By marketing legend David Ogilvy, who listeners of the marketing/advertising podcast Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly will no doubt have heard tale of.
The Aga for me is the ultimate "I am an upper class British" item.
When I was at uni I made friends with a fellow. He was into theatre, so the invited me and the rest of the gang up to his house. Dude had an empty 5 bedroom house that he used for theatre nights.
So I arrive and I see his stove is on.
"Bro you've left your stoves on?"
"Yeah it's an Aga"
"A what? I thought we were eating out?"
"Yeah we are, we just keep this thing on to heat the house. Useful for keeping food warm as well."
"Wait so you have an empty house that has an oven in it which is always on?"
"Yes, feels great when I arrive before a theatre night!"
After he explains that it is used to heat the house, you then conclude that only "upper class" people need that? It's a basic need to survive winter, along with the landlord's interest in keeping pipes from freezing.
>Go to the back door (most salesmen go to the front door, a manoeuvre always resented by maid and mistress alike).
Being seen at the front door to imply to others that they are your guest is what gives salesmen a bad name. It's like when someone tries to talk to me about what "execs" want in my org. I've had engineers talk to me about "the business," and it's difficult to hear anything after that through the cringe. Sales people presenting themselves as peers makes them seem oily.
>If you add confidentially that the transaction will show you a profit, the prospect will prefer to buy her own fuel.
"the maintainance cost isn't that high, but if you were really budgeting that much, I may be in the wrong business, and I would consider hiring a subcontractor to deliver it for you myself at that price. It's really much lower."
>Learn to recognise vegetarians on sight. It is painful indeed to gush over roasting and grilling to a drooping face which has not enjoyed the pleasures of a beefsteak for years.
Is this person involved in security? There are some people who are just going to be negative without ever being a strong or valuable ally if even you convince them.
>Try and avoid being drawn into discussing competitive makes of cooker, as it introduces a negative and defensive atmosphere.
Apple does this probably the best of anyone. They sell the experience. They didn't even acknowledge security, viruses, and malware until recently because it wasn't a part of their brand. A different product isn't even part of the discussion because it's the enabler for a different vision.
I think the best ad examples are ones where people are doing something cool and powerful and not having to think about your product at all.
>>Go to the back door (most salesmen go to the front door, a manoeuvre always resented by maid and mistress alike).
To most of us Yankees, this makes no sense. Many of not most of our single-family homes are built in areas that don't implement an alleyway, so the back door is really only for the residents to get to the back yard or carport, etc.
If a salesman knocked on the back door it's likely they'd have the police called on them / or worse.
It's funny how differently AGA cookers are perceived in Britain and Sweden.
In Britain, an AGA is luxury status symbol. In Sweden, an AGA is awkward lump of scrap metal that comes in an old house.
I don’t know about status symbol. My 80 y/o mum lives in rural Scotland and it heats the house. There is no gas main in the area and using electricity to heat is expensive.
Heat pump conversion would involve ripping the house to pieces and lots of cash too.
For those who aren't familiar with the document, it has been described as "probably the best sales manual ever written." It was one of the first things ever written by a young David Ogilvy.
It's mentioned elsewhere in this thread, but one of the best books I have ever read on advertising and marketing is Ogilvy on Advertising. If you have even a passing interest in selling anything to anyone, or just want to see how the sausage is made, I would strongly recommend it. One thin book, no fluff, with more concrete advice than ten thousand blog posts.
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[ 1.6 ms ] story [ 34.6 ms ] thread> Find out all you can about your prospects before you call on them' their general living conditions, wealth, profession, hobbies, friends and so on
(another example)
>Tell the person who opens the door frankly and briefly what you have come for' it will get her on your side
Edit: also find this spelling of Nobel prize interesting:
> he has actually won the Nobel Prices
When I was at uni I made friends with a fellow. He was into theatre, so the invited me and the rest of the gang up to his house. Dude had an empty 5 bedroom house that he used for theatre nights.
So I arrive and I see his stove is on.
"Bro you've left your stoves on?"
"Yeah it's an Aga"
"A what? I thought we were eating out?"
"Yeah we are, we just keep this thing on to heat the house. Useful for keeping food warm as well."
"Wait so you have an empty house that has an oven in it which is always on?"
"Yes, feels great when I arrive before a theatre night!"
>Go to the back door (most salesmen go to the front door, a manoeuvre always resented by maid and mistress alike).
Being seen at the front door to imply to others that they are your guest is what gives salesmen a bad name. It's like when someone tries to talk to me about what "execs" want in my org. I've had engineers talk to me about "the business," and it's difficult to hear anything after that through the cringe. Sales people presenting themselves as peers makes them seem oily.
>If you add confidentially that the transaction will show you a profit, the prospect will prefer to buy her own fuel.
"the maintainance cost isn't that high, but if you were really budgeting that much, I may be in the wrong business, and I would consider hiring a subcontractor to deliver it for you myself at that price. It's really much lower."
>Learn to recognise vegetarians on sight. It is painful indeed to gush over roasting and grilling to a drooping face which has not enjoyed the pleasures of a beefsteak for years.
Is this person involved in security? There are some people who are just going to be negative without ever being a strong or valuable ally if even you convince them.
>Try and avoid being drawn into discussing competitive makes of cooker, as it introduces a negative and defensive atmosphere.
Apple does this probably the best of anyone. They sell the experience. They didn't even acknowledge security, viruses, and malware until recently because it wasn't a part of their brand. A different product isn't even part of the discussion because it's the enabler for a different vision.
I think the best ad examples are ones where people are doing something cool and powerful and not having to think about your product at all.
To most of us Yankees, this makes no sense. Many of not most of our single-family homes are built in areas that don't implement an alleyway, so the back door is really only for the residents to get to the back yard or carport, etc.
If a salesman knocked on the back door it's likely they'd have the police called on them / or worse.
Heat pump conversion would involve ripping the house to pieces and lots of cash too.
It's mentioned elsewhere in this thread, but one of the best books I have ever read on advertising and marketing is Ogilvy on Advertising. If you have even a passing interest in selling anything to anyone, or just want to see how the sausage is made, I would strongly recommend it. One thin book, no fluff, with more concrete advice than ten thousand blog posts.