I’ve been working on a plan to publicize my new book due out this fall and I have to say any campaign is all about the nitty gritty. Whether it’s my own project or projects I’ve done for others, I always pick the whole thing apart. That used to drive one of my clients crazy. “You ask SO many questions,” he’d say. The project succeeded and I saw him a year or so later. “Nobody will ever do it like you,” he told me. Funny boy.  Made me feel very good. My older daughter, shown in the photo with the puppy she adopted from a shelter, served as my imaginary purchaser. She’s perfect because she falls into the consumer group every product pusher wants to target. What surprised her: I didn’t ask her questions related to my book, although her age group is a definite potential purchaser. I wanted a general idea of what makes the purchaser in my daughter tick. “What’s your favorite product?” I asked.

She wrinkled her nose and said, “In the whole wide world?”

Yep.

“Well, that’d be my cell phone.”

Why?

“Because in today’s world, we’re expected to be extremely efficient—always connected, especially with a job—and you can do anything from a cell phone. Pay bills, get Mapquest if you’re lost, things like that.”

So how did you choose your cell phone carrier?

“Well, there’s no perfect cell phone, but I’ve had the least number of dropped calls with Sprint, the least number of issues with my bill and it’s never a long wait when I call customer service. I picked Sprint because my boyfriend had it. I was always mad at my phone. So he recommended the change.”

So you didn’t pick the company because of the commercials, or an insert in your bill or a blog review?

“I see those commercials, but there’re so many different cell phones, I don’t pay them much attention. Sprint’s seem to be the less obnoxious—their commercials don’t irritate me like that ‘Fav Five’ one. All these people talking really fast at once; it’s irritating. Sometimes there’s an insert in my statement and I like that they don’t put inserts from other companies in there. They did send me a credit for being a good customer for so long. I paid attention to that one, and upgraded to a better phone.”

What, besides the fact it’s pink, do you like about the phone?

“Well, my phone’s for people who specifically love music—you can hook it up to an iPod or an MP3 player—even your ringtones sound good.”

So basically you picked the phone because your boyfriend recommended it, it works good,  and you like the customer service? And it’s pink?

“Yep.”

Her answers gave me a lot of insight. Good product, good fulfillment and perhaps most important, word of mouth—your basic nitty gritty.  I think you can apply those principles to planning a successful campaign for any product. Worked for Sprint; might work for me.

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