Brands are a one way mirror. It seems like they're looking at you, but they're really looking for themselves,
The Marketing Fallacy is a gentle reminder to anyone in the marketing and branding industry that most of what we do is ignored. We spend a lot of time worrying about what people think of brands. But they aren't paying attention to our brands, they're thinking about themselves.
Marketing can be broken down into two categories.
- Be useful
- Be attractive
Useful marketers find the people who’s lives would be most improved by the product. Many people can recall a moment when they were first introduced to a brand that genuinely made their lives better. It’s a great feeling when you find a brand that makes that connection.
For me it was Field Notes. They make notebooks. They’re durable and well-made. I love the expedition editions which are waterproof and tear-proof. They talk about interesting things with sense of humour. Their tag-line is “I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down to remember it now.” I liked them so much I bought four the following weekend. Then four as gifts.
All of that might not mean anything to you. The important thing was it means sometime to me. I understood what Field Notes was saying and it sounded like my friends.
Marketers did that.
They helped a business (and its products) find an authentic tone of voice and then went out to make friends with like-minded people. That sort of marketing has the potential to turn you into a loyal buyer in an instant.
Then there’s attraction marketing. It’s cool, it’s clever and it’s so beautiful that people want to be with it. It doesn’t fit with them and they don’t fit with it, but goddamn it’s so sexy that it’s enough to make people believe that if they buy it enough then maybe it’ll want them.
Apple is the PERFECT example. People want it but when they’re asked to explain why they use words like beautiful and elegant.
Apple IS beautiful, but its also a gold-digger. Everything is great as long as your always buying the new model.
There’s a problem for these brands too. They have to keep looking their best. They can never forget to ‘put their face’ on. It’s hard to keep up this sort of pretense and for a few brands their ‘faces’ have slipped and their true feelings revealed.
For attractive brands the recent demand for authenticity could mean even more hard-work and carefully applied cover-up.
STOP – MARKETING FALLACY WARNING
This is the important bit.
Most people don’t care about your product, your marketing or your brand. Everything I’ve just talked about is interesting if you’re in the marketing industry but you’re wrong if you think most people care about your brand perception.
In two recent surveys a sample of the public were asked about the things that were most important to them.
– relationships with family or relatives
– their own health
– the health of another (close) person
– finances
– standard of living
Guess what? Your marketing campaign, brand palette and tone of voice don’t make it onto the list. People don’t care. They care about their own lives.
The marketing fallacy is that people care about brands. But the reality is that they only care about themselves.
- They care about their children not the nappies they wear
- They care about being hungry not about your grilling technique
- They care about looking cool to their friends not your California head office
Brands are a one way mirror. It seems like they’re looking at you, but they’re really looking at their own reflection; don’t mistake that for interest.
