Okay, you have a great product: it’s innovative and unique, it works swell, it’s high quality, and purchasers and industry professionals love it. But it’s a premium purchase. So, the selling argument for this product had better be good. Built in the USA to last a lifetime, the product rightly just plain costs a bundle to build and ship. Add to the fact that the product has taken up residence in a fairly narrow market niche despite its inherent value and potential appeal to a much broader range of consumers and facilities, and the charter for this particular brand site redesign comes clearly into focus.
The client in this instance is NuStep and the product is the company’s line of recumbent exercise machines. When it comes to helping clients make a persuasive argument, we preach how essential it is to put forward powerful appeals to both the rational and emotional sides of the human mind. Particularly when it comes to a highly considered purchase like a NuStep machine, we want buyers to understand what makes this product the best and what that truly could mean for them.
NuStep launched into the market as a spirited innovator–among the first to develop an effective cardio workout machine that people could use while sitting down. So, for those in rehab, individuals carrying around a lot of extra weight, or individuals struggling to maintain a healthy quality of life in spite of debilitating disease, NuStep has long represented the gold standard for quality and flexibility of exercise. In short, the machine delivers results and the facts stemming from that success speak eloquently for themselves. But how about the emotional side to the sell? The company’s ad line “Transforming Lives(R)” was a perfect platform from which to launch a video-based series of stories that are highly personal, yet universal in appeal and emotional power.
TOM HOATLIN
Tom Hoatlin discovered the NuStep 18 years after he was paralyzed from the waist down during a botched robbery. Completely independent and as high energy as they come, Tom credits NuStep with making a significant contribution to improving his overall quality of life. From clearing out his lungs (a big deal for paraplegics), dropping 15 pounds, and building muscle and stamina, Tom shared his remarkable story during a single day in his hectic, active life.
O’NEAL HAMPTON
Being an ex-football player and paratrooper wreaks havoc on the body. In mid-life, O’Neal Hampton‘s knees gave out. Over a period of a few years of sedentary living, O’Neal became morbidly obese, topping off above 400 pounds. Just moving at all became a struggle. Walking up stairs? No way. O’Neal’s life started to turn around when he was chosen to be a contestant on The Biggest Loser reality TV show. O’Neal didn’t win the competition but his discovery of the NuStep exercise machine and his dramatic weight loss success driven by NuStep’s low impact, high energy workouts turned O’Neal into a much healthier, high profile personality in the weight loss field.
FRED AND JUDY JAHNKE
It’s said that getting old ain’t pretty. An aging body sometimes has some not so fun times in store for us. For Fred Jahnke the indignity came in the form of crippling arthritic back pain. An avid traveler and motorcyclist, Fred hated the idea of being taken out of action so soon in life. His wife, Judy, wasn’t all that happy about it either. Anyone can tell you that working out is a tough habit to start, and keep, going. It takes motivation and will. So, if every step you take is agonizing, how likely is it you’re going get on that treadmill, or take on that beloved back nine? The NuStep machines the Jahnkes discovered at their exercise facility gave Fred (and Judy) the transformation they were looking for: the ability to get a great workout pain free. This meant that Fred could lose the weight he’d put on and get mobile again. Now nothing stops them from getting out on the golf course. Not even a little rain.
AMY PRESTON
Question: How do you provide safe and effective rehabilitating exercise for 15 or 20 post cardiac surgery patients at the same time? Amy Preston is a cardiac exercise specialist who knows the value of having a bunch of NuStep machines around. Patients coming back from heart bypass surgery tend to become very concerned when they first start putting their repaired hearts back to work. The NuStep machine allows patients to take the first tentative steps to full recovery with fewer worries about going too fast or falling over. And, of course, the safety and ease of use of the machines let’s Amy work with a large group of patients at the same time–free of worries of her own.
For Perficient Digital, telling emotional stories of lives transformed formed the core of how we wanted to change the way the NuStep brand presented itself. Finding the right balance between facts and emotions; products and people.
