The Biggest Mistake Marketers Make
And the Super Mario Insight That Solves It
Most marketers get one thing fundamentally wrong:
They make their marketing about themselves, not their customer.
You’ve seen it a thousand times:
“WE just launched…”
“Sign up for OUR newsletter…”
“OUR product is the best…”
Brands love to talk about their product, features, and accomplishments.
But customers only care about a single question:
“What does this do for me?”
This is the moment everything changes.
The Super Mario Insight is that your product is not the product.
Your product is what your customer becomes after using it.
Little Mario = Your customer today
Fire Flower = Your product
Fire Mario = Who they become after using your product
And here is the key insight:
You do not sell the flower.
You sell them becoming Fire Mario.
Most brands talk about the flower.
Great brands talk about what the flower transforms you into.
This is what psychologists call Theory of Mind. It is the ability to model what another person thinks, feels, and cares about from their unique corner of the universe. It is the foundation of all persuasion, advertising creative, and high-performance marketing.
A Campaign That Does This Exceptionally Well
When the “Most Interesting Man in the World” commercial first aired in 2006, it boosted Dos Equis U.S. sales by 22% at a time when most imported beers were declining. And it spawned a viral internet meme format that is still used today.
Part of why it was so successful is it doesn’t sell the beer. In fact, the ad never talks about the qualities of the beer.
Instead, Dos Equis sells who the beer allows you to become. In other words, it sells the dream that you, too, can become the Most Interesting Man in the World.
Lesson there.
A Common Example That Falls Flat
❌ The typical newsletter subscribe box
No transformation. No benefit. No reason.
A Subscribe Box That Actually Works
Here is the better version:
This version answers “WIIFM” instantly:
✔ What I will get
✔ How it helps me
✔ Who I will become
When framed this way, subscribers do not feel like they are doing you a favor.
They feel like they are doing themselves a favor.
Where to Begin ( Start With “WHY?”)
Simon Sinek’s Start With Why is required viewing if you have not seen it.
“People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.”
— Simon Sinek
It all falls into place when your “why” aligns with who the customer wants to become.
The Takeaway for Marketers
To convert the customer, you must become him. Or, as the Buddha puts it:
