The Vacuum Battle Royal

It probably should not be classified as battle, but I eavesdropped on three wives (one of which was mine) having a “who knows the best vacuum” debate this weekend.

It went like this…

Wife 2: “I really want a __________ (brand name) vacuum.”

Wife 1: “Oh, I was going to ask for that brand for Christmas, but was told by soooo many people not to.”

Wife 3: “Well, if my vacuum didn’t have a chord, I would vacuum everyday!”

Wife 1: “You should see my chord. Press a button, and the chord winds itself back into the vacuum.”

Wife 3: “No way.”

Wife 1: “Way.”

And for five more minutes they had their vacuum debate…

Welcome to our new business ecosystem.

The goal in this new ecosystem is to be the last brand standing or Best In Class for your product or service when three wives strike up their battle royal.

The three wives care more about each other’s opinions than any direct mailer, infomercial, tweet, or even a Super Bowl ad. Said another way, it’s all about the social boat we sail on, and we hate to rock the boat.

This should make us all question our marketing dollars.

Never once did they mention how well the vacuum sucked. That’s the reason for a vacuum debate, right? Not so much. Best In Class, here, was all about functionality, noise levels, and chord winder-uppers.

This proves the Simon Sinek belief when he says, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”