You know it’s Christmas when two things happen…

1) People stand in line for 48 hours camping outside Best Buy for 48 hours waiting for the latest PlayStation release, or…

2) The internet gifting craze really heats up – More on that later.

The current PlayStation mania is an incredible lesson in marketing. But I missed the significance of what was going on until a friend punched me in the face this morning…

DUMB AS A FOX…

Our friend, I’ll call him AJ, reported this morning that he and his wife had just returned from Wal-Mart, where they had been camping for 48 hours, to purchase one of the 4 PlayStation 3s available when they went on sale. …

Incredible! I thought he was crazy when he told us this. Who wants a PlayStation enough to queue for 48 hours?

Good…

He said with a smile: “We have two!”

So! It was still 48 hours in front of a store, right? Do your kids really need PlayStations THAT MUCH?

“Oh, they’re not for the kids! We’ll post them on eBay in an hour,” he said, still smiling. “And they have an average of 5 to 7 thousand dollars. Some have sold for more than $14,000.” Search for “PlayStation 3” on eBay. I was impressed with the prices.

I was stunned. Not because of the price (people pay exorbitant prices for just about anything), nor because my “crazy” friend will make about $390 an hour if he sells them for $7,000, but because I completely missed the entire expertly crafted marketing lesson. by Sony and Walmart.

The six basic marketing persuaders from Robert Cialdini’s classic book, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” are on display!

** Authority — Wal-Mart. Love them or hate them, they’re the big kahuna in megastore retail. If they advertise that they have 4 PlayStations in stock… they have 4 and only 4 in stock. But they promise they can get more because… well, they can.

** Like — People practically live at Wal-Mart. The convenience and service translate into customers with undying loyalty to them, often because they have become the only game in town.

** Commitment to Constancy — Let’s see. Stand outside in November in the rain for 48 hours to be first in line for a new product launch. That’s a serious commitment!

** Reciprocity: Wal-Mart offers a free (and huge) PS3 buying guide on its site that provides all the information you need to make a decision between the base $500 and $600 units, and all the necessary accessories. Providing such comprehensive information not only establishes persuasive authority, but also makes you value the content and feel indebted to the retailer. That is called reciprocity.

**Social Proof: The press has been enjoying Sony’s press releases about the PlayStation release date and lack of product. And gaming blogs can’t talk about anything else.

** Scarcity: Sony is really smart! They do this every year. Release just enough of the hot product to create an insatiable appetite for it. They may have warehouses full of PlayStations, but they won’t release them until the market asks for more.

HOW DID I MISS THIS!

AJ knew, before taking the time to line up, that the market was clamoring for the product. And she saw an opportunity.

He had no intention of staying with the PlayStation. His investigation of it on eBay confirmed that PS3 fans were rabid and would pay any price!

Like any good marketer, he remembered the first rule: Determine what the market wants and sell it. As Mark Hendricks, a seasoned marketer and giver of the holiday season, likes to say, that’s the difference between “marketing” and “selling”: It’s much easier to make money when you provide a highly desired service.

Selling something that no one wants is hard work, indeed. Marketing is easy.

I should have seen it too. I have studied with some great internet marketers. Most teach the basic principles of Robert Cialdini’s book.

CHRISTMAS MADNESS…

During the holiday season, online marketers flock to the Internet to collect freebies, usually informational products and software tools. Always free, hence the name of the giveaway, the purpose is to generate traffic. The six Cialdini persuaders are used to create the buzz, exchanging the gifts for names and email addresses.

The 12 Days of Christmas is the granddaddy of the online sweepstakes extravaganza and Mark Hendricks is the father of the concept. For several years now, Mark has brought together over 75 of the best sellers to give away hundreds of products during the month of December.

Because the concept worked so well and has become a staple of internet marketing, a lot of freebies pop up. It is now a standard tool in every marketer’s toolkit. Why does it work so well? It is based on one of Cialdini’s persuaders: reciprocity.

I give you something and you will feel obligated to give me something back. It is a technique used everywhere. When you go to the grocery store, employees stop at sample stations that offer everything from cubes of cheese to slices of spaghetti and meatballs. Why? If you take a sample, it is very likely that you will buy the product.

But at Christmas… Phew! It’s hard to keep up and keep enough free disk space on your computer for all the online sweepstakes opportunities.

All six persuaders (all listed above) are real. Until I got involved on the Internet, I had no idea that I was being “persuaded” at all times. We all react to them, we will forever, and have done so since the first caveman tried to sell the first piece of meat to his neighbor.

It took a PlayStation 3 and AJ to point me out to the “real” world to see it in action there too.