May 24, 2005

Do You Want to Hear About the Steak or How Much it Cost?

I'm still thinking about that Saturday night restaurant, a new steakhouse in Charleston called Mo Sussman's. He features a center cut steak that is of such a quality that no one else in Charleston - maybe no one else in South Carolina - has it. And the taste is incredible, the essence of steak. You want a great steak? Go to Mo's.

The steak costs $29. But Mo doesn't say, "Hey, want to spend $29 on a steak? I can give you a great steak for that." No, he focuses on the benefit, not the cost. He focuses on the great steak. And, if you're into getting that great steak, the $29 is - and should be - inconsequential.

I was thinking about Mo's today when I was thinking about the challenge of marketing the Charleston County School District's proposed budget. The Superintendent was hired to turn things around. She developed a comprehensive plan to do just that. The Board enthusiastically supports her plan. With her proposed budget, she's saying (in effect) "You want a great steak? Here's how we get it...we choose only this cut from only this purveyor and we cook it only this way. And, if we do all of that, we can give you the best steak around."

Meanwhile, some Board members are saying, "Listen, I do want a good steak, but I only want to spend $9.95 tops for it. I spent $8.95 last year, but I'm willing to go up a dollar to $9.95."

They're focusing on the cost. She's focusing on the benefit.

Whenever the debate is about cost, it reduces the product or service to commodity status. Focus on benefits, and you transcend the issue of cost.

Put another way, which is more important, spending only $1 more than last year, or getting the best steak?

More relevant: Which is more important, holding the tax increase to "x" or providing the resources to implement a plan that is widely supported and represents the only hope to improve the education of 44,000 children?

Focus on the benefit, get people engaged in it, desirous for it, sold on it....and then the cost is insignificant.

Back to the Media

What I typed three times and kept getting lost in cyberspace yesterday was something like this.

The Newsweek gaff is only the latest in a string of media mistakes that have driven confidence in the media to an all-time low. About 12% of the public in this country has a high confidence in the media, according to a recent survey. That's half what it was in the post-Watergate era.

The problems are so obvious: everyone trying to keep up with the pressure of a 24/7 news environment...everyone trying to scoop everyone else...a higher premium paid for "first" rather than "factual"...news media ownership by mega-entertainment companies that have different goals and visions...budget cuts...bureau cuts...etc.

It's no joke that today's youth relies upon "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" for their news. (I think this is what producer Mark Burnett was reported to have said to Donald Trump: "This isn't real life. It's reality."...Ponder that!)

Maybe this all an opportunity for straight talk and truth and calm and taking the time to get it right. Maybe on both sides of the equation: among the media and among those of us in our business who communicate with the media. My own sense is that "smart" and "honest" have more currency today than ever before.

The "can-you-top-this" media circus that's out there now is imploding.