Tell'em About It

I'm reading a great book now, What the Dog Saw, by Malcolm Gladwell, the guy who brought us The Tipping Point and Blink. It's one of those great writing achievements that enables you not just to think differently about something, but to think about it at all.

The first chapter is about the Chop-o-Matic, pitchmen and infomercials. Suffice to say this is a topic I would never have sought out on my own. In it he makes an provocative comparison: What if the manufactures of VCRs had used the lessons of the Chop-O-Matic? Would we have learned how to record our shows in advance the same way we could effortlessly see ourselves chopping up vegetables or rotissering a chicken (one of the later products made available by the Chop-O-Matic folks.

Made me think about the disservice we often do to consumers when we get stuck in our heads and don't really explain what something does or how it does it. We just want them to buy it. The makers and pitchmen of the Chop-o-Matic knew that wasn't enough. There has to be some type of emotional connection, some desire. Some way to demonstrate this thing in your life and how your life is better.

Corporate America, for all our good intentions, often blur that distinction. We just want you to buy it. We can't forget to tell you why.