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Truth Two - From Facts to Truth

Like it or not, perception is reality. Give up your fixation on the facts (the what), and be fanatical about your audience’s truth (the why).

Years ago I studied magic with one of the most knowledgeable and skillful practitioners in his field. This guy would spend hour upon hour perfecting the most novel illusions and esoteric sleights. In fact, he had become so expert at his art that he even fooled most professional magicians. He was the "best." And you’ve probably never heard of him. Because unfortunately for him - and for scores of others - being the best is not the route to success. Yes, the "fact" was that the quality of his magic was beyond compare, but the "facts" didn’t matter much to his audience. What mattered to them was how they were feeling during his performance - their "truth." And their "truth" was that they were less interested in his technical proficiency and more interested in being entertained.

Most people and organizations get this wrong. Like my magical friend, they obsess over the "facts" - the features, attributes and quality of their offering, while ignoring the “truth” - the feelings of their audience. They focus on the rational and measurable, and disregard the emotional and ethereal. But a product or service is never more than a means to an end. And that end, that truth, is always a feeling. It’s the feeling that draws an audience in. They want to get lost in your marketing. They want to feel the importance and meaning of what you offer - for themselves, in their guts - rather than having it be overt and obvious. They don’t want to be objectively convinced. They want to subjectively believe!

It may be difficult for you to operate from this new paradigm - this new assumption about how the world works. To accept that changing people’s behavior happens mostly by speaking to their feelings, rather than to their rational minds. Your education and training has programmed you to be skillful in the techniques of selling and the art of persuasion. To strive for perfection in your products and services. To convey the "facts" and make well-reasoned arguments with adequate evidence. It’s okay. Don’t feel badly. Even some of the world’s most successful organizations have been drawn to this outdated mode of thinking.

Try to imagine spending millions of dollars and polling tens of thousands of customers to improve the quality of your product. And then after releasing the new and improved version an immediate and very loud protest is raised . . . by those very same customers! That’s right. Long before they'd tasted a sip, millions of Americans had decided they hated New Coke. Yes, in blind taste tests they had consistently said they liked the new formula better. But a soft drink is much more than merely its taste. Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most successful companies, had ignored the truth - the emotional connection its audience had developed with its brand - and focused instead on the facts.

An airline executive once remarked, "If passengers see dirty trays or seat pockets, they can’t be sure that we did a good job servicing the airplane engines." Logical? Of course not. Should he argue that fact with the passengers? Of course not. Is it logical to pay more for sodium chloride, simply because it comes in a blue box with a picture of a little girl holding an umbrella on it? Do you think Morton Salt cares? Is it logical to pay big bucks for a gas guzzling SUV and never tow a darn thing, nor take the vehicle off road? Think GM cares? And does it make sense to pay a dollar for a bookmark, when you could simply use the dollar bill as the bookmark?

The truth is the why behind the buy. To Coke drinkers it was the feeling of being traditional and old-fashioned. New Coke? Oxymoron! A slap in the face. To Harley riders it’s the rough, Wild Bunch image. Market a Harley Ford pickup truck and watch it sore. Market a Harley minivan and experience the wrath of the HOG’s (Harley Owners Group). The key to success in business today is to forget the language of logic and arguments, and become proficient at the language of feelings and beliefs. Discover and appeal to your audience’s why . . . their truth. If you focus on the facts, you’ll believe that your mission should be to convey those facts. Wrong! The truth rules. Everything is subjective. Every decision is driven by what is inside someone - memories, images, stories and feelings - not what’s on the outside.

Posted June 12, 2006
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Comments

MOst of experts in Brand Strategy mention the same BRand names and their cases as exsamples over and over again. COke, Harley, Problems of GM. These are brands which have proven over a period of time their commitments and strategies , be it failures or success.

Why dont BRand strategist try to to give new brand exsamples and predict what can happen to them.

Posted by: Shirish | June 12, 2006 at 05:51 AM

"Ignoring the “truth” - the feelings of their audience"- it's agreat point.

Fot media companies audience loyalty is the crucial factor. That is why they are trying to get real-time feedback frjm their readers/listeners when trying to find new positioning or make other drastic steps.

See a case study showing how a leading regional newspaper evolved into a dynamic multimedia company and used WebSurveyor online research tools to make this transition more effective.


http://www.websurveyor.com/company/websurveyor-customer-profile.asp?c=765


Posted by: Yegor Kuznetsov | June 14, 2006 at 11:07 AM

Great point Shirish. Speaking for myself, I provide well known examples because I'm pretty sure that this diverse audience of readers has heard of them, and thus my point will resonate. When I speak to a specific company or industry, I use less well known, yet more relevant brand examples.

Posted by: Tom Asacker | June 14, 2006 at 11:43 AM

I've seen plenty of companies market themselves in a product-centric manner as opposed to customer-centric. I've always felt that if was a false choice to begin with, but they didn't, and inevitablely then then ended up choosing the 'wrong' choice.

This also goes back to the feature vs. benefit argument, another false choice. BOTH are important, and organizations should discuss both as a result. It's the language that's important. While I fully agree with your point that the WHY needs to be the main focus, the WHAT still is essential.

It is obvious that when a company focuses too much on features and not benefits, people feel detached from the marketing message. Because it is not about them. But when the discussion is all about benefits, they may be equally as frustrated. Because the 'benefits' may not solve their concerns.

I guess I feel this was because I remember a few years ago when a bunch of companies were coming out with "solutions", but they couldn't explain what the hell it exactly was...but they'd kill me with the love of benefits. My response was...but, what exactly IS it you're trying to sell me?

So I agree that company's need to be more devoted to the "Why", but they can't forget about the "What".

Posted by: Jonathan Trenn | August 30, 2006 at 08:49 AM

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