I’m in the throes of buying some Clarks shoes.
When I say “the throes” I mean I’m taking my time over it.
Not because I don’t know what I want to buy, but deliberately.
You see, I want to study why Clarks do so well.
All good marketing starts with offering something good, but that is not enough.
In “Commonsense Direct & Digital Marketing” – 38 years old and still selling – I comment that it’s not enough to offer something good. You have to know how to sell it.
Some excellent shoe firms have gone broke because their marketing was rubbish.
Clarks is different.
You would be hard put to it to convince anyone that they are “creative”. But as David Ogilvy and before that Rosser Reeves said, originality is the most dangerous word in the advertisers lexicon.
Clarks messages are not in the least creative. They just keep going till you buy.
Customers don’t give a hoot about your creativity. They just want good stuff and good deals.
That starts with what you sell.
The only reason I’m buying new shoes is that the shoes I bought from them 5 years ago are coming to the end of their life – no wonder as I have worn them practically every day.
So what’s prompting me to buy now?
Well I got a very good discount offer – not from them directly, though.
That suggests they try to use as many channels as possible.
The more ways you reach people, the more they are likely to buy.
And they are like bull terriers.
When they saw I started to buy they chased me endlessly, reminding me I hadn’t yet paid.
You know how many people start to buy and then get bored, give up, or lose interest.
I wonder how much effort you put into chasing people.
There is an assumption that if people don’t buy from you or respond immediately they are a waste of time.
This is so far from the truth that it must cost billions a year.
If you are selling to a business, I learned years ago that the average business purchase takes place after 2 years.
I have a very soft spot in my heart for Clarks because many years ago I got to know the late Nathan Clark.
He invented the desert boot, based on something used during WWII in North Africa.
Nathan was a friend of my second wife, who was a lead dancer with the Katherine Dunham Ballet.
One of the better evenings of my life was spent with Nathan and her in a Chinese restaurant in Soho with the entire Alvin Ailey ballet troupe.
(Interesting lady: she introduced female wrestling to Australia).
But that’s enough reminiscing.
Keep taking my advice – I promise you won’t go far wrong.
If you don’t already belong to Ask Drayton it’s a gold mine of helpful suggestions like this one.
Best,
Drayton
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