The #1 Thing Marketers Always Forget

Hint: It's a real problem

Oct 12, 2021

👋, I’m Kimberly. I’ve been creating obsession-worthy brands for the past fifteen years. And now, I’m giving away my secrets every week in this newsletter.

This past weekend in San Francisco was crazy-beautiful-stunning. Bright blue skies, sun shining, and just enough of a breeze that you weren’t sweltering.

Luckily, the weather coincided with the return of one of SF’s biggest outdoor events that quite literally shakes up the whole city: Fleet Week.

Here is my son Chell enjoying the air show.

Fleet Week in SF can be pretty polarizing—most residents either love it, or hate it. And I’m firmly in the love camp.

I love seeing the brave people from all of the different organizations that keep us safe getting recognized and celebrated. I love watching the pilots show off their incredibly impressive skills and artistry in the air. And this year in particular, I loved hearing groups gather on rooftops and at the beach—laughing and having fun again.

Beginning on Thursday in the Marina district where I live, windows start rattling and houses start shaking as the practice flights begin.

And if this happens while I’m on a conference call, it’s ok with me.

“I’m sorry—I didn’t catch that! A fighter jet was doing a nosedive right above my apartment" is always an ok excuse for asking someone to repeat something.

Here’s How This Relates to Today’s Newsletter

On Saturday, I covered Chell in sunscreen, packed up some snacks, and walked out to Marina Green—where all of the Fleet Week booths and official viewing areas are set up.

One block from the entrance, we passed by a long table covered in handmade signs and manned by three gangly young boys in different colored baseball caps—two of whom were playfully punching each other.

“Do you want some lemonade? It’s for our school. And it comes with a free cookie.” shouted the boy in the blue baseball cap.

“No thank you,” I answered with a smile—pushing Chell in his little trike and continuing on our way.

And while the temptation of lemonade (and a free cookie!) had not made me stop, Blue Baseball Cap’s words had given me pause—because his pitch contained the #1 mistake I see marketers making today.

So, look Blue Baseball Cap’s Lemonade Pitch to see:

What he did right
What he could have done better
What learnings you can apply to your marketing

The Lemonade Pitch: The Breakdown

Blue Baseball Cap’s pitch started out with a very clear question:

“Do you want some lemonade?”

The question has an open and inviting tone. Blue Baseball Cap isn’t asking me to “buy” or “purchase” the lemonade. His phrasing sounds more like the offering of a friend, which endears me to him.
Blue Baseball Cap puts me immediately into the story with his question. It prompts me to think about what I do want—or not want.
Blue Baseball Cap does not waste my time. His question is direct, and I appreciate that.

I immediately react to the question, and my body tells me either “Oh yes, lemonade sounds lovely right now!” or “Mmm, no, I’m ok at my current level of hydration and have no need of a lemon beverage, thank you.”

Blue Baseball Cap’s question is then followed up with a very clear statement:

“It’s for our school.”

This statement gives me a taste of the purpose behind the lemonade stand.

The profits will benefit the boys’ school, which makes it tied to education—a cause pretty much anyone and everyone is always happy to support. That’s the reason we all buy wrapping paper, candies, and now (potentially) lemonade from elementary-aged minions trying to raise funds for their schools.

I’m happy to know that this is, in fact, a mission-driven lemonade stand.

Having a clear and compelling mission, as well as some sort of a give-back tie in, is table stakes for today’s brands trying to appeal to conscious consumers. And obviously, Blue Baseball Cap knows this.

As such, the statement does its job of making me more likely to support it—now that I understand the cause involved.

Blue Baseball Cap closes with sweetened-up deal:

And it comes with a free cookie.

Blue Baseball Cap includes the magic word “free” here in his offer.

This is great, because everyone likes getting something extra for free. It’s why brands are always throwing in the extras when they are trying to entice you—free shipping, free samples, free gift bags, free doubles (aka two-for-one deals).

It doesn’t really matter if these free extras are worth all that much. The idea of them being “free” has an immediate effect on our brains. Even the most minimalist among us likes the idea of something more that he doesn’t need to pay for.

And if that extra thing is a cookie, all the better.

To recap, Blue Baseball Cap’s original pitch has a lot going for it:

A clear and friendly question to open
A statement of company purpose and a give-back
A free extra benefit for the customer

But, he could have done better if he had known…

The #1 Thing Marketers Forget

A few weeks ago, I interviewed video storyteller Ryan Koral—and he talked about the importance of conflict in every good story:

Every element of the story is necessary, but a lot of times people forego talking about the conflict. They assume it’s obvious. People know that this is a bad thing, so they start talking about the solution. But you need to address my problem.

And this is where I see so many marketers misstep.

Marketers forget to talk directly about the problem they’re solving.

They assume the problem is known, and they want to stay positive in tone—so they don’t go into it.

Instead, they launch right into the product benefits, asking you to buy, and piling on free offers—exactly like Blue Baseball Cap did.

But, if you really want to hook people in and get them involved in your narrative, you need to make the problem known.

With this in mind, let’s look at how Blue Baseball Cap could have taken his Lemonade Pitch to the next level.

The Lemonade Pitch: Customer Strategy

Blue Baseball Cap needed to get into the mind of his customer—in this case, a person going to Fleet Week.

