Pressure

Whether it is NFL Football or Beat Bobby Flay or this guy recreating the music for Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso" without ever having heard the actual music, a clock ticking toward zero creates pressure and drama.

Clocks ticking toward zero have to mean something, of course. You cannot lie. Cyber Monday, for instance, is a clock ticking toward zero, creating pressure. If you play the discount game (and strong hint, unless your brand is all about the best offers or lowest prices every day of the year, you should never play the discount game), Cyber Monday is the clock running down to zero ... you cannot have equal/better discounts AFTER Cyber Monday or the clock/pressure game you're playing is not valid ... it's a lie. When you are at 60% off on Cyber Monday and say HURRY, ENDS AT 11:59PM and then the next morning you say CYBER WEEK CONTINUES with the same discounts ... you've lied, and you invalidated the pressure/clock situation created by Cyber Monday. Which, of course, too many of you do. Well, you can do that, but there is a price to pay ... and the price you pay is elimination of all subsequent pressure/clock-count-down situations, because the customer knows you lie, and there's nothing worse for a brand than having to convince customers you won't lie after you lie.

Most of us have natural built-in-clocks in our businesses, creating pressure. If you are a gardening brand, Spring is a built-in-clock creating pressure. Valentine's Day is a natural built-in-clock scenario that creates pressure. If you are a grocery store, the Super Bowl is a natural built-in-clock scenario that creates pressure ... get your food for your Super Bowl party.

The best marketers amplify pressure, and they create their own built-in-clock scenarios. The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is a perfect example ... who else does Christmas-level business in apparel in late July - early August? What is the example of pressure/clock situations you leverage in your business to generate disproportionate volume? Don't say any man-made holiday (i.e. Cyber Monday or Thanksgiving or Christmas). What is the example of a situation you created for your customers, independent of the competition, that creates a pressure/clock situation where the customer must act or miss out?