COMMUNITY | "Sell The Steak, Not The Sizzle"

"Sell the sizzle, not the steak" is an aphorism presented in marketing articles that talk about the importance of selling a solution (sizzle) over the product (steak). I have two problems with this phrase. First, I'd take the steak (medium rare) any day of the week. Second, the idea of selling the sizzle to a customer seems less than genuine to me. That's why I prefer to reverse things–"sell the steak, not the sizzle."

In this recalibration, the steak is not the product; it's that which carries the greatest weight and heft. When you buy Animal Pak, you get a tangible but transient thing–an assortment of pills dosed optimally within a single-serve plastic packet. Whether you buy Animal Pak or not, when you embrace Animal (the brand), you get something intangible but enduring. You become part of a tightly-knit community of like-minded individuals. 

The FORVM

To create that community, that sense of camaraderie, we had numerous tools that we could use such as the Animal Barbell Clubs and The Cage. Online, we also attempted to bring people together from all across the U.S. and around the world. Back in the day, vBulletin was awidely available community-based platform. We named our forum, The FORVM, as a nod to Roman antiquity and the Forum Romanum–all roads lead to Rome and through the Forum. In the same way, all "journeys" lead to The FORVM. Why? Because everyone in Marketing participated daily–because all of our sponsored athletes kept their own Q/A sessions where customers could pose any question. In addition, The FORVM is where everyone kept their training logs, their journeys.

The FORVM really allowed us to connect with our customers and interact with them on a daily basis. Though it wasn't the same thing as talking to people in person, it was good enough. Though the brand was still relatively small at this point, we were fortunate enough to have attracted close to 16,000 members who generated well over 1,000,000 posts.