Why Your Marketing Has To Look Good

The death of Vidal Sassoon reminded me of his famous saying, “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good” that he first said in 1973. Vidal obviously understood the value of marketing with the audience in mind. Imagine how different his message would have been had he said, “You will look good because our products are that good.”

These days, companies must rely on a customer-centric marketing strategy in order to make the biggest impact. Why? Because customers are more involved in the buying process. Thanks to technology, customers are no longer limited to what is on the shelves at the store they visit in order to buy what they want. Or the services they need. Even if they happen to be in a store looking for a product, one swipe of a bar code with a smartphone can give instant feedback and impact the buyer decision. Customer need to know WHY they should buy your product or service, and if you can’t convince them, you’ve lost them.

Vidal knew that there were other hair care products on the shelves but he wanted the customer to feel confident about buying his product because he had a vested interest in their satisfaction. There was no debate about inbound versus outbound marketing back in 1973 but it is clear to me that Vidal was an innovative thinker in that regard. He was building a community of people with great-looking hair who made others want to look good too.

Marketers today are challenged not to develop strategies with the customer in mind but to think of new, creative ways to engage the customer, knowing that they are in charge.

How are you making your marketing look good?

Christina Damiano has been working with small diverse business owners and potential entrepreneurs for almost two decades, first in the public sector and later as the founding Executive Director of a regional non-profit organization.  Jazzed right now about the impact of social media, you can follow her on Twitter and Google+, connect with her on LinkedIn or read her blog.