As a marketing professional, I am always observing patterns.
Why are fewer people going to the movies, shopping at the mall, or going to a gym to exercise.? Instead, they are streaming videos, shopping online, and using home-based community exercises like Peloton. Restaurants are seeing a surge in growth from takeout and delivery through services like Door Dash, GrubHub and Uber Eat.
The pattern is one where behavior is changing in part because industries are stuck in the same old thinking and cycle. The pattern being broken is that consumers enjoy activities at home that used to be more social in nature. What’s going on? Why do consumers choose more at-home activities?
I like to play this game.
- What would Apple or Netflix do if they bought up the largest chain of movie studios?
- How might Disney alter the course of shopping if they owned Macy’s or Target?
- How will Amazon disrupt conventional retail shopping experiences? (see Amazon Go)
Resisting Pattern Disruption
Businesses that resist change are ripe for disruption. But companies tend only to see their immediate competition, so they march in lockstep with the competition. It is easy to miss opportunities when you focus on the pattern, not the disruption that breaks the mold.
The wine world is an obvious place where many wineries march in lockstep to compete with other wines instead of focusing on the larger category of alcohol consumption from spirits, beer, and all the hybrids. And almost all wine is packaged in glass bottles that look like wine, whereas spirits are always in distinctive containers like the unique design of Jack Daniels, Grand Marnier or Patron.
Noticing
We notice things when patterns are broken, unexpected, and odd.
Marketing has the chance to do something daring, unconventional, and outside of what everyone else does. Most brands are too scared, too lazy, or too unimaginative to try. They want to join with the other brands and blend in instead of standing out.
The Broken Pattern
The question marketers should be asking isn’t what we could do to get noticed that is different? The question is, what can we do that is on strategy and breaks the expected pattern of communications.
When was the last time you disrupted your category by knowing the conventional pattern and shredding it into little bits?
- The silence when you expect sound.
- Black and white when you expect color.
- A fragrant tropical scent when you don’t expect aroma.
- Shapes when they break the pattern of the category.
- Soft and quiet when you anticipate noise.
- Games when you expect seriousness.
- Textures when you expect flatness.
- Light when you expect darkness.
- Words when you expect paragraphs.
- Brochures that look like napkins.
- Candy packaged in an unexpected container
- Websites that feel different because they aren’t burdened by so much copy.
Breaking The Pattern
The next time you want to send an email to get someone’s attention, first ask yourself, can you find a way to surprise them and change the pattern of expectation. Check out these outlandish emails from Cole at Honey Copy. Sign up for a month to see how clever, disruptive and tasty his emails are compared to the mush you typically receive.
If you want to be noticed and breakthrough, first learn the patterns of your category. Then break them. Emphasize something no one else pays attention to like Louboutin does with the red souls of his shoes.
Here is a great book on this subject of breaking patterns called Unconscious Branding by Douglas Van Praet. You can read my review of his book. The author has a seven-step process that outlines:
What patterns will you set out to break this week?
I’m good at disrupting patterns. Need marketing help getting noticed in a crowded marketplace? Let’s talk. Click my calendar to schedule a time to talk so I can understand what problem you are trying to solve. Or call me at 919 720 0995 or email me at jeffslater@themarketingsage.com
Photo by Roseanna Smith on Unsplash
