Marketing to Mind States to Move Markets Into Motion
My friend Curtis tells the story of why he a bought a Dodge Ram, as opposed to any number of other trucks in its class. And it was for all the right reasons, despite what he'll tell you...
He says it was for all the WRONG reasons:
"It wasn't the towing capacity. It wasn't the tech package. It wasn't fuel economy.
"It was my brother's 1969 Dodge Super Bee — army green, 383 Magnum, parked in the front yard when I was a kid. It was my dad's GM job before he got drafted. It was a cowboy hat I bought before I bought the truck."
👉 In other words, it wasn't the WHATs...it was the WHYs.
Lesson Two of Season Three: Market to Mindstates
Lesson 2 of the new season of Bullhorns & Bullseyes brings back William Leach, author of "Marketing to Mind States," to explain Curtis's wholly irrational buying decision.
Curtis may not have known it at the time, but his purchase was deeply rooted in behavioral psychology. As is most every purchase we humans make.
And here's why it matters: Your customers are acting just as irrationally. Not irresponsibly, mind you...just not intellectually. They are leaning into their own emotions—impulses that tell the mind what the heart wants...and why.
You may think your customers are basing their decisions on feature sets and performance claims; but Will is here to tell you:
"There’s a mechanism in the brain called the RAS: the Reticular Activating System. It sits at the base of the brain and acts as a filter, constantly sorting billions of pieces of incoming stimuli based on what’s relevant to your current goals and fears. If your marketing doesn’t speak to those goals or fears, it doesn’t make it through the filter. It doesn’t matter how well-produced the ad is. It won’t register.
"This is why understanding the 'bleeding neck problem' matters. Not the product spec. Not the differentiator. The specific pain that, if left unaddressed, is going to cause real damage. When you speak to that, you get through the filter. When you don’t, you’re invisible no matter how loud you turn up the volume.”
So, I hate to break it to you, Curtis. You didn't buy the Ram for all the wrong reasons...you did it for the only real reasons that truly mattered to you.
And that's worth its weight in marketing gold. Just ask the folks at Dodge Ram.
Watch, Listen, Learn + Subscribe:
Find Lesson 2 on the podcasting platform of your choice here, or watch the lesson in its entirety here: