Welcome to Compositions, James DeKoven's column about brand communications. This time around: 

• Do people believe you?
• The right size cart
• Recent projects
• Album of the month

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Do people believe you?
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Belief is one of the most powerful forces in our lives, the conduit for much human activity. Belief pushes us toward a particular faith, it convinces us that he or she is “the one”, it drives us to a specific career, it compels us to write novels and create art.

Belief is also the primary factor in selling. The more that people believe you, the more likely they are to buy.

Belief comes in the form of making a promise that people can, well, believe. Your copy describes why customers will benefit from the product. Your imagery evokes how wonderful life will be with that product. You offer case studies and testimonials as proof to back up your claims.

But people aren’t convinced by claims. They buy because they BELIEVE those claims. 

Now unless you’re proficient at brainwashing or black magic, there’s no sure way to create belief. However, you can increase the odds with messages that YOU believe.

I say so because marketers often try creating belief with tactics that THEY wouldn’t believe. The offending companies (or most of them) aren’t consciously trying to manipulate. Rather, in an attempt to be creative, or to conform to cliché marketing speak, they come off sounding like they’re full of it when, actually, they might have a perfectly legitimate product.

That’s a mistake you can’t afford. So examine whether your message is believable enough for people to act. Because belief is the only thing that matters.

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The right size cart
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Next time you leisurely push your shopping cart through the grocery store, feeling as if it’s the most obvious thing to do, consider this: There was a time when shoppers had to stock up with hand-held baskets. Accordingly, they were restricted to buying what could fit in that little basket. When the basket got heavy, they stopped shopping and checked out.

Everything changed in1936. Sylvan Goldman, who owned the Piggly Wiggly market chain in Oklahoma, realized how basket size dictated purchase size.  One day while sitting in his office, he noticed two folding chairs and had an insight: Put a basket on the seat and wheels on the legs and presto, a shopping basket that could roll. Goldman worked with a mechanic named Fred Young to develop his idea, giving us the modern day shopping cart.

Now the small basket was a big cart. People could put more groceries in it. They could spend more time at the market because it was easier to shop. They bought more groceries. The carts had such a positive impact - on both the shopping experience and sales - that a 1940 edition of the Saturday Evening Post called it “the cart that changed the world.”

While you may not sell Wheaties or cans of baked beans, you do need to have a big enough shopping cart - that is, figuratively. Meaning that it’s easier for prospects to buy when they identify with your message. They need to know that they fit, that it’s for them.

Review your messaging and product/service descriptions. Do you include real-life scenarios and how you help overcome problems, or do you congratulate yourself about your “innovative approach”? Action step: List all of your audience’s problems and buying criteria, then see if your messaging addresses those things. Focus on tangible results and forget everything else.

Review your tagline or descriptor. This small element, in itself, can either convey the value you provide or cause confusion. Action step: If people could only have one thought about your business, what would it be? Capture it.

Review your brand identity. Does it match the desired perception? Do you appear too expensive? Like an amateur? Action step:  Consider a re-fresh so the identity truly appeals to the target audience.

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Album of the Month
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If you’re a junkie for true soul music, check out Down & Out: The Sad Soul of the Black South. It’s a mighty collection of tales of heartbreak, cheating, redemption, pleading, yearning and hope. The emotionally devastating 24 songs were recorded throughout the 60s and early 70s, when R&B artists seemed to have actually experienced the topics of their songs. That’s how we like it around these parts.

Until next time,

James