Let’s Talk About Brand Benefits and a Reason to Believe
While these might seem like the simplest of all the exercises in the brand development process, they’re the most critical
Years ago, I consulted for a consumer electronics company, and I was tasked with talking about microwaves. The product manager assured me that this microwave wasn’t your ordinary model—its inverter technology and True Variable Power™ were second to none. He proceeded to rattle off a litany of features in a language that vaguely resembled Greek. And don’t even get me started on its TurboDefrost™ capabilities! This microwave was a short leap from NASA. “It could change the world,” the product manager said with a straight face.
I took it all in. Then I asked, “What’s inverter technology?” In response, the product manager looked at me as if I were an extraterrestrial. I explained that my job was to convince people they needed to fork over a massive wad of cash for a microwave when they could easily buy one from Amazon for $80. While our target audience has the money to spend, they aren’t splurging on an appliance that reheats food.
I asked: What does this thing do besides reheat food? How would this microwave make customers’ lives easier or better than their existing option? What are they gaining to…
