Ganesh Harinath

In an economy with stringent factors affecting every aspect of our purchasing, consumers begin to examine the intrinsic value of an offering as part of a greater effort to distinguish whether or not said offering is worth a specific chunk of available, finite resources. This is where the scarcity in decision making, proliferated through general economic theory, comes into play for marketers. Understanding fully both the consumer concept and the consumer willingness to pay is tantamount to increasing bottom line sales and creating lift. The creative marketer in the depressed economy does their best to sell the intrinsic value of an item. This hearkens back to the ever-popular push vs. pull model in general marketing.

One particular company that does a pretty interesting job of appealing to business-minded consumers is eHarmony.com: an online retailer, of sorts, specializing in what amounts to a BPO [business process outsourcing] of finding a love interest. The current advertising scheme in question incorporates the notion of “secretly having someone else [do the work] for me,” which, assuming a base-level of ability in the referential, is a highly succinct definition of BPO.

The effectiveness of this advertising strategy is readily apparent: it simultaneously appeals to business-minded people and it also skews perception. In this case, the skew is from the normative / popular culture perception of online dating as something for people who “can’t date normally” toward the infinitely more enticing utilization of the world of personalized shoppers, babysitters, car washes and tax professionals: doing the things for you that you could do for yourself had you the time, expertise, inclination or patience.

As people’s savings are failing to bridge the gap, eHarmony is setting their targeting and positioning such that it speaks to professionals with a modicum of business savvy and arguably a little more cash on hand to spend on luxury goods. In this case, love is a luxury not everyone can afford. It turns out that when it comes to business, even love can take up a spot on the balance sheet. Sorry J-Lo, looks like your love does cost something [as if Ben didn’t already know].

Regardless of your personal take on internet dating, BPOs, and American-born Puerto Rican divas, one has to take note when creative spins begin to affect brand positioning. I know I’ll be interested to see how and where eHarmony pushes this line of thought. What do you think?