When you are thinking of making a major purchase, be it an iPhone, Rolex watch or diamonds perhaps, think back to what got you to the store, and what has got you to dip so deep into your pocket that you want this thing so badly. It’s your choice, right?

We in marketing think not…

Diamonds are as common as sand!

Diamonds are compacted carbon. We are made of carbon atoms too. Diamonds are not at all rare to the Earth (they were originally popular as tools, as they are the hardest substance known to man) but they have become a high value product die to smart marketing. De Beers, the South African Diamond Mining Company were shocked to find how many diamonds there were in their mines and if this supply got out, the price would plummet. So they dug as many out as they could and stashed them in banks and they only release a small quantity every year creating the scarcity.

Added to that, an intensive marketing campaign that every dedicated marketing scholar knows, which is to pay off Hollywood and big public personas to push the idea through movies and celebrities that DIAMOND engagement and Eternity rings are the ONLY worthwhile choice for your loved ones. Only a Diamond says you truly love someone!

In reality your partner is wearing a stone as common as shiny pebbles but you get the love in return!

BitCoin v. Tulips

I cannot help feel that somewhere, due to the anonymity of Crypto-Currency (originally a Unique Selling Point of the services) there is a callous Banker sitting on 10 million or more accounts with 5000 or more Bitcoins in each account, and like a Villain in a 1970’s spy movie stroking his big fluffy white cat looking at a big red button that says; ‘CRASH/SELL THE COINS’

“Hmmm I must tell Bond where this button is later, and tell him not to switch it off! “

The recent Crypto-Currency mania draws massive comparisons in all financial educated people with the speculative investing bubble of Tulip Mania in Amsterdam in 1673 where rouge, malformed yet beautiful tulips were selling at the price of big Houses at the time.

Investing is all about emotion, and when a big holder sells a huge amount quickly, the rest of the market will think, “Oh, why is this guy selling? Is there something wrong? Maybe we should sell?”

Social proof or following lemmings off the cliff?

In a recent University experiment, students threw a big frat party, then 90% of party goers (who were in on the experiment) just left without notice. Half a dozen who were unaware left at the same time, not really knowing why, then the mass all just piled straight back in again, and the half dozen experiment-ees or so just followed back in.

These are the types of people that hold too many Bitcoins, the common sense.

Maybe we have just utter belief in our common man that it is the right thing to do. If everyone else is leaving, there must be a fire or something? I just hope there’s enough lemmings to break the fall.

I hold Crypto-Coins, daft not to, but if a crash comes, I’ll be as upset as I would be spilling milk on the table!

Three reasons to be cautious of any new investment

1. Has it weathered a recession? Stocks, Oil, Gold, have all survived every recession since the late 1800’s. Crypto-Currencies are untested
2. How is it regulated? You can bet your last Etherium coin that the FBI are all over Crypto-currencies right now and soon be knocking and muscling in.
3. Taxes! You can rest assured that the taxman commeth. If you made 100 dollars profit yesterday on the Crypto Currency exchanges, your tax man HAS to know, and in all reality it is a felony not to tell him; like it or not death and taxes are a part of our time on this earth!  The taxman can find proof anywhere and they have the means to challenge you to prove their findings of you can afford a Ferrari and new house on Sunset Boulevard on a Burger King waitress’s salary!

The Elite will always sway opinion in any way they feel necessary, usually to bolster their financial hold on society.

Even cheap drinks makers know a trick or two:

Pepsi v. Coke

In the 1980’s Pepsi gave you the taste test; 8/10 people preferred Pepsi! Coke got very worried about these results, and even tried to re-brand. It was dark days indeed for Coke. Pepsi knew their drink was sweeter for the first few mouthfuls and concentrated on what they were good at, simple as that, and they nearly overthrew an empire.

The Sinister Marketing Secret:

Marketing is manipulation at the highest level. Do you think you walk to the right when you enter a supermarket by accident? Think again, research has shown that people will generally turn right when entering a store, given the choice. No one knows why, but you can bet it’s more expensive to have your products to the right of the store as you walk in.

Do you think the milk, bread, rice, other daily consumables are at the back of the shop by accident? Nope, they want you in that store as long as possible. The powers that be even know, through extensive research, the way you meander through the store, depending on whether you are a man or a woman. They know for a man it’s a game to get out as fast as you can and not be duped until you run into the car accessories aisle ‘by mistake again’ How do they know all this??

If you create demand and you know your customer, then your price is irrelevant. You can be obnoxious and disheveled and even illegal, think about it: people still buy drugs!

Ask yourself, “what is so amazing about your product that you don’t even need sales people”? You just need an address and they keep banging on your door, and you keep putting up the price but they wont go away!

When was the last time anyone needed to actually sell and close for Omega or Rolex watches? I met a jeweler who told me their inner workings are no so different from a Seiko or a Citizen to be fair apart from a few parts, but ever since Bond wore his in Casino Royale the price became irrelevant.

To be successful in business you need just 2 things:

A product or service everyone needs, so spend 90% of you time creating this, then:

Give 10% to an online marketing geek with his ill fitting jeans and expletives emblazoned T-Shirt who will be able to sell what a 1980’s salesman with his tailored suit, impeccable manners and degree in rapport, psychology and his hard nosed tele-marketing team could sell back then.

But then again it’s up to you……

Contact leads4biz for help with making your brand price irrelevant and to bring a large broom to beat away the clients from your door!