Humans are creatures of habit. We tend not to change our behavior unless the incentive to change is compelling. We prefer that things stay the same or change as little as possible, which makes it hard for us to break out of our set patterns and routines.
Psychology shows us that breaking this status quo bias and developing new habits is one of the most difficult things to do. Yet companies develop innovative offerings and expect consumers to readily change existing habits and adopt new habits all the time!
Even if you have a solution that absolutely targets consumers’ problems dead-on and you know will delight them, consumers still need some help knowing when to turn to your solution and how to use it. You can use advertising and marketing to show them when and how to use your solution.
Consumer packaged goods companies do this particularly well. Just think of the Tide to Go commercial with the woman who is about to make a big presentation, spots a stain, quickly removes it with the handy Tide to Go pen that her coworker hands her, and confidently gives her presentation. To my mind this 30-second commercial is effective because it incorporates the following three key elements:
- Shows a circumstance where the job-to-be-done is acutely important and for which a solution either is not available or falls short. Removing a fresh juice stain on a blouse just minutes before a big presentation (yikes!)
- Shows the consumer how the solution is used to effectively solve their job. Can be pulled out of a purse, quickly applied, and dry in the time span of an introduction.
- Makes it clear that your solution is the best out there for this job in this circumstance. What else could this poor businesswoman have done? Go out there and make her big presentation with a stain on her shirt? Keep her
audience waiting while she runs to the bathroom to apply cold water? With Tide to Go, she removes the stain and confidently delivers her presentation.
Remember, it is not enough to develop a great product, you need to crisply communicate when your solution can be used, how it works and why it’s the best solution to get the job done!
Natalie Painchaud is director of client learning at Innosight. via blog.innosight.com
Jim Woods is president and founder of InnoThink Group. A global management consulting firms specialized solely in helping organizations of all sizes in all industries catalyzing top line growth through strategic innovation and hypercompetition. Jim has over 25 years consulting experience in working with small, mid size and Fortune 1000 companies. He is a former U.S. Navy Seabee and grandfather of five. Jim is board president of a charter school located in Colorado Springs whose sole purpose is to prepare otherwise disadvantaged students more competitively for college. To arrange for Jim to speak at your next event or devise an effective hypercompetition strategy email or call us at 719-649-4118 for availability. Subscribe to our innovation and hypercompetition newsletter.
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