An Open Letter to P&G

Dear Proctor & Gamble:

There’s a guaranteed reality you face when selling Crest toothpaste; how to add value to separate your brand from the competition.

As many consumers see toothpastes as both interchangeable, price becomes the typical differentiator. Few people see your packaging as a solution, and they probably don’t envision toothpaste addressing any other concerns than oral hygiene.

However, my friend Irv may have inadvertently helped solve your problem.

Irv’s regularly complained about a spot between his shoulder blades that’s chronically dry and itchy. It’s always JUST out of reach, and nothing ever seems to adequately address this problem. He’s told me about using letter openers, back scratchers…you name it. Yet he’s remained frustrated, with the solution JUST out of reach.

Recently, Irv discovered the ridged cap on a family-sized tube of Crest. Gripped firmly, the tube reached THAT spot on his back and the ridged cap provided adequate friction to scratch it perfectly.

Today he reports buying Crest to brush his teeth AND scratch his back. Colgate, with a smooth cap, no longer appears on his shopping list. You obviously both won on this one, and I’d like to add; NICELY PLAYED!

Dear reader, your business may also have some unique quality that helps you unknowingly beat the competition. Getting customer feedback will help you appreciate some of what helps drive consumer buying decisions.

After all, Crest probably used ridged caps to aid torque, and Irv’s reason for buying it never even entered their minds.

They may not even care why he’s buying their toothpaste, so long as he’s buying it…though I doubt it.

Yet if they know the ridged cap influences his purchase, there’s a greater chance they’ll keep using it moving forward.

Regardless of what you sell, you, too, will benefit from knowing what impacts buyers to select your company to do business with. Email surveys, web-based polling, and one-on-one customer phone calls are all good ways to better understand whether people like what you sell, what else they want you to sell, and whether your pricing, distribution, and geographic spread is well-matched to your audience.

Commit now to at least semi-annually asking customers what they think of the decisions you’re making. You might be surprised what you can learn just by opening the mailbag.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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