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Moving Beyond the WIIFM Principle

Jeff Kershner

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Aaron Wirtz makes a case for updating the 'What's In It For Me?" principle with a concept for the digital age: That Could Be Me.

Legendary brands now require participatory culture - How will yours be achieved?

For decades now, salespeople have been trained to honor the sacred WIIFM Principle (What’s in it for Me?) in everything they do. The rationale being that the more a salesperson can help his customers understand how the product will meet the needs of their unique situations, the more likely the customer will be to buy it.

Knowing that the kind of people who go into sales are often the type who enjoy talking about themselves, the WIIFM principle provides a tool for keeping the presentation on track and paving the road toward that all-important yes.

But that was then, and now, we need more.

These days, customers need a different kind of help to lead them to that yes, so I suggest that we as digital marketers add a new concept to the WIIFM Principle, which I have dubbed The TCBM Principle, or That Could Be Me.

This concept argues that many consumers no longer want to be like their role models, they demand the knowledge and resources necessary to become them.

To illustrate my point, here are a few examples of brands and brand personalities who are profitably leveraging the That Could Be Me principle:

Click here to continue reading and to comment on this article over on the blog

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