2021: The Plot Twist.

Tell your story.

Sage advice from marketing virtuoso Seth Godin, whom we tap for three key pearls of advice for this column, the next installment in EB’s Communication Masterclass series. Author of 20 best-sellers, including “Purple Cow” and “Tribes,” Godin published his latest, “The Practice,” in November.

Savvy consumers know their options online. They come to ECPs for something else—an experience.

“You don’t sell glasses. You sell a story,” Godin tells EB. “If all I want is glasses, I can get them online for $49.”

DO! COMMIT TO YOUR STORY.

“What story does your business seek to tell?” Godin asks. “You can tell a story about belonging, about status, about safety, about being seen, about dignity, about connection, about local—all of those things fit together into: Why am I rooting for you?”

Consider eyewear icon Moscot, whose story entails genuine, humble beginnings of a pushcart, philanthropy, celebrities, and its own vibe of Moscot Music.

“There is no reason to pass 25 eyeglass stores on your way to a Moscot store,” Godin shares with EB. “Except there is: Because it comes with a patina. It comes with a story. It comes with all of the things they spent 100 years building.”

DO! CREATE OPPORTUNITIES.

Getting lots of people to buy one pair of eyeglasses will not restore market standing lost to the pandemic, he says. “You will recover from this if your best customers get back in the habit of buying eyeglasses as a fashion device.”

Coax them back by communicating opportunities for affiliation or a narrative of status/dominance. “Those are the only two things that drive human beings going forward,” Godin says.

“Affiliation,” he explains, “means the people you seek to be like—the people you seek to be seen like—are moving ahead without you. You better catch up.”

“Status/dominance” appeals to someone’s desire to show they are fashion-forward, that they are winning.

These concepts are exemplified by politicians who choose either a “who’s with me” approach to build alliances (affiliation) versus others who favor a “whom am I defeating” stance (status/dominance).

DON’T! CONVEY A LOW-PRICE MESSAGE.

Instead, Godin asks: “If you had to increase your price five times or 10 times—if you had no choice but to do that—what could you do that would make it obviously worth it for someone, not everyone, but someone, to pay that much?

“Because it turns out you could probably do some of those things without needing to charge 10 times as much to pay for it. The people who are going to capture the next wave of optional facial jewelry are going to be the ones who provide an entire package.”