Changing perceptions is better than changing reality
Fish branding and how pollack became one of Britain's most popular fish
I lived in Mozambique when I was a kid. This was in the 1980s.
I remember going with my parents to a local restaurant in Maputo. I have a look at the menu. A dish called Mozambican cod intrigues me.
So I ask my dad, "What's Mozambican cod?".
My dad says, "Miguel, it's just a fancy name for shark."
Then my dad calls the waiter and asks, "I know this is shark. Why do you call it Mozambican cod?".
The waiter smiles and says, "If we call it shark no one will order it."
In 2009, Sainsbury's, a popular supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, wanted to boost sales of pollack (a white fish caught in UK waters).
For 3 reasons.
Pollack was a sustainable alternative to cod. "If British consumers bought more pollack it could make a big difference to cod stocks.", said Alison Austin, environment manager at Sainsbury's.
It was cheaper - pollack was priced at Sainsbury's stores at £9.90 per kilo, cod was £11.49.
And the taste is very similar. In fact, most people could't even tell the difference in taste between pollack and cod.
But there was a problem.
British shoppers weren't buying it. Research showed that most Brits were too embarrassed to ask for pollack because of how it sounds.
So Sainsbury's decided to change its name from pollack fish to colin, the French word for hake.
Turns out it was a brilliant move. Because colin became one of Britain's most popular fish after Sainsbury's rebranding.
The point here is simple. Most marketing problems are perception problems.
And it’s much easier (and cheaper) to fix a marketing problem by changing people's perception of a product, rather than changing the product itself.
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》”Dangerous” Ideas”
1/ Reframe the problem and you’re halfway to the solution.
Most business and real-world problems are perception problems. Reframe the problem and you’re halfway to the solution. How? Start by asking better questions.
Here's a handy tool: The Phoenix Checklist.
Developed by the CIA to “encourage agents to look at a challenge from many different angles.” (Source: The Strategy & Planning Scrapbook).
2/ Changing perceptions is easier than changing reality.
In the Real World the choices we make are influenced by how they're framed and presented to us.
That’s why the exact same problem, thing or product if presented through different settings, situations or words can lead to different choices.
In psychology this is called the framing effect.
Some good examples of the power of reframing perceptions:
3/ Find an interesting/weird/fun stat that reframes the importance of the category (and positions your brand as the obvious solution)
My favorite example: Tonic water is usually the boring part of a cocktail. But British brand Fever-Tree found a fun angle to position their products as more important than what consumers think: “If three-quarters of your drink is the mixer, make sure you use the best.”
PS. Always wanted to work with me but the timing wasn’t right? I have ONE slot available for a small copywriting project starting after September 13th. Let's work together. But don’t email me - unless you take copywriting seriously.
Your pal,
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