UnSelling: The New Customer Experience

Chapter 11Internal Factors and AIM

Where we're aiming is important. It's important because it shapes our experience and pulse and also because it's something we can control. As consumers, we have goals in mind for what we expect when we purchase a product or service from a company. The goals can include quality, good value, and a certain quality of rightness with who we see ourselves as. For example, if we are buying a car, we aim to meet goals such as fuel efficiency, a car loan we can afford, and something that makes us look cool when we take our kids to school. Therefore, automotive companies market their cars based on convincing us their car will meet these expectations better than any other company's. Marketing is really about presenting the expectations people have in mind.

For UnSelling, we are going to break AIM up into three components:

1. Aspiration
2. Information
3. Motivation

Aspiration

Who do we want to be? Advertisers and marketers spend a lot of time focusing on creating that image—the one where our ideal selves are using their clients' products: a sports car driver, a gym member, a Google employee, a Yale student. As individuals we tend to have an image in mind of who we want to present to the world, and understanding that is key. Brands with strong stories and identities make it easy for us to fit them into our own aspirations. As a company, you also have aspirations that shape how you make decisions. Do you want to be the go-to brand in your industry? Or do you want ...