We’ve talked before about the Four P’s: Price, Product, Promotion and Place. Marketing gurus spend countless hours examining their product from every angle, trying to determine the correct marketing mix in order to best reach their target market. And there is no doubt that these efforts pay off; marketing plays a critical role in today’s economy.
But at the end of the day, the product has to stand on its own two feet. Today’s consumers are savvy, and they know immediately if a product isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
The same goes for my three-year-old. So when my husband and I booked tickets to Las Vegas last week, we positioned our “product” in the best possible light. We talked about how special it was going to be to spend time with Great-Grandma. We also mentioned that we’d be taking an airplane and reminded kitten how lucky we are that Grandma has a pool, since it’s really hot in Vegas in the summer.
All in all, both Puppy and Kitten seemed pretty excited about the trip, so we thought we’d done a pretty good job with our pitch.
Until yesterday, when Kitten was carpooling on the way to school with a friend. Out of the blue, she announced:
“I’m going to the hot desert to see a really old girl.”
Translation: I’m going to Vegas to see my great-grandmother
Thankfully, the mother driving knew about our upcoming trip and was able to put two and two together. But the funny thng is, Kitten is just as excited about her version of the trip as she was about my version.
So from now on, I think I’ll just stick with the facts – I obviously don’t need to add any bells or whistles to obtain her buy-in. After all, what could be more exciting to a three-year-old than going to a hot desert to see a really old girl?
