Build Your Business with Uncommon Thinking...
At least, that's the mantra spoken by "message creation expert" Wazza Bray, founder and Managing Director of LMG Digital Media.
"What is uncommon thinking" you ask? In a nutshell, it's letting the market know that your business stands out from your competitors by thinking creatively, and not limiting our creativity just because it sounds too unrealistic or "dangerous".
In his presentation at the Wynnum & Districts Chamber of Commerce Business Luncheon on Wednesday 21st July 2010, Wazza imparted three principles when it comes to Uncommon Thinking;
First, Wazza suggested that we start thinking like a child again (What! You say...). He used the example of thinking like a six year old boy. In the world of a six year old boy anything is possible. His thinking and ideas are not constrained by physical limitations or rules or what is generally accepted by society. He can do anything!
Wazza recommended that we should start thinking like that when it comes to planning, or marketing or business. After all...it worked for Albert Einstein when he discovered the theory of relativity!
The second point Wazza made was to be aware of "Reticular Activating System" (RAS)...sounds fancy doesn't it! So what is it? Basically it describes a type of brain activity where once you become interested in something, all of a sudden you start noticing it all around you, whereas prior to your interest, you didn't notice it. For example, when you buy a new car, as you drive it home you notice that model of car everywhere on the road. Did hundreds of people buy the same car as you today? Of course not; you simply hadn't noticed them before because you had no reason to.
What this means for business is basically your product or service will be invisible until someone needs it! With this in mind, it is clear why our business must stand out from our competitors. We need to make sure that when someone is in the market for our product or service that we get noticed and remembered. And again, Wazza suggested the most effective way to do this is by using uncommon thinking...
The third point Wazza discussed was market research. It is important to note here that Wazza made it clear that due to the RAS phenomenon mentioned above, the question "How did you hear about us" will not give you a truly accurate answer when it comes to market research. The purchase process undertaken by consumers happens over time...they talk about it with others, they "window shop", they become familiar with a certain brand, and then, once they have finally made the purchase decision they look up the brand they are familiar with, often in the yellow pages, and contact you (we hope). So if you ask, "how did you find us?", what is their likely answer? "The yellow pages"! Clearly their purchase decision was not due to your ad in the yellow pages...it was part of a whole thought process together with effective branding.
Instead Wazza recommended that we ask direct questions...for example ask "what motivated you to choose us over our competitors" (i.e. what, according to the consumer, is your point of difference).
I think there is a valuable lesson learnt from understanding the human thought process when it comes to marketing your product/service. Just having a better understanding of the consumer purchase decision making process will help any business market themselves more effectively.
What do you think? We would love to hear about your marketing successes....
