Sell Significant Objects

Stories are such a powerful drive of emotional value that their effect on any given object's subjective value can actually be measured objectively.

That was the hypothesis behind the Significant Objects project.

The project saw the purchase of 100 insignificant products (each averaging $1.25). Weird stuff like a lighter-shaped like a small pool ball. The objective was to create narrative around those products and to sell them on eBay. To see what impact story had as an emotive selling technique.

Let's look at the example of the Utah Snow Globe purchased for 99c. The writer Blake Butler composed a product description that began;

My granddad's grandad had a box under his bed. If you got to open the box (you had to beg) you would find a little door. The little door had a combination on it hthat you had to know to get inside the second box, which I did. I had the combination tattooed on my spinemeat when I was four while on a trip to see the circus. The tattoo was free. My granddad's granddad was very powerful and rich

The story goes on to tell the relationship between the boy and his great great great granddad (I had to work that out). And yes, it does draw out context to the snow globe itself.

End result? The globe sold for $59. People bought into the story, not simply the product. The product was insignificant. Suddenly, through the magic of words, the product had value. A value that could then be shared as that story is retold. Eg. how I found myself owning a Utah snow globe.

Your products are NOT insignificant.

So imagine where the storytelling mindset could take your sales?

The point? We need to become better storytellers. The above is an extreme example. It's fiction (and slightly bonkers). But it worked. It really worked.

As you start to create narrative around your products. As you begin to talk about them in a conversational format you'll begin to set yourself and your brand free of the traditional conventions that infest our product pages and our newsletters.

It takes guts. It takes creativity. It takes perseverance (the storytelling approach will come naturally to you soon). It takes doing. It's the only place to start. Doing.

Setting your creative juices flowing and thinking about how you can make your products more attractive, more intriguing through the art of storytelling.

I'll be sharing some more practical examples over the coming days.

Here's an idea for starters. This is Hebtro.co. A Yorkshire brand that make great quality menswear here in the UK. All it started with an idea in the pub... not just ANY idea...