Saturated Market: Room for one more?

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It's worth a shot

StrategyEvery time I see or hear a new ad for diet pills, online dating, or any of those other products or services that make you wonder aloud, "Does anybody use those?", I often wonder, well, "why WOULD anybody use them?" And the answer comes from one of the great motivators of advertising: desperation.

Let's face it, nobody leaps at the idea of getting diet pills or signing up for an internet-inspired date. It's always something that "other people" do. But often the entire basis of these products is in alleviating a problem that the person can't get rid of or deal with conventionally. Eventually, after deciding that you "just can't lose weight" or "just can't get a date", a new mindset sets in: "It's worth a shot".

Companies that offer these products and services are counting on the last-resorters, those who are fed up with their lack of headway in regards to their latest problem. And they wear them down. It's one thing to be perpetually single; it's another thing entirely to keep being reminded of it by having Lavalife branded all over the internet. The onslaught of diet services on tv and the radio, coupled with the hundreds of images of beautiful people is enough to inspire obsession with weight. So when the "problem" gets drilled into the potential buyer's head so much that it becomes all-consuming, they will do anything to find the solution.

Let's face it. Desperation sells. And in today's "quick fix" consumer mentality, even the least palatable solutions start to look like a good idea. After all, we'll all try anything once.

Until next time,

JW

Posted by JW on July 19, 2007 1:55 PM | Permalink


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