You can argue that a Tempur-pedic is too firm (opinion), but you can’t argue it’s the mattress’ fault you woke up your spouse.
They proved it by jumping next to a wine glass on the mattress (fact).
You can argue that Volvo’s are stuffy (opinion), but you can’t argue that they’re well built.
Each spot weld in a Volvo is strong enough to support the weight of the entire car, which was proved by a man named David Abbott who lay beneath a suspended Volvo to take a photo for the ad (fact).
Principle: Show, don’t tell
Timex began a series of ads in 1956 to show the durability of their watches.
They strapped them to outboard boat propellers, swamp buggy tires and paint mixers - running them through a variety of brutal torture tests.
Then they let the audience listen for the tick. Timex: “takes a licking and keeps on ticking.”
In less than 15 years Timex had cornered roughly 50% of the US watch market.
When you take the core claim of your product, and demonstrate the truth of it powerfully, people believe, and then buy.
Tactics
Here’s what you can steal for your demo’s:
Identify the superpower - the one thing that sets your product apart from others
Prove it using something from the list below - the more visually compelling the better
Tie a bow on it with a visual or audio cue - you shouldn’t need to explain what just happened. The result should speak for itself.
List of potential demonstrations:
competitor split screen comparison
before/after
one-take speed run - one cut, from the box to fully useable
load/weight test - hang on it, stand on it, have an elephant step on it
drop a bowling ball on it
wine-glass or marble stability - will it spill or roll off?
torture cycle - put it through hell
transparency slice - cut it in half to show how quality it is
visual metrics - show the PSI, decibles, lux or pH, use a scale, stopwatch or thermometer
extreme contrast - cut the thinnest slice of tomato, then cut a fridge
time lapse proof - show the product doing it’s work quickly
infrared probe - does yours heat or cool faster?
first-person fix - show how fast it can be fixed/resolved using your product
blind comparison - let someone use yours and a competitors blindly
You get the idea. If this list didn’t cover it, just copy/paste into GPT with a description of your product and she’ll come up with something good.
Habits
Start filming all the tests you run on your product. Try to break it in the most meaningful ways, and let people watch.
God speed,
Mike
Today’s inspiration: The 7 Human Hijacks