(This was written on Nov. 5, after the 5th game of the Nippon Series.)
It’s just like that I have realized tonight how great it is to be Giants’ fan.
Or, what made Amuro and Bright such a long term team partners, to start with?
You have to excuse me bothering you with confusing beginning, today.
You might want to refer to my previous write-up about the NIKE’s event of sending a support ball to Darvish, where I had a discussion about capturing “XX Moment” to capture customer’s heart. Then, Fukumari-san, a friend of mine, gave me some comment about it. It in fact inspired another thinking/hypothesis so that I decided to bring up this topic again.
Simply said, why then capturing the “Moment” makes it possible to capture cutomer’s heart?
That is probably because sharing the “Moment” can get you all the way up to be a friend (or your girl/boy friend) on the spot, skipping other steps/procedures you normally have to go through.
This made me think that it can yield a chance to make a strong “bonding”, before you even talk about what your product or service can offer (in exchange of money), called benefit.
Or, as Fukumari-san wrote in her comment, friends who have “lived under the same roof”.
Think about your own close friends or a partner.
What made the relationship start and get sustained? Was it because he/she, in turn of your friendship or love, gave you something to make you think “This relationship is worth”?
(Please do not say “Yes” here, or this story ends here…)
I guess there were some moments/situations in which you shared fun, pain, or regret. (If not, Amuro had no reason to need Bright as a partner… I like Bright-san, though.)
Now let’s go back to the arena of Marketing. They say, (at least in the Company I used to work for), “Acceptance of the brand’s message becomes significantly heightened when the benefit of product or service is communicated in the context where need of the benefit or awareness of it is high.”
Well, too complicated?
Let me try to put it simple, though it may be too simple. When you are dying for drink after hard exercise, if you happen to see advertising from a certain beverage brand, you would want to drink that brand, for example.
Many companies are trying hard to do this.
How about airing TV commercial when consumers are hungry? Transit ad in commuting trains may be more effective than magazine ad. And so on. It makes sense, though.
Let me tell you. I have had a big question to this theory for sometime. I understand it, but somehow, my gut says “something wrong with it”.
Knowing it is a bit far-fetched argument, it could indicate “You can sell rescue rings with premium price on the spot where someone gets drawn, to the person and to people around.”
I may not have any other choice but buy the brand then, but I would not buy the brand again. Because it leaves me a strong impression of “mean guy”.
I suppose mistake is coming from “high acceptance to benefit”.
It is not “benefit (what it does for you)” but “character (who the brand is)” of the product/service, that is put on the test in the situation/moment, isn’t it?
Then, it goes very well with analogy of sharing the “Moment” with friends/a partner.
“He(brand)’s a good guy, ‘cause he was there with me back then. So he is my friend. Don’t know what he can do for me, though.”
This is what I have been thinking for sometime. This is what makes it possible to grab customer’s heart, when you capture the “Moment”.
OK, the next game is in Sapporo the day after tomorrow, obviously “away” for Giants, let’s brace ourselves to win.
“O.”
