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In the early 1900’s Schlitz beer was in serious trouble. The brewery had dropped outside of the top 5 in sales and the momentum of their fierce competitors was continuing to gain speed. All of the major brands had a similar product, so it wasn’t Schlitz beer recipe that was the problem. The name of the game had become advertising, and the more sales gained by Schlitz competitors, the greater the frequency and reach of their campaigns, resulting in more sales and increased market share. Over at Schlitz, sales were plummeting and the makers knew something had to give or they were going under. 

Out of sheer desperation, Schlitz brought in an outside advertising expert named Claude Hopkins who evaluated their current marketing. The first thing the expert did was request a tour of the brewery. What he saw stunned him. 

Plate glass rooms full of filtered air designed to cool the beer without contaminating it. Four-thousand-foot deep artesian wells drilled to provide the cleanest and purest water available. The original mother yeast cell – developed by the brewery after 1200 experiments to bring out the robust flavor. 

“My God,” Hopkins said, “Why don’t you tell people in your advertising about all these steps you are taking to brew your beer?” 

But, the Schlitz people told him, “All companies brew their beer about the same way.” 

At the time, all of the big breweries were copying one another in their ads and claiming to have the “Purest Beer.”

“Yes,” countered Hopkins, “but the first one to tell the public about this process will gain a big advantage.” 

Hopkins went on to create an advertising campaign based on what he’d learned from the tour. Essentially, he told the story that every brewery could have, but didn’t.

Within six months, Schlitz became the number one selling beer in America. Rather than telling people the same thing every other brewery was saying, Hopkins crafted a compelling story that explained what “purest” really meant and why consumers should care. 

This story is a powerful illustration of just how critical marketing can be to any business success. Especially if you’re selling commodities like beer…or motorcycles. 

And this is where most business owners get it all wrong. They blame their success on the market, the weather, the economy, and the product. A typical business owner has the, “if you build it, they will come” mentality. So, most folks believe if their beer isn’t selling, they need to change the recipe and create a better beer.

The pizza shop thinks that a better pizza will increase sales; the hair salon thinks better stylists; and the motorcycle dealer thinks it’s better bikes. Yes, product is important, but once you get to a place where you have quality products and a defined target audience, it’s your marketing that sets you apart, and can make the difference between 1st place in your defined market area and 5th.  

Too often business owners look at what their competitors are doing and copy them. In Schlitz’s case it was “purest beer.” We call this marketing incest because usually the person being copied is doing it all wrong. Then with each copy of the copy, the ads just get worse and worse, dumber and dumber. 

In fact, this is how discounting gets started. Monkey see, monkey do. Dealers copying other dealers, and beat their price with a, “if they can do it, we can do it, because we all buy for the same cost,” attitude. 

But there is a better way. Hopkins had no mention of price in the Schlitz campaigns that catapulted the brewer from last place to first. Studies on top of studies show that consumers are looking for more than just price. 

Similarly, our Sharp Shooter Marketing system that has proven success in over 600 dealers and thousands of campaigns is a secret recipe that does not include discounting. 

Unfortunately, from time to time we have dealers that try to change our recipe.  Against our will, they replace our sugar with their salt and include discount offers and it ALWAYS reduces response rates. 

To find out the ‘behind the curtain’ reasons why discounting in your marketing will sabotage your results and lead to reduced sales and lower market share, join us in Atlanta on October 26th through the 28th for our Fall Harvest Marketing Boot Camp. 

We’ll be revealing real-world dealership case studies and evaluating what’s working online and offline. This is not a fluffy frou-frou event hosted by a big dumb company that doesn’t understand what you do. We live, eat, sleep, drink and breath powersports marketing best practices, and guarantee you’ll leave this event locked and loaded with the ammo you need to catapult your store to increased sales and profits. Call us today at 877-242-4472 or enroll online at www.powersportsmarketing.com/bootcamp.