In this Draper University talk, serial entrepreneur Jeff Hoffman explains the concept of a "brand asset" – a single, compelling reason that drives customers to choose a business. He argues that marketing should focus on uncovering and communicating that one core promise, rather than listing multiple features. Hoffman illustrates the idea with vivid anecdotes: Priceline’s "Name Your Own Price" model sparked curiosity; Walmart’s promise of always‑low prices creates a clear, simple brand asset; Nordstrom’s in‑store piano player delivers an experiential, service‑focused asset; and a TV‑mount seller discovered that the unique claim of using "aircraft steel" resonated more than functional specs. He advises founders to identify their own brand asset, use it to generate interest (“Tell me more”), and avoid trying to be everything to everyone, because only a distinct, memorable promise sticks in customers’ minds.
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Hey everyone, you're about to watch Jeff Hoffman, a serial entrepreneur with a very inspiring message. If you want to be one of the founders sitting here in our campus learning from world-class experts like Jeff, make sure that you apply today at draperuniversity.com. Enjoy the video.
The next thing I want you to focus on is your brand asset. And let me explain what this means. When I ask you guys to— your go-to-market strategy, and I look at your marketing material, people always tell me 5 different reasons. Why shouldn't— the question is this. Why should I do business with you? Why should I buy your product? And people start telling me, well, it's easy to use. It's fast. It's cheap. It's whatever. The truth in the marketing world is that when somebody does business with you or buys your product, They do it for one compelling reason that drove them. So if I were to ask you this question, what is the one most compelling reason anybody's going to do business with you? You need to answer that question. And that is your brand asset. And let me be clear what a brand is. A brand does not close a sale. A brand's job is to get people to, to say, wait, what? Tell me more. That's it. Think about the early days of Priceline, which I know some of you used back then. We were talking about the— you were talking about the bidding. He literally studied the bidding process of how to bid against Priceline at the name your own price. So how's this? This is the brand asset. How would you like to name your own price for— at the start it was airline tickets before hotels. How would you like to name your own price for an airline ticket? Not one person anywhere said, no, it's cool, I'll pay whatever they want. Not one person anywhere said, I can already do that. Every single person said, wait, what? Tell me more. How does this work? A brand asset is to get people to pull up a chair and say, I'm interested. Tell me more about it. Don't try to close the sale on your first contact with people because they don't remember you. Everybody's product sounds the same. It's fast. It's easy to use. I'll show you a couple quick examples here. For those of you who've ever been to a Walmart, you have never seen a Walmart ad that said, come in for our high-quality products. Okay? You have never seen a Walmart ad that says, our service is unbelievable. They've made you one promise ever, always low prices. You literally put up with their crap because if you need light bulbs, you're not going to find them cheaper. They have one compelling reason to go, and that's all they've ever sold. Here is the opposite of that, by the way. Of the, the, well, in fact, I'll tell you. One day I was standing in a Walmart, and I was walking through a Walmart, and this woman was walking towards me, and there was a Walmart employee in the aisle. in one of those blue vests. And the woman said to the Walmart employee, excuse me, ma'am, could you help me with something? And the girl, the Walmart girl, was texting. And she looked at the customer and said, can you not see that I'm in the middle of a text? And she just walked off. And the woman's like that. I said, ma'am, can I ask you something? She said, what? And I said, did you really think a Walmart employee was going to help you with your purchase? And she said, no, I've never even seen one standing in the aisle. And I said, then what are you, what are you doing here? And she said, I need light bulbs and they're cheaper here than anywhere else. I said, that's all they ever promised you. Here's the opposite. I'm walking through Nordstrom's, if you've ever been in one of those, right? And I'm buying my sister a sweater for her birthday. And I'm walking along and I'm humming a song and I'm like, how did I hear this, get this song in my head? And I turn around and it's because there is a guy wearing white gloves playing the piano in the middle of the ladies department in Nordstrom's. And I was like, wait, there's a white-gloved guy playing piano in the store? I turn around and I said, excuse me. He said, yeah. I said, Who's paying you to play the piano? He said, that sweater you're holding is paying me. And I looked at the price tag and I was like, holy crap. I didn't want to buy like the sheep that came with it. I just wanted the sweater. Nordstrom's didn't promise you. When I made a comment about the price at the register where there were 6 girls singing in perfect harmony, may we help you? The service was amazing. And I commented on the price. The girl laughed. I said, what? And she said, you didn't come into Nordstrom's looking for discount clothing, pal. You came in here because we have a piano player. What is your brand asset? What is the thing? I'll give you one more quick example of that. It was a guy that was selling television mounts, metal mounts that hang televisions. He, on his marketing, it said lightweight, easy to assemble, folds up when not in use, constructed of aircraft steel. It even said well-priced. I said, I want to show you something. We went to— and we went and asked 10 people who bought one of those, why did you buy this? Was it because it's lightweight? Was it because it's easy to assemble? Was it because it folds up when you're not using it? 10 out of 10 people said, and I quote, I don't know what the hell aircraft steel is, but I want that. Right? So you know what his product says now? The only TV hook made of aircraft steel. No one knows what it is, but everyone wants that holding their television set. Find your brand asset and sell to that thing and stop trying to be everything to everybody. No one will remember you.
