REAL LIFE BENEFIT ANALYSIS

When my students do our section on feature-benefit selling, I bring in the boxes from recently purchased items (e.g., DVD player, cordless phone, coffee maker). Students select a product and then work in groups of three or four. They list all the features they find on the package, and what the corresponding benefit would be to the purchaser. Each group reports their findings to the class. We then work as a large group to brainstorm additional benefits for existing features and to identify possible new features that could add value to the consumer. Since kids are familiar with these products, I have found that using them opens the discussion about the concepts of feature-benefit, advertising, packaging, and branding all in one exercise.

Ray Tindira
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Reprinted from MarkEd Update Center, 9/2/05