How do you make buying decisions? I was traveling yesterday and I stopped in a gas station to purchase fuel and grab something to snack on while I finished my trip. The convenience store was filled with all kinds of snack foods. I went to the cooler and picked out a Coke Zero and then wandered down the aisles looking for a package of whatever looked good. I picked up a bag of Veggie Chips (similar to potato chips, but made with garden grown vegetables according to the package). With literally hundreds of choices, what made me pick up these two items? The answer to that is twofold and entirely divergent one from the other. I sought out the Coke because I am a brand-loyal Coca-Cola Zero consumer. In fact, I have been known to order water when a restaurant doesn’t serve Coke Zero. I am rather resolute in my loyalty, which at times has embarrassed my family. However, I had never tasted Veggie Chips before this experience. Why did I try them? They sounded healthy and the price was reasonable. Now the reality is that Veggie Chips are potato chips sprinkled with spinach powder and tomato paste plus a whole lot of preservatives. One bag of them contained a small fraction of any garden-fresh veggies – which would have been much better for my health than the bag of chips. But I bought the bag anyway, and they were mighty tasty!

What makes you consider purchasing one brand over another? Why would you consider trying one product over its competitors? Let’s compare old, established brands and new brands. In my Coke example, I have been drinking Coca-Cola products for as long as I can remember. Have I tried other soft drinks? Of course, but I prefer to drink Coke. It has a bold taste that goes well with salty foods. So why the sub-brand, Coke Zero? I have reached an age in life where I feel like I need to watch my caloric intake. I like the fact that it doesn’t have any calories. There is something in my mind that has convinced me that it not only tastes good, but it also isn’t going to add any pounds to my frame. Now I can also read the nutritional facts on the side of the can and see that it not only has zero calories, it has zero nutritional value! Yet I ignore this and seek out this particular product. Again I ask, why choose this brand over all other beverages? Let me let you in on the truth. Some smart marketer targeted me years ago to be a lifelong Coke drinker. They advertised to me when I was a boy and told me that Coke was the drink for me. So when I was young, I drank Coke from the red can with the white swatch. And when I became older, they had another product for me, the old codger watching his waist size! Somewhere in my psyche, I have become convinced that it is the best soft drink beverage for a lifetime. I bought the marketing! It is branding at its best. We become brand loyal because it is familiar and comfortable.

So how do you convince someone to try something new? Going back to my Veggie Chips, what made me stop, pick up the package and give them a try? They stood out among the other potato chips for three reasons. First, they were different. They didn’t call themselves potato chips, but veggie chips. That caught my attention. Second, they gave the illusion of being a healthy snack. They made the following claims:

• They had 30 percent less fat than leading potato chips

• They were made with no artificial flavors or preservatives

• They were made with garden-grown vegetables

Those claims convinced me that I was doing something good for myself by eating them. This is where logic takes a vacation from my thinking, but it works. Potato chips in a convenience store are sold on impulse not on logic. Third, they were priced right. I believe I paid $1.20 for the bag. Again, logic was not present. This was a one-ounce bag – a mere fraction of a potato went into that bag, but I was not comparing serving sizes, just one bag of chips to the other. So I gave them a try. The marketing on the package sold me. I liked them! I would seek them out to buy them again, much like I did the bottle of Coke Zero.

In your marketing efforts, consider these things.

1. Stand out from the competition. Understand what they are doing and do something different.

2. Understand your target market and what resonates with them and then put that in simple terms on whatever they are seeing first (your packaging, your web site, etc.)

3. Give them a reason to try you for the first time and then give them a reason to buy from you again. Aim to build brand loyalty for a lifetime.