Selling Dreams: How to Make Any Product Irresistible
When Gian Luigi Longinotti-Buitoni took over as CEO of Ferrari North America, the U.S. and Canada were in a recession, and he couldn't imagine people were inclined to spend their money on such an expensive, impractical car. Since then, Longinotti-Buitoni has changed his mind about a few things, including practicality. He believes the desire for a Ferrari comes from our dreams, not the part of our brain that balances the checkbook each month. Those same dreams fuel our desire for leisure time, Gucci couture, Gulfstream jets, beauty, exotic vacations.These dreams have probably existed, he surmises, since Cro-Magnon people drew images of successful hunting expeditions and victorious battles on cave walls. Entrepreneurs in the business of selling dreams need to understand these dreams, and reinterpret the product in terms of its place in a human's fantasy world. And it's not all about selling stuff to people who appear inVanity Fair--dreams can be marketed to the masses, too. Thus, the Volkswagen Beetle was a hippie dream of sharing something extraordinary with everyone; Levi's jeans are a working person's dream of striking gold (they were, after all, sold to the miners during the California gold rush); Nike sneakers are an inner-city kid's dream of overcoming his oppressive origins through athletic stardom. The best things in life may be free, but after readingSelling Dreams, you'll understand why we spend so much time fantasizing about the things we can't afford. And, if you're in business, you'll know better how to cash in on those fantasies.--Lou Schuler