I love marketing. My first experience with marketing was accidental. It all started in the year 1960 or 61. Our Boy Scout troop was going to summer camp and I wanted to go just like all the other scouts. The problem was that the cost for the two weeks at camp was substantial and would have meant some serious sacrifices for my parents to afford to send me. My parents had already sacrificed a lot and I wasn’t so sure I wanted to bring this home to them. Then the scoutmaster had another announcement that was the answer to my problem. One of us scouts was going to go to camp at no cost.
Every spring there was a Boy Scout Jamboree held at the local coliseum. It was an exciting time with all the troops in the area participating in a demonstration of our many skills. This year we were going to stage a real honest to goodness attack on a wagon train by a group of wild Indians. We were going to use all our skills to build the wagons and horses. The wagons would be miniatures of the real thing and the horses would be plywood cutouts that the riders held onto. The planning and preparation would take months.
The problem was that the jamborees were not well attended. A lot of parents and some relatives but that was about it. The scoutmasters wanted to see a larger audience so that the whole affair would be more spectacular. They had visions of filling the coliseum. For us scouts, it would be a moment to remember. To get more people at the jamboree, a contest was going to be run. Every year the scouts sold tickets to the jamboree. This year the scout who sold the most tickets would go to camp free. I was pumped. This was my opportunity to unload the burden from my parents. I immediately hit the streets knocking on doors. I discovered that everyone would buy at least one ticket from me. What a salesman.
My cousin Fred followed me on one of my sales trips and he said after five or six sales, “Hey you could sell anything.” I said, “Yes I can.” Then he told me why. He said, “Those people don’t have a chance with you being on crutches.” I came to the conclusion that Fred was right so we just kept knocking on doors. When I finally turned in my sales I sold more than three times as many tickets as my nearest competitor. I won. Now I think that was a little deceptive. I wasn’t lying to anyone. The jamboree was a spectacular event that year. The problem was that many of the people who bought a ticket didn’t get any value for their outlay. They weren’t going to the jamboree and I knew it but that didn’t stop me from selling them the ticket.
There's an example of deceptive advertising that really gets me angry. I’ve seen it in print and on television and now I've found it on the Internet. Actually this example isn’t quite as bad as the others because it tells the whole story. The American Diabetes Services has a web site where they provide low cost and free diabetic supplies. There’s an article on the site titled New Advances in Pain-Free Testing for Diabetics. An excerpt from the article says the following.
Every spring there was a Boy Scout Jamboree held at the local coliseum. It was an exciting time with all the troops in the area participating in a demonstration of our many skills. This year we were going to stage a real honest to goodness attack on a wagon train by a group of wild Indians. We were going to use all our skills to build the wagons and horses. The wagons would be miniatures of the real thing and the horses would be plywood cutouts that the riders held onto. The planning and preparation would take months.
The problem was that the jamborees were not well attended. A lot of parents and some relatives but that was about it. The scoutmasters wanted to see a larger audience so that the whole affair would be more spectacular. They had visions of filling the coliseum. For us scouts, it would be a moment to remember. To get more people at the jamboree, a contest was going to be run. Every year the scouts sold tickets to the jamboree. This year the scout who sold the most tickets would go to camp free. I was pumped. This was my opportunity to unload the burden from my parents. I immediately hit the streets knocking on doors. I discovered that everyone would buy at least one ticket from me. What a salesman.
My cousin Fred followed me on one of my sales trips and he said after five or six sales, “Hey you could sell anything.” I said, “Yes I can.” Then he told me why. He said, “Those people don’t have a chance with you being on crutches.” I came to the conclusion that Fred was right so we just kept knocking on doors. When I finally turned in my sales I sold more than three times as many tickets as my nearest competitor. I won. Now I think that was a little deceptive. I wasn’t lying to anyone. The jamboree was a spectacular event that year. The problem was that many of the people who bought a ticket didn’t get any value for their outlay. They weren’t going to the jamboree and I knew it but that didn’t stop me from selling them the ticket.
There's an example of deceptive advertising that really gets me angry. I’ve seen it in print and on television and now I've found it on the Internet. Actually this example isn’t quite as bad as the others because it tells the whole story. The American Diabetes Services has a web site where they provide low cost and free diabetic supplies. There’s an article on the site titled New Advances in Pain-Free Testing for Diabetics. An excerpt from the article says the following.
“For many people living with diabetes, frequent testing of blood glucose levels can be the most valuable tool for maintaining control of symptoms and avoiding long term complications. New advances in pain free testing, including painless glucose monitors from many manufacturers, make pricked fingers and drawing blood a thing of the past.”Now isn’t that exciting. That’s what I’ve heard on television and I’ve seen in print advertising. I was excited the first time I heard the message on television. Twenty five years of drawing blood four plus times a day was over. If you read on, the article says.
“Alternative site monitors allow the patient to replace finger sticks with blood draws in less sensitive areas of the body such as the forearm and thigh.”Watch for the television commercials. This last part either isn’t mentioned or it’s so subtle you wouldn’t notice. Less sensitive areas! What a ruse. I’m marketing myself to agents with an honest query letter. Now I wonder if I should make some changes. Let me see. The most successful salesman the world has ever seen writes about his easy to use methods. It's got a chance.
3 comments:
When I first saw that commercial I couldn't wait to call you. Thank God it was in the middle of the night and I had time to think about where you could stick you self without it hurting. I knew right away the eye was not the place. Anyway I figured it out the same as you so I never said anything. Maybe they need to find away to incorporate taking samples within you pump.
So taking blood from my forarm is painless. I wish I could test it on the people who produced the commercial. Try it five or six times a day.
Incorporating into the pump - that's a great idea.
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