Value Transformation

When I was in high school a Turkish friend of mine lent me his Real Madrid soccer jersey. I left for college without ever having returned it to him. Although I wasn’t a fan of soccer, for some reason I really liked the way the jersey looked on me.

I wore the jersey more often than I probably should have, and it had several teas in it that were becoming increasingly noticeable. But I loved the jersey and refused to stop wearing it.

Well, my girlfriend at the time used to make fun of me. Not only did she laugh at me for wearing a soccer jersey in the US, but she would constantly point out the tears made me look like a poor person. She also hated the color and told me it amplified my paleness. I think the fact that she was so irked by this jersey, I was inclined to wear it even more.

One day when I the two of us were walking through the mall, a well dressed, extremely good looking Italian guy came up to me.

“Where did you get this jersey” the man asked.

“My friend gave it to me” I said.

“You know this is an extremely rare jersey.” he said.

“No, I didn’t”

“Yes, they only issued this design for one year then stopped making it. This shirt is probably worth a thousand dollars. Are you interested in selling it to me?”

“No” I said.

My girlfriend, of course yelled at me for not taking the money. And I later regretted not letting a little pride prevent me from walking out of the mall a thousand dollars richer. Especially when I later researched the jersey and found that it was a reprint, virtually worthless.

But a funny thing happened after that day in the mall. My girlfriend, who I used to heated battles with over my wearing that jersey in public, started to actually encourage me to wear it. I could even sense that she was more attracted to me when I had it on. Like I suddenly looked better in it. Of course I never told her it was a reprint.

My point: I walked into the mall and walked out of the mall wearing the same exact jersey. Before the trip to the mall, the jersey was an ugly, old, second-hand shirt my girlfriend hated. After the mall it was a rare collectible that an attractive Italian guy was willing to shell out money for.

Perception is everything: Marketing yourself is nothing but altering perceptions.

And the easiest way to do that is through routines, stories, and building your social resume.