There are two types of people coming to see Fleet Week in SF.

I’ll call them both “Fleet-Goers.”

The Fleet Goers who live in the neighborhood
The Fleet Goers who traveled from other locations in SF or the Bay Area

If I were strategizing for this lemonade stand, I would look at them both separately, and answer the following questions about them:

What could the Fleet Goers have been frustrated by before they got to the lemonade stand?
What could the Fleet Goers be frustrated by after they leave the lemonade stand?

Here’s how it could break down.

The Fleet-Goer Who Lives in the Neighborhood

Before she got to the lemonade stand, she could have been frustrated by:
A car that parked and blocked her driveway because of the crowds. Having to pack up snacks and food and maybe forgetting something. People not driving well because they’re distracted.
After the lemonade stand, she could be frustrated by:
Too many people. Long lines for everything inside.

The Fleet-Goer Who Traveled

Before she got to the lemonade stand, she could have been frustrated by:
Finding parking—it’s a mess. Crazy traffic to get into and around the city.
After the lemonade stand, she could be frustrated by:
Too many people. Long lines for everything inside.

Looking at our two types of Fleet-Goers, the frustrations evident once arriving at the lemonade stand are different—but the potential frustrations after leaving are the same.

One difficulty of the man-on-the-street pitch like the Lemonade Stand is the limited targeting capabilities. It can be impossible to tell whether the person walking toward the Marina Green is a local or a traveler.

Luckily, there is a crystal clear connection between what would frustrate your two types of Fleet-Goers once inside: the crazy long lines and the wait times to get a beverage.

The Lemonade Pitch: An Incredibly Simple Upgrade

Blue Baseball Cap had great instincts to open with a question that puts the reader in the story, but it was the wrong question.

Here’s the right one:

“Do you like waiting in lines?”

Now, unless someone is a masochist or has some kind of line fetish, the answer is going to be no.

The minute a Fleet-Goer hears this question, it will set off immediate alarm bells.

The bells will be even stronger if the Fleet-Goer is a person who traveled to the event—and has likely just come from sitting in traffic or searching for parking (not lines in the strictest sense, but activities that I’d call line-adjacent that rouse similar emotions).

“More waiting? No! That sounds like the worst,” the Fleet-Goer will think.

In one of my favorite books, Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade, professor of psychology and marketing Robert Cialdini details how people are much more likely to participate when they are “primed” by promoting a certain mindset ahead of time.

A scientific study found that when stopped on the street, only 33 percent of individuals would share their email address to get a free sample of a new soft drink. However, when the scientists first asked, “Do you consider yourself to be somebody who is adventurous and likes to try new things?” more than 75 percent gave their email addresses.
Virtually every person answered that she considered herself to be adventurous, which isn’t terribly surprising. But that simple, single-chute question helped reframe the request and made individuals more likely to agree. Similar results can be attained by asking questions like, “Do you consider yourself to be a helpful person?”

By asking the Fleet-Goers if they like waiting in lines, the effect is twofold: (1) It primes them to participate and (2) it speaks directly to the potential frustration that awaits them inside.

Now—you’ve got them. And you can continue with your pitch.

“Do you like waiting in lines? You’ll have to wait 30 minutes for a drink at the festival. But, you can get a fresh-squeezed lemonade right here, right now, and bring it in with you. And did I mention the proceeds all benefit our school to help us buy painting supplies for our art class? You also get a free cookie baked by my mom—she’s a pastry chef at the French bakery right over there on Chestnut Street.”

You’ll notice that in the example above, after asking the priming question, I followed it up with an explicit callout of the pain to come:

You’ll have to wait 30 minutes for a drink at the festival.

I also took a few liberties to make the offer sound even more enticing:

“Fresh squeezed” lemonade—because everyone loves fresh, and this indicates higher quality
“Bring it in with you”—because this was true, outside food and beverages were ok to have at the venue, so no need to chug it
“Help us buy painting supplies for our art class”—because this gives a very specific visual picture of what the funds are used for. When the Fleet-Goers hear this, they can see the kids in a classroom, painting with colors on canvases.
“Baked by my mom”—because this adds a nice personal touch
“She’s a pastry chef”—because this gives mom credibility
“at the French bakery right over there on Chestnut Street”—because this makes it even more local, and everyone loves supporting local

I realize these are a lot of embellishments, but they each serve a distinct purpose.

And even if I had not added all of the embellishments…

I 100% guarantee you that simply changing the opening question of Blue Baseball Cap’s Lemonade Pitch from “Do you want some lemonade?” to “Do you like waiting in lines?” would have had a positive impact on sales.

No Pain? No Gain.

Chell loved watching all of the planes at Fleet Week. But unfortunately, the big Blue Angels finale coincided with his nap time.

Chell may have missed out on an important part of the show, but you don’t have to miss out on an important opportunity to engage your customers.

Don’t forget to speak to their problems, before jumping headfirst into the solutions.

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About Me

I help early stage founders create the kind of brands that get customers so obsessed, they’ll do your advertising for you.

Based on my experience founding my own consumer brand, I developed The Branding Sprint—a uniquely collaborative, streamlined, and agile approach to brand creation.

Click here to learn more about The Branding Sprint, or schedule a call with me.

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