People like to buy from people.

Is this too obvious to state? If it is, then why don’t more companies apply it to their marketing?

Quick quiz: Think ice cream for a moment.

Whose image do you like better? Haagen-Dazs’ or Ben & Jerry’s? Ninety-nine percent of the time people will say, “Gimmie Ben & Jerry!”

Why? We can put a face to the B&J boys. Or maybe it’s their story of them scraping together $12k and launching an ice cream company from an abandoned gas station in Vermont.

But H.D. has a great story too:

Eight-year-old boy comes to America in 1921. He works in his mom’s ice cream business selling fruit ice and ice cream pops from a horse-drawn wagon in the bustling streets of the Bronx, New York. In 1961, Reuben Mattus, forms a new company dedicated to his ice cream vision and calls it Haagen-Dazs, to convey an aura of the old-world traditions and craftsmanship. There’s a story there … but it’s buried on their home page.

We’re relational creatures. We want to know what people look like, we want to know who we’re buying from, we like knowing the story behind it. (Even with my bland telling of the H.D. story above you probably feel a bit warmer toward them, don’t you?)

Do you think Iaccoa appearing in all those old Chrysler ads helped turn the company around back in the 80s? Uh, yeah.

How this applies to individuals:

It surprises me the number of personal Web sites and blogs that don’t show a picture of the owner. It’s the first thing I look for. I want to know who I’m dealing with.

On my personal Web site, Jim Rubart.com, you have to click once to see what I look like. On He Blogs, She Blogs you can peek at Laura and me along the right hand column almost instantly.

Make sure we can see you, and find out what you’re about. I think we’ll like you.

Tags: Advertising, Ben & Jerry's, Haagen-Dazs, Marketing