Sharon's Marketing Missive

This weekend I bought a new vacuum. My first new vacuum of my life. But this small business blog isn’t about my new vacuum, as excited as I was to splurge on it. No, this blog post is about marketing, about how marketing is like dating and you have to be true to your word.

The vacuum I’ve used for the last 15 or so years was my mother’s. A Kenmore canister vacuum, I used that very same vacuum as a kid doing chores. When my mom passed it along to be umpteen years ago, all I had to do was replace the cord and it was good as new. I’ve had it into the repair place a couple of times, but it’s only needed quick fixes and it still has plenty of suction and works like a charm! That’s following through on a marketing promise: Building a product that lasts. I don’t know what Kenmore vacuums are like these days because I got talked into a Miele, but I do know I’m impressed as hell with that Kenmore. It now lives in my garage, and will be used for the car, and whatever else it’s needed for. I know that Kenmore is going to keep right on working!

Now for a seeming tangent, but this is related: Before Christmas, the day we were getting our big storm here in Seattle, I bought a Duraheat kerosene heater at Home Depot. When I paid for it, I was asked if I wanted to spend another $15 on a warranty. My reply? “No, I just want it to work.” Seriously, if you’re going to sell me something, and I’m talking about Duraheat here, not Home Depot, YOU should believe in your product enough to guarantee it! That is just baloney to have me as the customer buy insurance against your product being faulty. You, Duraheat, should be following through, not just marketing to get me to buy your heater in the first place, but building a product that you believe in enough to guarantee it. The heater was only $126. The cost of the warranty was more than 10% of the total cost!

When I bought my Miele vacuum on Saturday, I was delighted to find out it came with a warranty. That’s how it should be. Miele markets to potential customers like me. But unlike Duraheat, Miele is building product they themselves believe in. Again, that’s keeping your word and following through on your marketing promise.

Now if Duraheat used copywriting that said their heaters are crappy, the handles don’t work, and they might go up in flames like mine did, then yes, they’d be true to their word. But something tells me that’s not their marketing message.