Читать книгу Blind Spot - Nathan Shedroff - Страница 19

During the American Super Bowl in 1979, viewers were treated to what’s become known as one of the greatest ads of all time: “Hey kid, catch.” It starred football player “Mean” Joe Greene and a young boy. As a player, Greene was known for living up to his nickname: he was tough and mean. Early in his career, he physically assaulted opposing players and screamed at his teammates when they made mistakes. But the commercial turned his reputation on its head. In it, he was shown coming in exhausted from a game. A kid steps out and hands him a Coke. Greene drinks it down in one gulp and turns to limp away. The boy now looks crestfallen. His hero has not only ignored him but also drunk his Coke. As he turns away, he hears Greene say, “Hey kid, catch.” When he looks back at Greene, the player tosses his football jersey to him.

The ad is amazingly touching. Even if you’re not a Coke fan, it delivers a great feeling, or a valued experience. It touches you and makes you feel something. The Coca-Cola Company is one of the best in the world at doing this. Although its products are nearly identical to others in function and price, its ability to make people smile is something that makes us care about the company.

Not convinced? Let’s look at a unique promotion the company did several years ago for Friendship Day in Latin America. Friendship day is a big holiday in that region. Typically, people spend it with their best friend. That day, Coke debuted a unique Friendship Machine (see figure opposite).

It was three meters high, and the coin slot was high above a person’s head. The kicker was that if two people worked together to get a soda, the machine rewarded them with two for the price of one. People loved it and posted thousands of videos of friends helping each other, often laughing, to get a free drink. By providing such experiences over time, Coke has built a vast and loyal following. It has great relationships with its customers, who are happy to pay a premium to buy its products.

In fact, the biggest obstruction to building relationships is a business’s need to focus on the short term. With quarterly numbers always around the corner, you’ll often find companies trying to bump up sales through gimmicks, without investing in long-term value. At the end of the day, you have to decide whether you want to sell Coke or generic soda. And that shouldn’t be a hard decision.