Eu versus os maus (parte II)

Parte I. 

Ao minuto 32:44:

"Something I’ve noticed is that many people in the clothing industry right now are struggling with dupes on Amazon. People are often just choosing the lowest-cost option. That may be because of the current economy, or for many other reasons, but it’s happening more and more.

For example, if you go on Amazon looking for a Lululemon shirt, you might find the exact same shirt listed there with the same photo — which really should be illegal — and people are choosing that option instead. So, the question is: is the brand not strong enough to keep people willing to pay the higher price just for the status symbol of the Lululemon logo?

- When you choose your customers, you choose your future. When you choose your competition, you choose your future. And when you choose your marketplace, you choose your future. If you set up shop on a crowded street corner where everyone is selling stolen goods on folding tables, and you say, “No, no, mine is much better — it’s $30,000,” you won’t sell anything. You made the choice to sell on that corner.

- Lululemon, for example, made some brilliant marketing and business decisions — my friend Steph Corker helped build that company. But that doesn’t mean they are entitled to charge their prices to every single person on the planet. It doesn’t last forever. The story they told and the change they sought to make resonated with all the yoga moms. But now, if they want to reach the next circle of customers, they face new challenges.

- As marketers, we can’t feel entitled. We have to be empathetic. We need to acknowledge: “Yes, you’re right. If I were in your position, with your income and the story you tell yourself about your income, there’s no way I would buy Lululemon either. Of course, I would buy the knockoff. That’s the right choice for you.” Everyone does what feels like the right thing for them to do — if they are informed.

- So the real challenge is: how do you inform people in such a way that, based on who they are, what they believe, and what they see, they will make the choice you’re hoping they will make? It won’t happen just because you tell them they’re wrong."

A questão da contrafacção na Amazon mostra bem como a reacção dos clientes não é “maldade”, mas consequência de escolhas estratégicas. Se a proposta de valor não for suficientemente clara ou diferenciada, muitos clientes optarão pela alternativa mais barata. Isso não é injustiça; é simplesmente a lógica do sistema a funcionar, como Roger Martin escreveu: “If your offering is mediocre, customers won’t be loyal, competitors will attack you, and investors will shy away from you… But that is not meanness, it is fairness.”

Da mesma forma, Seth Godin insiste que não podemos ser “entitled” como marketers. É preciso empatia: compreender porque é que, no lugar deles, os clientes escolheriam o artigo fake. O que nos remete para a ideia de que, quando a estratégia é fraca por demasiado tempo, cria-se a ilusão de que os outros são maus. Na realidade, eles apenas reagem com racionalidade às escolhas que a empresa fez.

BTW, enquanto marcas como a Lululemon conseguiram contar uma boa história e servir bem o seu público (as “yoga moms”), colheram lealdade e margens. Quando quiseram aumentar quota de mercado ...

Trecho retirado desta conversa "How to Build a Magnetic Brand that Sells Itself ft. Seth Godin"