How one word doubled sales…

I received an email the other day about a great, simple marketing ploy - it may be folklore but I hope it's true.

And it's about shampoo.

The story goes that one of the leading shampoo manufacturers wanted to increase their sales. So they called together their marketing people and asked them for ideas.

All the usual ideas were suggested - rebranding, free offers, discounts etc. And then one bright spark suggested something much more brilliant in its simplicity. And that suggestion was that they add one word to the instructions on the shampoo bottle.

What was that word? "Repeat".

So people started using twice as much shampoo. And sales nearly doubled (let's face it, there'll always be the odd person who won't follow instructions!).

Brilliant.

And the lesson to be learnt?

Well, I think there are three:

First, is there anything simple in your business that your missing? Something so obvious that you'll kick yourself when you realise it.

Second, having heard this story, can you steal from it to improve your business? It's always better to steal than try to be original. I'm sure it was Rosser Reeves (a well known advertiser) who said "Originality is the most dangerous word in the advertiser's lexicon".

Third, it's all about the power of words. And we often forget just how powerful a single word can be.