Reason to Buy

“I found a way to keep my food in my tacos,” the young girl announced to her family.

The camera tilted down to show clothespins clamping the top of her tacos closed. Her alarmed mother glanced out the window to see sheets laying on the ground because the clothespins which had been holding them in place were gone.

The girl continued, “Why don’t we have refried beans with our tacos? They would keep the food inside.”

This commercial immediately caught my attention and made me laugh. You’ve probably guessed that it promotes a particular brand of refried beans. I would tell you which one, but I have only seen the commercial once, and I did not write down the brand name. However, after only one viewing this commercial was memorable and sold the idea.

How was that accomplished?

Anyone who has eaten a hard shell taco knows that keeping the food inside is tricky. Grabbing clothespins off the line to do so is funny. Taco-eating viewers can readily identify with the desire to keep food inside a taco, the difficulty of doing so, and the desperate use of clothespins. The clothespins provide a solution to taco eaters’ problem.

This commercial identified a problem, keeping food inside a hard shell taco, and solved it. In fact, two solutions were offered. The first solution was the clothespins, and the second was the refried beans. Of course, the first was intended to get attention and add humor. The second, using refried beans, was preferred. It was the reason for the commercial.

It was also a reason for the customer to buy. Including refried beans in a taco offered a seldom-used solution to hard shell taco eaters’ problem. For some, this was the first time they had been exposed to the idea. For others, this was a reminder. Either way, the commercial gave them a reason to buy refried beans: To keep your food inside your taco.

I see the lack of giving the customer a reason to buy as a big failing of business’s marketing. Is the number of years a company has been in business a reason to buy? Are the features of a product a reason to buy? Is the fact that you and your employees are nice a reason to buy?

Nope. None of these are reasons to buy.

The only reason for a customer to buy is to solve a problem. What problems do your products or services solve?

Are you communicating those solutions in your marketing?