Make Your Marketing Message Polarizing
Saturday, April 7th, 2007Most marketers are afraid to do anything risky, bold, controversial, or polarizing. That’s why most marketing efforts go unnoticed.
Pay attention to the ads, offers, and promotions that catch your attention. They are almost always risky, bold, controversial or polarizing. Until you’re willing to “go there,” expect mediocre marketing campaigns.
An excerpt of a excellent new book by Dan and Chip Heath, Made to Stick (Random House, 2007) is featured in the April, 2007 edition of Fast Company, and focuses on the concept of polarizing your marketing message—here’s a summary of the article:
Polarize Me: If you want people to like you, first decide who needs to hate you.
We
examined more than 1,000 Match.com ads—from men and women, old and
young. Our search yielded headlines like this one: “Hey,” Folks, if
your opening line is “Hey,” you better be hot.
Another
said “Looking for love,” Well, duh, you’re on Match.com. At least
two-thirds of the headlines said nothing—and did it poorly.
Why
do these headlines suck so much? Fear. Fear of saying too much. Fear of
saying something clever that someone might think is stupid. Fear of
saying something revealing that might turn someone off. The headlines
try desperately not to exclude anyone. In doing so, they succeed at
boring everyone…
…Consider
Honest Tea, a fast-growing indie beverage expected to hit $25 million
in sales this year. Its tagline? “Real Tea. Real Taste. Honest.” In
other words, “Hey”.
If
anything, the fear of being disliked afflicts marketers more acutely
than daters, because the stakes are higher. “Most marketers feel that
if they make a bold statement, they risk not just alienating
customers—but also their boss, and their boss’s boss,” says Charles
Rosen, founding partner of Alalgamated ad agency. “That fear takes the
edge off of all communications.”
Amalgamated put a stake in the ground with its campaign for Svedka vodka, which is
set in the year 2033 and features a “sexy” fembot spokesperson…Svedka
knows who it wants to date: irreverent urban party people who are out
until 3a.m. three times a week. If that’s not you, Svedka doesn’t care.
Its attitude helped it fetch $384 million…
Honest
Tea, though, wants everybody to like it, and that’s a shame because it
is a distinctive product—namely, it isn’t stiflingly sweet like some of
its competitors…it should say, “If ‘high-fructose corn syrup’ on the
label doesn’t make you cringe, we don’t want you.”
Concrete images and language, like Svedka’s, make it easier for like-minded people (and companies) to find one another.
Some
singles have figured this out. Here’s a brilliant example: “Athletic
math nerd seeks someone to hum Seinfeld intro music with.” While
excluding, he’s simultaneously becoming more interesting to potential
soul mates. Another appropriately polarizing headline reads, “I might
just Bite!” Well done.
(For reprints of the entire article contact Fast Company at Reprint Management Services, 717-399-1900 Ext. 158)
