Guest Blog | Lesson Learned from Snickers

Welcome to another Thoughtful Thursday! Each week, Thursday features a new guest blogger to the site. I’m choosing FANtastic bloggers who know the ins and outs of sales and marketing. If you are interested in being a guest blogger, please drop us an email. So grab a cup of coffee and dive in! You’re sure to learn something new.

It has been over 7 years since Snickers started their campaign: “You’re not you when you’re hungry”. My favorite is the Brady Bunch one with “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia”. While the commercial is fun and entertaining, it is also the product of a stunningly effective marketing strategy that contributed to increasing volume sales into the double digits.

Who wouldn’t love a double-digit growth in sales? Of course, selling candy bars is vastly different than selling new homes. One is an impulse buy while the other is the largest purchase most people will make in their lives. I’ll let you figure out which is which. With that being said, Snickers’ strategy of positioning itself as a solution to a common problem is something that can be applied to any industry. It’s not about what the product is, but rather what it does for you!

Let’s look at any new home’s biggest selling point: The kitchen. Family buyers are often coming from small and dated kitchens. Is cooking therapeutic? Or is it a stressful balancing act of preparing the food in a cramped chore kitchen while darting into the other room to check on the kids, all the while not bumping into each other when someone wants to grab something out of the refrigerator?

What if we were all in one unified, open, and casual space? This is a kitchen that welcomes multiple cooks. The kids can do homework at the large island while talking about all the “Nothing” they did at school. An alcove adjacent to the kitchen provides hidden storage for small appliances to keep that island clutter-free. Meanwhile, a separate beverage station with its own small refrigerator allows the kids to grab a juice box without having to crowd the cook space.

If only I had that when I was raising a family! Many new homes have these features, but too few of them are showcased properly to homeowners that might overlook the benefits.

Make a list of all the new features you have to offer. Then, don’t just point out the features but how the buyer will live differently and better in your home because of them. You’ve now transitioned from selling a product to selling a lifestyle. The buyer will start to envision their own routine and daily lives and how it can be improved in a new home. This positive impression sticks with them well beyond the housing tour.

Like the Snickers commercial, homeowners have a problem that you can solve. After years of the same routine, they might not be acutely aware of the problem. They know their current home doesn’t work – that’s often why they’re in the market to begin with, but perhaps they can’t point out why. It is up to you to showcase what the home will do for them!

Meet the Author

Deryl Patterson is a critically-acclaimed architect with over 30 years of experience in residential architecture. She is the founder and president of Housing Design Matters, Inc. in Jacksonville, FL, drawing from everyday life to bring innovative solutions to home-builders across the nation.

Connect: Twitter – @HousDsgnMatters | Website – housingdesignmatters.com 

Categorised in: Guest Blogs, Thoughtful Thursdays