Switching Sides
I've been watching the U.S. Presidential race with great interest. (My wife would argue too much interest.) I've seen every debate. I've watched every Sunday morning political show. I enjoy Chris Matthews' Hardball on MSNBC (even though he can't seem to speak without spitting). And I admit I find the whole process much more engaging than our own election process. I'm not sure why. But that's another story.
The reason I raise this is because now with McCain the Republican front runner, I'm amazed that there are segments of his own party (the evangelical and ultra-conservative right wing) who would rather switch to a Hillary Clinton than vote for one of their less conservative own. Ann Coulter, the patron saint of conservatism said as much herself just last week.
This got me to thinking about the idea of switching from a marketing perspective. After all, as Marketers, we try to get people to "Switch" to our brand, product or service all the time. I can't tell you how many communications and calls I've received (and avoided) from Bell recently to get me to switch back to them.
What the McCain example seems to reinforce is that the big "Switch" doesn't so much happen because we ask people to switch. People tend to switch because they are forced to. I'm sure there are many reasons, but bad service (as the conservatives might argue in McCain’s case) and sudden price hikes come to mind.
After many years of being a loyal Palm Treo user, I recently switched to Blackberry because the Palm Treo I was using wasn’t holding its charge. After three replacement units I finally switched. When service goes bad, it doesn’t matter how loyal a customer you’ve been. You’re more likely to look for an alternative.
Of course, another incentive for switching is lower price. So if I actually were to answer Bell’s call, I would likely find out how much I could save. But convenience is a deterrent to change (as is inertia) and even dollars saved isn’t enough of an incentive, at least in this case.
So what is enough incentive for someone to switch? That’s the question I’m posing to you. And I bet it’s a question most Marketers struggle with. I’d be interested in hearing what works from your experience. (I’m sure McCain would be interested too. After all, his political life now depends on it.)
