commercialization of incest
Health FitnessI think we all know that “incest” is a terrible word. But how does it apply to marketing? Well, in this context, it applies when your products or services, your company, or your marketing methods or strategies are too closely related to those of your competitors.
In human culture, inbreeding stupefies people and makes certain rare diseases much more prevalent. The same is true of non-human populations. I have raised dogs all my life and have learned that purebred dogs are the most likely to have health problems, because they are inbred. Sometimes the healthiest dogs are what we call “Heinz 57” dogs, the kind you can’t tell what breed they are, because they’re a bit of this and a bit of that. Well, those types of companies are also the healthiest companies.
Markets tend to be incestuous in the sense that they are resistant to outside influence. Ultimately, you end up with the blind leading the blind and, to be blunt, the stupid following the stupid. All following the same methods. There is no innovation. People are afraid of standing out. There is nothing that really separates one company from another company. even if there is are things that set them apart, they don’t make much of in an attempt to attract new customers, and they should.
You could ask a hundred different marketing experts, “What is marketing?”, and their answers would vary all over the place. Some of the people who have advanced degrees behind their names will give you very complicated answers that take fifteen minutes or more to explain. That is not necessary. It all comes down to this: Marketing is everything you do to acquire and retain customers. Period.
There’s a great book by Seth Gordon called purple cow, and tells you how to transform your business by being remarkable. You do this by offering something that is so great about you, your company, or your products or services that people talk about it. It excites them so much that they feel it’s worth talking about. We’ve seen this in action with great movies, great restaurants, or great services. You can do the same with your company. Get people talking about your products and services in awe. If you do, you will be rewarded with money.
This is extremely important, because effective marketing requires that you set yourself apart from others. Technically, this is known as “differentiation.” You has to differentiate themselves to avoid commercializing incest. You have to offer something different to your customers, something unique and intriguing. So here is the burning question: what makes you, your company, your products and services different from others? What makes you important to your best buyers or potential customers?
You have to ask yourself that question repeatedly; and I suspect that at first your answer will be “nothing in particular” or something weak like “We offer a great service.” (This is normal, by the way.) But if you ask that question often enough, you’ll start to focus on what you’re doing or can do better than anyone in your market. That is a great starting point. From there, you have to discover or create your points of differentiation.
The average prospect will rarely ask you, “What makes you different from everyone else?” or “Why should I choose you over all the other options out there?” However, you should have an answer ready, because everyone is asking variations of that question. They have a finite amount of money to spend, so they ask themselves, “What makes you, your company, and your products and services different? Why should I choose it?”
Just because they don’t say the words doesn’t mean they’re not thinking at that moment, because they’re always wondering. And as I’ve already indicated, the real answer for most companies is that there is No much difference between them and everyone else. That’s why behaviors that some might consider scandalous are highlighted. Consider the world of entertainment, where Lady Gaga might be the prime example right now. She’s worth something like $100 million these days, and her fans adore her.
She does the most outrageous things. She appeared at the 2010 MTV Music Awards dressed as meat. I’m not making this up! It was outrageous, and people talked about it, a lot. Well, I’m not asking you to do any of that, but you need to do some effort to make you different. Don’t go too far, but don’t copy everyone else either.
Now, is Lady Gaga more talented than other singers? You make the call. If you’re reading this at some point in the future and the name sounds unfamiliar to you, just check it out on the internet (or whatever it’s morphed into by then). She is a marketing phenomenon, if nothing else. Her name is a bit silly, but she hits, right? And the outrageous performances of her make her memorable. She’s always dressed in something outrageous, something that looks totally different every time. As for her music, there isn’t much difference between her and everyone else’s. I don’t see her as especially musically gifted, although she does, of course, have some talent. but she big talent stands out very crowded market.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen. He is very talented, but he left his mark throughout his concerts. While others can last anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours, he performs for four to five hours, sometimes longer. He’s also a phenomenal artist, giving everything he’s got all that time, giving it his all for the fans. He’s remarkable, because he’s different from all the other rockers, and I’ve seen a lot of them.
Wichita, Kansas and the other cities I’ve been to concerts in aren’t exactly on the main circuit… and you could see how bored the artists were when they got on stage. Sometimes they even turned their backs on the public. These guys were our heroes, and we paid a lot of money to see them, money that could have gone to a million other things, and they were ignoring us like we didn’t matter. That’s like a slap in the face.
Bruce Springsteen was not like that. He performed for us, singing his heart out. He not only lasted two or three times as long as the rest of these guys, but he gave everyone a great show. I became a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen and his band, because I look up to them so much, especially how they’ve set themselves apart from everyone else.
It’s easy to see real differentiation in the music business, which is rife with clones. Most markets are like this, and again, many of the companies in all Markets are like the blind leading the blind. But in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, so keep your eyes open. Instead of copying others, look for something different. Why aren’t more people doing this? Because they are afraid to do it.
Look: people want to know who you are. They want to do business with other people. It is the relationships that are important. So don’t be afraid to tell your story and stop being an impersonator. Sadly, you find Market Incest everywhere you look. Once you realize this, it’s like the Jackson Browne song with the line, “You get Sally and I get Sue, there’s no difference between the two.” You can’t afford to be like this, so find those differentiations that make you unique. Look for weak areas that your competitors aren’t serving up, jump in and inject that “wow” factor to stand out from the crowd.
Here’s another useful idea: adapt ideas from other markets. My best example here is something you take for granted every time you go to your fast food joint and you don’t even have to leave your car to get your food. A McDonald’s executive was in a self-service bank one day when it occurred to him that he could adapt the idea to his restaurant, and the rest is history. Everyone has a drive-thru window these days, even Starbucks. People are preconditioned to expect it. If you don’t have a drive-thru window, they’ll go somewhere else that does.
So look outside of your market for ideas. The essence of creativity is combining existing ideas in completely new ways. Innovate. Find new and exciting ways to do the same things everyone else is doing. See it as a game, a challenge.
Remember: “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” All you have to do is find those points of differentiation that make you different and incorporate them into your business. Do that, and you’ll see a lot of prospects gravitating toward you instead of your competitors.