Laddering- What are You Really Selling?

“Sell the sizzle, not the steak” is the number-one lesson in sales. It means emphasize benefits rather than product. While this is great advice to follow, with branding strategy, things are somewhat more sophisticated. The answer to “What are you really selling?” should be: “Whatever they (customers) are really buying.” The problem, however, is that 90% of purchasing decisions are made subconsciously, with people having little idea why they really buy a particular product or service. Pinpointing why customers really buy, however, is imperative for developing your brand’s identity. A research technique called “laddering” allows us to do just this.
Here’s how it works:
Just as a ladder is made up of multiple rungs, and ascending each rung brings you one step closer to your goal, laddering is the process of digging deeper and deeper into the consumer’s psyche, to discover his underlying motivations for buying. The “ladder” used in laddering consists of four basic rungs: attributes, benefits, consequences and personal values.
Laddering research is accomplished by asking the simple question: “Why?”
For example, a parent tries to put his child to sleep at night, but the child refuses to cooperate.
Parent: Please go to bed.
Child: Why?
Parent: You need a full night’s sleep.
Child: Why?
Parent: So you will be well rested for tomorrow morning.
Child: Why?
Parent: So that you can pay attention in class.
Child: Why?
Parent: So you’ll do well in school.
Child: Why?
Parent: So that you can grow up to be the best you can be.
Child: Why?...
As you can see, with each passing swap the child takes at his parent’s request, the parent goes one-step deeper into revealing an underlying motivation for wanting the child to go to sleep.
Now, suppose we were able to sell the parent a device that is inserted into a pillow and plays soothing music to relax children, putting them into a deep sleep. Our target audience is parents of children that have difficulty getting to sleep on time. Utilizing the information obtained from the above conversation makes it possible to sell this device on any level of the ladder. The basic attributes can be its selling point by describing it as “a device that is inserted into a pillow and plays soothing music.” We can sell the benefits by calling it “a device that gives your child an extra deep sleep.” We can sell the consequences by saying, it’s “a device that will help your child pay attention better in class,” or, alternatively, “a device that will help your child do better in school.” Lastly, we can sell the personal values: it “gives your child the opportunity to be the best he can be.”
Once we understand the target customers "ladder" for your particular product, we will need to determine which rung on that ladder most compels them to buy. This will become your brand’s sales position.
Here are a few examples of famous slogans and catchphrases of brand name businesses, cast on different rungs of the ladder:
Attributes:
eBay – The World’s Online Marketplace; De Beers – A diamond is forever.
Benefits:
Staples – easy!; Verizon – Can you hear me now? Good!; Geico – Geico saves you money; Energizer batteries – It keeps going and going and going.
Consequences:
Rockport – Rockports make you feel like walking; Yellow Pages – Let your fingers do the walking; IKEA – live unboring.
Personal Values:
Apple Computer – Think different; Nike – Just do it; US Army – Be all you can be; Obama – Yes you can; Tug Branding – Stand out and lead!

Yaacov Weiss is a brand strategist and founder of Tug branding and marketing, based in Lakewood, NJ. If you’d like Yaacov to position your business, call 732-276-6432. You may also email Yaacov at yaacov@tugbranding.com.