We have been lied to, from traditional marketing channels. The old guard of commerce has spent literal DECADES telling us that we only buy things to solve problems. While of course this is a part of it, it’s not the only puzzle piece. It’s the classical theory.. there’s some friction in life, and you buy a product to ease that friction or just save time.
This makes complete sense on paper. You’re cold, you buy a coat. Hungry, buy food etc. You get it.
But if that were the ONLY force driving purchasing, everyone would wear the same utility gray jumpsuit with minimal variation, and we’d all eat flavorless nutrient PASTE. The marketplace we actually live in is not a friction-free problem solving machine. It is a vast & sophisticated costume shop of sorts.
Not literally of course, but just have a think about this: In this ‘costume shop’ we’re in, we’re not just looking for tools.. we’re looking for personal, emotional, and / or physical transformation.
We’re looking for an identity arbitrage.
This concept of arbitrage is simple. It’s just a typical buy-low, sell-high concept, pocketing the difference in between. But in this idea, identity arbitrage is more like the silent transaction that occurs when a customer purchases a product not for what it does, but for who it allows them to FEEL they are.
For real, just think about this for a second, people will pay a much higher price for being part of the ‘club’ or even a training program that’s maybe out of the price range of your average person.. They feel they ‘deserve’ to be part of this higher priced elite group.
The same goes for why someone would spend $200 on a skin lotion. They’d do this not because it will actually give them THAT much more value than your average priced lotion, but they’re affirming that they’re ‘level’ or status is that of a person who buys this extremely high end lotion.
They trade their money for an elevated sense of self worth, or a predefined social narrative.
They’re not just buying an expensive ‘organic coffee’, they’re buying the narrative that they’re the kind of person who supports ethical sourcing. They’re not just buying the fitness equipment, but rather they’re buying the IDENTITY of them being fit and in shape – before they even break a sweat.
As entrepreneurs and brand architects, if we’re still focused JUST on selling features, we’re operating with blinders on. We’re a commodity.. The TRUE leverage is not just building a better product (do this too of course!) it’s in constructing a more compelling IDENTITY that the customer is desperate to adopt for themselves.
Try The Mirror Test – Selling Your Product As A ‘Costume Change’
If you want to know if you’re truly successfully marketing identity rather than simply utility, you just need to apply this one simple diagnostic. The mirror test.
When your customer uses your product, puts on your clothing, or launches your app, do they feel a CHEMICAL change in how they view themselves?
If they hold your expensive fancy water bottle, are they just hydrating themselves, or do they feel full optimized better than what most other people could acheive? Popular brands have almost always mastered this concept, yet the VAST majority of businesses and brands 100% completely totally overlook this.
Traditional problem solving focuses on the external friction someone faces. But when you also integrate identity marketing into the mix, you’ll be adding a priceless layer of value to literally any product you offer.
Every single important purchase…
Every choice that moves beyond just survival, is a vote for a specific identity. When someone buys a truck, they’re often buying the narrative of the capable protector, or the outdoorsman, reguardless of whether they’re ever actually haul any lumber or hit a single mud trail in their lives.
Think about when someone buys a simple yoga mat, a piece of rubber typically, but it’s so much more than that. When they spend $100 on a really ‘good’ yoga mat, they’re investing in the identity of the conscious, active & body / health type individual.. NOT just buying a piece of rubber.
This is why some brands are capable of charging absolutely RIDICULOUS markups on normal items.. Think the supreme ‘brick’.. yeah that’s actually a thing if you haven’t heard of it before. It’s literally just a brick. …. … …..
” The ‘sale’ happens when the product becomes the bridge between who they are currently, and who they desperately want to become, or been seen as. “
Identity Marketing Example: Carnivore Diet – Philosophy Over Calories
This concept of purchasing your new self, is most explosive in markets that are rooted in belief systems. Again look at the dieting world.
You could spend years trying to market a balanced, calorie-restrictive diet based on boring science and sustainability. But it’s actually a nightmare to sell, because the‘identity’ it offers is fairly uninspiring.
Compare this to the rapid rise and near religious following of specific, high definition “belief based” diets. For example, when someone starts a diet like the Carnivore Diet, they aren’t just changing what they eat, they’re changing WHO THEY ARE. What makes this so cool is that they’re able to charge 3-4 times what a product would normally cost, for Carnivore related products, simply because they’re for people on the Carnivore diet.
They become a “Carnivore”, they adopt this full identity. They have clear internal rules, a distinct worldview, and the physical costume change of a diet that separates them from the average person.
This work so spectacularly well because the identity is WELDED to the belief system. When you attach your identity to a dietary philosophy, the product is no longer just a diet.. It’s PROOF of your conviction.
And because it’s a proof of identity, returning the product or breaking the diet isn’t just a change in preference, it’s a personal failure! This creates a powerful retention that traditional brands can only DREAM of attaining. The highest converting markets are the ones that dont just solve problems, but define your ‘tribe’ and your ‘philosophy’.
