes to say, it is the difference between "marketing" and "sell" - it is much easier to make money when you're providing a highly sought after service.
Selling something is is hard work, indeed. Marketing is easy.
I should have given too. I studied with some great internet marketing specialists. Most teaches the basic principles of the book by Robert Cialdini.
MADNESS OF CHRISTMAS...
During the season of Christmas, online marketing specialists rush to the Internet to collect donations - generally of information products and software tools. Always free, hence the name giveaway, is designed to drive traffic. All six Councilors of the Cialdini are used to create buzz, to exchange gifts for the names and e-mail addresses.
The 12 days of Christmas is the grandfather for the extravagance of gifts online and Mark Hendricks is the father of the concept. For several years now, Mark has brought together more than 75 top marketers to earn hundreds of products in the month of December.
Because the concept has therefore worked well and became a fixture of Internet marketing, a wide range of gifts pop-up. It is now a standard tool in the Toolbox of each trader. Why it work so well. It is based on one of the advisors of the Cialdini - reciprocity.
I give something and you will feel obliged to give me something in return. It is a technique used everywhere in the world. When you go to the grocery store, committed to stand in the stations of sample offering everything, cubes of cheese to the portions of spaghetti and meatballs. Why? If you take a sample, the chances are good that you will purchase the product.
But at Christmas...Phew! It is difficult to follow and maintain sufficient free disk space on your computer for all the possibilities for gifts online.
Six advisers (everything included above) are real. Until I am involved in the Internet, I had no idea me was "satisfied" at every turn. We all react to them, will forever and have since the first caveman attempts to sell the first hunk of meat to his neighbour.
It took a PlayStation 3 and the AJ to point me to the "real" world to see it in action there too.
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David Perdew is an enthusiastic student of success on the Internet ([http://www.the60dayexperiment.com/recommends/iss.htm]) system and a contributor to 12 days of Christmas (http://www.the60dayexperiment.com/go/12Days.htm). You can read how it incorporates brand marketing techniques on his blog ([http://www.the60dayexperiment.com/blog/12day.htm]).
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