Are You Selling A Product, Or Transformation?

No one cares about your coffee

People care about what your coffee does for them.

Minus the 1% coffee superfans (like me and you).

But everyone else, your bread and butter customers, don’t buy your coffee because it’s the best or the rarest or the freshest.

There’s no shortage of great coffee.

You have to give them something else instead.

“I bought into your vision.” 

There are few complements so meaningful as a customer saying they not only enjoy your coffee, but truly identify with your brand.

This review on JavaPresse.com’s website demonstrates why the company’s marketing is so successful.

The coffee being fresh and tasty is important, but it’s not what keeps David from coming back over and over again.

David is compelled by the transformation that JavaPresse coffee provides.

His morning brew isn’t a tasty cup of coffee. It’s a chance to enjoy a moment that’s just for him, an opportunity to take stock of things that make him happy.

It’s a new kind of morning.

No wonder David has been a regular monthly customer for over a year and a half. The product is good, but the transformation is meaningful.

The Magic Of The iPod

The first iPod ad campaigns are a classic demonstration what most marketers say (left) vs what transformation-driven marketers say (right).

I bet you can guess which ad performed better.

Apple clever takes the “before” that people were used to (MP3 players that can only hold ~50 songs) and contrasted that with the “after” that they could enable (1,000 songs in your pocket). No that’s a transformation!

Example takes from Marketing Examples.

What’s Your After?

What transformation do you enable for your customers?

How are their lives improved while drinking your coffee?

I’d love to see how you tackle this challenge. Hit reply and let me know!