The Character Identity Journey. Why We All Love A Good Framework.
The real reason frameworks and levels work so effectively in areas like self-improvement and similar subjects, is that they give the buyer a clear & clean script they play.
We are all the heroes of our own movie, so to speak, but most of us are terrible screenwriters. We don’t know what our ‘character arc’ should be.
That’s why identity marketing works so well, it provides the script for their specific scene in their movie. By creating a multistage transformation process, you’re not just offering a product.. but rather you’re offering a new IDENTITY, a new character arc.
Instead of selling a protein supplement, you sell the ’90 day transformation protein supplement. The customer is now the main character. Every stage of the journey is a level up that validates their new identity. You’re supplement is just the ‘experience potion’ needed to progress to the next stage of their journey.
This framework approach converts better because it’s not selling a permanent state, but rather is selling PROGRESS to this state. We’re just naturally wired to crave progress, from big to small. The transformation framework gathers the hard work into one place by viewing it within a compelling character upgrade.
Paying For Feeling & Status.
We must also understand that the powerful relationship between price, status, and identity. In many cases, and because identity marketing works so well, the high price IS the feature.
Why will someone pay 30% more for organic vegetables at a specific high-end grocery store? It’s rarely about the actual chemical make up of the food. It’s more about the definition of who they view themselves as.
By paying this premium price, they buy the narrative that they’re the kind of parent that loves their kids enough to buy the absolute best. The extra $3 or whatever was spent, on a bag of lettuce is literally identity arbitrage at it’s root. A small financial sacrifice traded for a big internal emotional return. And brands capitalize on this all the time.
For instance, a brand isn’t selling a pesticide free food, they’re selling the mental satisfaction of good parenting and being a responsible person.
But How Can We Actually Apply This To Our Own Businesses?
How do we stop just ‘selling features’ and start acting as the vendor of identities? We must build the world BEFORE and while we sell them the ‘gear’ they need to survive in it.
This requires FOUR core pillars:
Pillar One: Define Who They’re Not
You can’t truly know who you are until you know what you’re NOT. An identity is defined by opposition.
If you’re identity marketing properly, you must clearly create an antagonist or counter identity that your customers DON’T want to be! In this case, the antagonist is usually the mainstream way of thinking, or even just them without your product – the time wasted, or rather the type of person who wastes time on something.
Are you fighting against coporate boredom?
Or against hidden chemicals in the food supply?
Or maybe against the ‘matrix’ of simply mediocrity?
By creating a clear ‘other’ you’re automatically creating a tribe of like minded people who all want to stand with you. When you buy the product, you’re standing in opposition to the defined ‘other’.
Pillar Two: Secret Language.
Tribes need communication of course. An Identity is signaled not just by what one wears, but how you speak. Successful identity marketing brands create or adopt a unique vocabulary that only their ‘members’ or the ‘insiders’ know and can understand. Think in terms of bio-hacking, or looksmaxing. When you use these terms, you identify yourself as part of a specific niche.
You’re signaling your ‘status’ to other insiders. If your brand doesn’t help your customers speak a ‘new language’ in some way, you haven’t given them a unique tool to fully inhabit this new persona you’re selling them.
Pillar Three: Rules Of Initiation
An identity must be earned, even if the earning is just adhering to a set of internal rules or standards that your brand defines. IF it’s too easy to adopt, the identity may have lower value.
Your product you’re selling becomes the kit, or the essential gear needed to execute, and live within the rules. You don’t sell just the kit, you sell the whole identity upgrade.
Pillar Four: Community Is Identity Confirmation
Identity created in a vacuum can be fragile. For an identity to feel really REAL, it must be validated by others as well.
This is the role of the community in identity marketing. When your customers have a specific space to interact with each other, they aren’t just discussing product. They’re participating in a shared commonality, mirroring their newly adopted identity back and forth to each other.
The community becomes the place where their ‘costume change’ is normalized and validated. If I feel like whatever this new identity is, after joining a community, my identity is then reinforced. Leaving that community, means losing that identity AND the tribe or community that I was part of. This can be the ULTIMATE retention engine!
SO In Conclusion.. Don’t Just Offer Your Product, Offer An Identity Upgrade With Your Product Being The Bridge.
The future of band building, is not in merely refining features, it’s in fully perfecting identity engineering. The current market is absolutely saturated with products that just solve problems. The next era of business domination belongs to those who understand that they’re not just selling a product, but are initiating customers into a better and more compelling version of themselves!
When your customer buys your product, they’re making a wager that your product will complete their ‘costume change’. They’re looking for the arbitrage that converts their money into a sense of belonging, achievement, and purpose.
If you’re only selling the features, you’re just moving boxes around. To truly lead your niche, you must move HEARTS. You must provide the ‘gear’ needed for the personal transformation they do desperately crave.
Don’t just launch a product, issue a whole manifesto! The sales will follow when people understand exactly who buying your product helps them become.
I hope this has helped you in some way, seeya!
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