Stories that Sell. Placebo?

August 24, 2011
Wednesday
Temecula, CA 92593

I'm always searching the internet, trying to decipher what works, what will work better, and what doesn't work at all.

Well I stumbled across something today so I'm going to share it with you.

It's a story and I love stories. In fact, I'd like to become a story teller.

Why?

Because I love telling stories and if you can tell a good story, you can become a great marketer.

How do I know this?

Simple.

I read and I write and I tell stories.

Back in the 1950s, a bedridden man faced certain death from cancer of the lymph nodes.

The sad thing about this man was that tumors the size of oranges had invaded the man’s neck, groin, chest, and abdomen. His only hope was a new experimental cancer drug called Krebiozen.

Now I have to tell you, when I read this story, I had never heard of Krebiozen. I can't even say it, so I know I'd never heard of it.

Three days after his initial treatment, the man was out of bed and joking with nurses.

As treatment continued, his tumors shrunk in half.

Ten days later, he was discharged from the hospital …

the cancer gone.

Strangely enough, none of the other cancer patients treated with Krebiozen showed any improvement. They were treated the same way he was. There was no difference.

Stranger still, a few years later it was conclusively determined that Krebiozen had no therapeutic value whatsoever.

Welcome to the power of the placebo effect.

The placebo effect and the power of belief and experience.

A placebo is, by definition, a substance that doesn’t actually provide the promised benefit. In other words, it’s not real.

The placebo effect, however, is very real.

Research spanning decades demonstrates time and again that placebos (sham treatments) have resulted in true beneficial results. According to Scientific American, “placebos have helped alleviate pain, depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s disease, inflammatory disorders and even cancer.”

The placebo effect works in very real ways because people consciously believe the treatment will work. Not only that, but the experience of being treated, even with a “fake” medication, creates subconscious associations that lead to recovery.

Belief and experience are two vital ingredients of effective marketing as well. In other words, the things we buy fulfill our expectations if belief and experience remain consistent, regardless of “reality.”

Here's something else to think about.

Can a glass make a cheap wine taste better?

Consider the case of Riedel wine glasses, a highly successful line of glass-blown wine receptacle designed to deliver the wine’s “message” via the carefully-crafted form of the glass.

In other words, the shape of the glass makes the wine taste better.

Skeptical?

So was Thomas Matthews, executive editor of Wine Spectator. Premier wine critic Robert Parker, Jr. was unconvinced.

And yet Matthews, Parker, and hundreds of other wine experts, and thousands of customers now swear it’s true.

Taste tests throughout Europe and the U.S. proved time and again that wine — expensive, inexpensive, and middling — tasted better in Riedel glasses.

Except it’s not true. It's all about belief, and when you have a certain mindset,
your body reacts and makes it true. (just be careful with that.)

When subjected to double-blind testing that doesn’t let the taster know the shape of the glass, people found no detectable difference in taste between glasses.

Objectively, the shape of the glass just doesn’t matter and I'm sure you'll agree, unless you have the belief they did.

But subjectively, when belief in the glass and the experience of the glass are added back in the mix, it matters.

And the wine does taste better to these people, just like the placebo effect can make people well.

So how do you GET a placebo effect going for your service?

Are you ready for this?

I want you to know you have to believe this if you want it to work.

Your placebo effect is YOUR story.

The audience determines what’s authentic. Not you, no matter how “real” you’re keeping it.

The frame is everything.

The basic idea is to frame your story in a way that matches the worldview of a subset of people. In other words, you tell the story of why you believe your product or service is exceptional, unique, or just plain better in a way that other people also believe to be true (authentic).

If your story is deemed authentic, people will kick in belief by telling the story to themselves, and buy what you're selling.

If the experience of your product or service remains consistent with their belief, your story becomes their story, and these early adopters will become evangelists for you in a fervent crusade to convert non-believers and expand a tiny market into a larger one.

You need to understand this, because this is how empires are built.

Yes, my language in that last sentence was intentional. This is how religions, cults, and Apple work as well.

Tell a story that spreads like a wild fire.

The key thing to remember is to tell a story that resonates strongly with some, instead of trying to tell a story that pleases everyone. No story works with everyone, not even Apple’s.

But the people who "dig your story" have the power to spread it, now quicker and easier than ever.

For example, if you believe your Converse skate shoes are cooler than Nike, and wearing Converse makes you feel cooler, then as far as you’re concerned, you are cooler, all thanks to the story Converse (and you) are telling.

And you’re likely to validate the story you’re telling yourself by trying to get your friends to switch away from those whack Nikes, too. These stories are how your placebo effect spreads and becomes real to more and more people.

George Riedel passionately believes the story he tells about his wine glasses. And thousands happily agree with him, all thanks to the new reality that belief and experience create.

What’s your story?

If you don't have a story, get one. I can guarantee you, you do have one. You just haven't thought about it long and hard enough.

You can do one of two things.

Either do what I'm telling you, or continue doing what you're doing now and getting the same results.

You change or nothing changes.

It's up to you.