When you market a product or service, the worst thing you can do is to be a fence sitter. Stuck in the middle. Not on one side or the other. Caught in between.
Brands are made to solve problems for particular and narrow audiences. They can’t be for everybody, or you will just be creating tedious average commodity work. Brands serve communities and if effective, are the solution of choice for people who belong to that group.
Signs of Success
- The best brands aren’t universally loved. They have people who dislike their product or service because they aren’t the target audience. Not everyone wants vegan ice cream. But those who do, who are members of that community who want vegan products, love it.
- The best brands have rabid fans who love to share with other community members, the treasure they found. So, people who are in the Harley-Davidson franchise, love their bikes so much that they get a tattoo of the company logo on their arm. Does your brand have people willing to put their logo on their body? I had an extraordinary experience when I bought a car at CarMax, that I became a rabid fan. I don’t have a CarMax tattoo but I love to talk to friends about my experience. I think it was not only CarMax’s business model but Mohammed, the person who sold me the car who made this a memorable transaction.
- The best brands make hard decisions. Patagonia takes a political stand and doesn’t care about the consequences. They built a brand based on a dominant belief in supporting the public lands. When Trump announced plans to reduce the size of two national parks in Utah significantly, Patagonia made the hard decision to be political and risk losing customers. But their brand was never for everyone; it was for people who aligned with their worldview.
Are you sitting on the fence in the middle with all the other commodities, or are you standing with your community, on one side versus the other? Marketing requires that you take a stand or you’ll blend into the world of average and lowest common denominator.
Fence sitting is a lonely place to be. Need help jumping over to one side? You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free and we can explore if working together makes sense. Try my new chat feature on my site if you have a quick question.
Photo by Gui Avelar on Unsplash
