Trouble in River City

Trouble in River City

Trouble in River City 150 150 Jerry Murphey
Every great marketing message solves a problem. But sometimes, before a problem can be solved, it has to be amplified. 

It the 1957 Broadway musical, The Music Man, a conman, “Professor” Harold Hill, convinces an Iowa community that the new arrival of a pool table will lead to all sorts of problems, and marching band instruments and uniforms will save them from morale decline.

The song that amplifies the town’s problem goes …”folks, we’ve got trouble, right here in River City. Yes, we’ve got trouble, with a capital T, that rhymes with P, which stands for pool!”

Once Harold Hill amplifies the problem, the town realizes it needs a solution. And in a following scene, he casts a vision of success that avoids the trouble in the song titled ‘76 Trombones’. 

In your marketing message, like in any good story, the main character (in this case the citizens of River City) does not take action until there’s a problem. Once people know they have a problem, they’ll look for a solution.

Take a page from The Music Man and make sure your marketing message clearly states the problem and, once you do, people will be eager to hear how you solve it. 

And if you can sing it in a catchy tune, even better:
https://youtu.be/W2ySBtVLCYA

Jerry Murphey

Jerry Murphey is a born entrepreneur and creative business leader with a passion for turning great ideas into new growth opportunities. With this mindset, he has launched more than 50 financial related products, programs, and companies -- netting over $7 billion in direct sales. From Fortune 500 companies to startups, Jerry's approach is to inspire people to find creative ways to rapidly build brand value and to embrace change as opportunity waiting to unfold. Today, Jerry is growing a diverse portfolio of innovative brands that solve unique business challenges within their individual categories.

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