Investing in Desirability

Check out this screengrab of the website of Rentokil Initial. I circled one of their news items. It is THEY who are announcing that they will be using a vendor’s product (in this case Google Apps). Often vendors fight just to even be allowed to mention that somebody is using their product. But when a customer perceives that an association with a vendor brings them something — desirability, coolness, cutting-edgeness, or a particular shift in strategic positioning — that can be a monster boon for a vendor. Because nothing sells like customers talking about you. Nothing!. It makes the vendor’s life a lot easier, more efficient… and can make marketing a lot less expensive. It’s worth investing in desirability.