{"product_id":"2940150376298","title":"Market Ignition ...Understanding Market Sophistication","description":"Let's talk sophistication. How many similar products has your market been told about\u003cbr\u003ebefore? A market evolves like an animal species does over millions of years. Over time\u003cbr\u003emarkets adapt and become more intelligent like a living breathing, organism.\u003cbr\u003eIn our time and age, information flows much faster than it ever did in the past. As time\u003cbr\u003egoes on, this flow of information will continue to speed up. This means markets will mature\u003cbr\u003emuch faster. What do I mean when I say “market maturation?” Example:\u003cbr\u003eWhat if I told you that you could get into a piece of machinery that will move across\u003cbr\u003ecountry at over 60 miles per hour!? In fact, you could get from Los Angeles to New York in\u003cbr\u003eonly several days!\u003cbr\u003ePretty incredible right? Of course not, the car was invented over 100 years ago. That\u003cbr\u003eappeal would have been incredible in the 1850s. But an ad with those type of hooks\/angles\u003cbr\u003eand themes today would be laughed at. Why? The product is exactly the same but the market\u003cbr\u003eis in a different level of sophistication.\u003cbr\u003eThis level of sophistication increases as time passes and markets tend to evolve into\u003cbr\u003ethe future. The faster information spreads, the more marketing we are exposed to. This tends\u003cbr\u003eto lead to markets reaching higher levels of sophistication faster than ever before.\u003cbr\u003eIn the future, marketers who truly understand will be able to capitalize on these\u003cbr\u003eevolutions. Those who can't will be slaughtered. Gene Schwartz described markets in five\u003cbr\u003estages. After the fifth stage, markets tend to splinter, segment, and repeat the process all over\u003cbr\u003eagain. The five are as follows:\u003cbr\u003e• 1st stage - What the product does\u003cbr\u003e• 2nd stage - The product does it better than it's competitors\u003cbr\u003e• 3rd stage - Introduce a Mechanism\u003cbr\u003e• 4th stage - Elaborate on the Mechanism\u003cbr\u003e• 5th stage - Shift from mechanism focus to identification\u003cbr\u003ePost Stages 5 - market splinters and new segment repeats all stages from the beginning\u003cbr\u003eStage 1\u003cbr\u003eIf you're entering stage 1 of a market I tip my hat to you. This means you are the first\u003cbr\u003eperson there. Nobody has ever had what you now have to offer.\u003cbr\u003eAll you simply need to do is state what you have. Your product is literally revolutionary\u003cbr\u003eso a big 'sales job\" is not in order. Just tell 'em what you've got. Example:\u003cbr\u003e\"Now Lose Ugly Fat\"\u003cbr\u003eStage 2\u003cbr\u003eAs the competition starts to catch up to your stage 1 \"basic claim\" you need to\u003cbr\u003ereinvent yourself. In the second stage you'll want to build on your initial claim. You'll \"enlarge\u003cbr\u003eon it\" - do it faster, easier, better, etc. than your first. Example:\u003cbr\u003e\"Lose 30 Pounds of Fat in 30 days\"\u003cbr\u003eStage 3\u003cbr\u003eAt this point in time your prospects have heard every enlarged claim under the sun.\u003cbr\u003eThe issue you have to overcome now is distinguishing your product from every other on the\u003cbr\u003emarket.\u003cbr\u003eHow do you go about being portrayed as something unique? You focus on your\u003cbr\u003eMECHANISM. This \"freshens up\" your approach. The emphasis will need to transition from\u003cbr\u003ethe actual product to HOW it works. Example”\u003cbr\u003e\"First Wonder Drug For Weight Loss\"\u003cbr\u003eStage 4\u003cbr\u003eThis stage is similar to the second. All you're going to do is build off the mechanism\u003cbr\u003eyou used in stage three. You'll enlarge it just like you did from stage one to stage two.\u003cbr\u003e\"First No-Diet Drug For Weight Loss\"\u003cbr\u003eStage 5\u003cbr\u003eAt this stage the market has quite literally \"seen everything.\" It's jaded. People aren't\u003cbr\u003egoing to believe a word coming out of your mouth.\u003cbr\u003eWhat do you do? Shift gears. Instead of pitching what a product does, you prey on the\u003cbr\u003efact customers have desires to fill certain \"roles.\" Your marketing should help your prospect\u003cbr\u003eidentify with the role your product places him in.\u003cbr\u003eProspects actually have two different kids of desires:\u003cbr\u003e• To be thinner, wealthier, happier, etc.\u003cbr\u003e• To identify with a certain role in society\u003cbr\u003eThis is where the fifth stage comes into play. You'll see a ton of big brand advertisers\u003cbr\u003eusing this stage to mass market. Think about luxury cars. Companies aren't pitching that they\u003cbr\u003ehave a hunk of machinery that will drive them form place to place. They're not in a features\u003cbr\u003eand benefit slinging ad war. You're buying an experience, a role, and the marketing is catered\u003cbr\u003eto this desire to belong and identify.\u003cbr\u003ePost 5th Stage\u003cbr\u003eAfter the last stage, new markets open up. These markets tend to segment even\u003cbr\u003efurther. Once these markets are segmented, the cycle of stages is ran through all over again.\u003cbr\u003eThe process repeats itself. Think about light beer or filtered cigarettes.\u003cbr\u003eWrapping It Up\u003cbr\u003eVery important... What you always must remember is that the markets core\u003cbr\u003eproblem\/desire will ALWAYS exist! The level of sophistication simply changes. People are\u003cbr\u003ealways going to want to be thinner, make more money, have better relationships, and solve all\u003cbr\u003eof their problems. The only thing that ever changes is the way ...","brand":"99 ¢ eStore, save a lot more","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47122527256816,"sku":"2940150376298","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940150376298_p0.jpg?v=1763743741","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940150376298","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}