Grin In Your Face

When you get in the shopper’s face, have a grin on your face.
     Forceful sales techniques—such as urging the consumer to take action—can make the sale. An advertising campaign designed by The Richards Group for The Scotts Company, manufacturer of yard care products, includes a TV ad which tells consumers to stop lollygagging and ends with the words, “Feed your lawn. FEED IT.” This in-your-face approach works, research suggests, because the verbal harassment is delivered by a whimsical character named Scott who has a whimsical Scottish accent.
     An online campaign designed by DDB Chicago and the Ad Council lets the consumer select the quality of the sales pitch by moving a slider among thirteen videos. The target audience consists of people without a high school diploma. The objective is to convince them to enroll in General Equivalency Degree (GED) classes. The in-your-face argument is made by comedian Jerry Stiller. Other videos include the milder “Convincing” by “The Sopranos” actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler and the “Fierce” by professional wrestler The Miz. The gentler of the thirteen videos feature straight talk, while the more forceful arguments come across with a grin. Each of the thirteen videos ends with the call to action, “Enter your ZIP Code above to find GED classes in your area.”
     The online campaign assumes that a consumer will select the video which is aggressive enough to persuade. The humor injected into the higher-octane versions makes this more likely.
     The grin must have an undertone of caring. We’re laughing with the shopper, not at the shopper. When Scott urges us to feed the lawn, he comes across as wanting us to have nice, happy grass. When the thirteen celebrities make the case for getting a GED, it’s with a tone of “We want what’s best for you.”
     In fact, if the seller’s caring and the buyer’s commitment are both sufficient, the grin might be inadvisable. Consider the athletic coach who’s motivating his team members to perform at their maximum. Getting in their faces with humorless yelling works because the athletes view this as helping them achieve the win. A grinning sales pitch wouldn’t carry the same influence. What would be viewed as harassment in other situations works here because it’s clear to all that the coach cares about the team, the team cares about prevailing, and in-your-face coaching is the social norm from Little League on up.

Click below for more:
Humor Your Customers
Analyze the Role the Customer Expects