Why would a prescription drug company advertise to those who cannot access the drug unless with a prescription? Odd. In fact, it’s something that I use all of the time when consulting for wedding jobs.
This is my 5th year as a wedding photographer and I have seen a wide spectrum of clients. One pattern observed – the higher in price I go (now starting at $10k), the more often parents will fund the weddings. They are my auxiliary clients.
Drug Companies And Auxiliary Marketing
When at home, more commonly during regular 9am-5pm working hours, prescription drug commercials will air on television. They are not being silly to advertise to an audience that has no control of which drug they are issued by their doctors. In a logical world, shouldn’t the drug companies advertise to said doctors rather than patients?
Take Zoloft for example. Watch the video and pay attention at the end. It will quote the following:
Talk to your doctor about Zoloft – the number one prescribed brand of its kind. Zoloft – when you know more about what’s wrong, you can help make it right.
They’re not even trying to hide their goal. Zoloft wants you to ask your doctor about the drug. In reality, Zoloft wants you to tell your doctor what to prescribe… “Hey doc, I feel this, this and this. I think I need something like Zoloft to help…”
(I want to be happy…just like this bubbly white blob)
Conclusions
Do not be too rigid on your marketing campaigns. I talk about knowing your target audience in many of my lectures and posts. Just know that sometimes there is more than just one target client. Since I have a wide array of readers, there isn’t only one way to use auxiliary marketing. Think about it.
Share your thoughts on how you can use auxiliary marketing below and I will try to respond accordingly!
Hungry? Me too.
Lawrence Chan
P.S. Grace Ormonde (@grace_ormonde)’s team just released the party locations!!! Get yourself a ticket! Don’t worry – I too have a few tickets left, so don’t sweat it Tofurians!
http://www.weddingstylemagazine.com/book
No related posts.
Lawrence,
Nice observation. I think it is great how the drug companies market to us and the call to action is to ask our doctor. That is something that I think is key, getting us to DO something.
I wonder how something like “… pesh is not habit forming. pesh is the only photographer of his kind. Talk to you parents about pesh.” will go over :)
This is a good perspective for me because I can take the label of “bank” away from the parents/grandparents/whoever is helping and call them my auxiliary clients. I mean, I give love to the family members anyway BUT, when they become a client through the couple, it gives me more reason to keep their experience top notch.
pesh
P.S. – Hungry too, today is the first day in over a week that I do not have plans with another person int he wedding industry. My streak is broken, and I am a little bummed :)
I think the term you have coined might be referring to the terms they use in marketing called “market segmentation” / “indirect target market” and “buying center”. For non-marketing majors, you did a great job describing the idea and coining your new term :)
The interesting distinction you point out is that the consumer and the customer aren’t always (or even often) the same person.
There are at least five specific roles that a person may play in purchasing something. They include users, influencers, buyers, deciders, and gatekeepers. The specific buying situation will influence the number of people in and the different roles played in a buying decision.
The key to selling is really convincing the decider. Even though mommy and daddy write the check, if the bride is in LoVe with your work and you are in their ballpark pricing wise then more than likely you will get the job. For other situations where the parents are the deciders, the bride must still love your work but she knows that she needs mommy and daddy’s approval.
The way I try to please everyone is by offering “thank you” gift albums for both sets of parents. I tell the parents they will be getting beautiful images of them with their daughter and soon-to-be son in law, images they will treasure. I appeal to whoever I notice is the true decision maker- aka “auxiliary marketing”.
I use this tool with seniors as well. I advertise images that seniors lOvE (to get their attention), but the real money maker big prints are images their moms love.
Thanks Travis for the jargon education! Love your tactics!
I need to get on this post, great observations as usual, will write some more later
Hi Lawrence,
Great observations by you and Travis. Also, enjoyed Pesh’s insights as well. It is so true that their are multiple target clients in many marketing campaigns and transactions. Noting that the consumer and the customer may often be different people is right on key.
From a recently booked wedding, the father of the bride was the consumer and customer and his daughter the bride is also the customer. In a situation like this, I believe it is crucial to keep in mind that we are servicing both the parent’s and the bride’s needs. Missing this distinction would be a grave error in client service.
So, Lawrence, how do I get a Tofurious ticket to the Grave tour?
P.S. Had a great time on my recent visit to Seattle and said hello to your friends at Pike’s Place Market.
This post is very insightful. I have been thinking of ways to provide exceptional customer service to my brides and grooms but not the parents. You definitely have me brainstorming now!
Woot ! Congrats on starting at $10k for wedding photography !! All your insightful marking skills paid off !! So happy for you :)
Ever helpful and inspiring as always. I always stop what I’m doing to read your emails. Thank you for sharing your time & knowledge so willingly.
Tee hee! As long as their is at least one reader such as yourself who appreciates it, I will continue blogging. Thank you for the warm comment, Cindy!
Good stuff !!! Thanks for sharing your knowledge Lawrence!
This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I am starting a boudoir photography wing to my business and am going to make a separate site for it but still use the same splash page to go into my wedding, portrait and boudoir sites. I just worry that, even though the boudoir is very tasteful, that there will be parents paying for their son’s/daughter’s wedding who will be turned off from using me because of it sine their generation is more traditional. Am I thinking too much or do you think it would be smart to keep the boudoir site totally separate? hmmmmm. Can’t decide. any advice would be welcome.
To me it’s relevant on your location and clientele. If you have mostly conservative / religious clients, then I suggest separating the websites. Exclusivity will always trump diversity – Gucci vs. Walmart model.
The next question is to determine who your target audience is. Usually it is the bride who wants to surprise the groom with a delightful gift. Therefore, I highly doubt that the parents will fund it unless it is part of your wedding packages. But I see nothing wrong with grooms knowing, thus target them rather than parents.
Thanks so much for the advice!! Really appreciate it. : ) I definitely live in a religious city but it’s mostly the older generation (hence why I feared the parents a bit). But I agree that I should target the bride and groom rather and not worry too much about the parents.
Ah I see. Well here is another approach. Create comradeship.
On your packages, have an album called “The Secret Album” and it’s only between you and your bride. Naturally, people (including parents) will ask. Discuss this in private with your bride.
This “secret” will create a bond. A bond that only you and your bride shares, which makes it special because it’s scarce. When scarce, it will be highly demanded. Get where I’m going?
The bride will eventually convince the parents to invest into this secret album with trust that the bride knows what she’s doing. Ta da!
First step in my marketing proposals – build relationships.
Cool idea!! I like it. Love your creativity and resourcefulness! Thanks again Lawrence. Great food for thought.
Great point Lawrence. I need to have more ramun noodle meals with you!
I truly enjoyed this as always. I love learning and seeing different views on marketing and sales approaches. I have found myself more then a few times in the situation where both parents and Bride are head to head on control and decision making. I find with each situation half the battle is figuring out how to please both and keep both feeling like there in control (always open to more hints). Boudoir though usually funded by the bride seems to give her empowerment and is something that her parents don’t have control over.
Thanks for letting me put my 2 cents
[...] What Proactiv did was to use the teen market as the initiator for the purchase of their products, which is timely because that is when most people start breaking out. With strong infatuation for teen idol Justin Bieber, mothers of teens become the buyers. I wrote a similar article about this with Zoloft. [...]