May 13, 2015

Nobody Gives A Flying Shit About Your Brand


A lot of people have shaky jobs. And many have unstable families. Some have illnesses. All have debts.

Lots have washing machines that are broken, and cars that need a tune-up, and funny things growing on their backs, and boyfriends that are always getting high, and socks that have holes, and hair that is falling out, and toilets that are unreliable, and 10 pounds of extra stomach, and kids that are unhappy, and teeth that hurt, and rent to pay, and...

...a lot of things to care about.

One thing you can be pretty sure they don't care about is your brand.

Yes, I know you've been told that people love brands, and want to engage with them, and co-create with them and be all social with them. But stop and think about it for a minute. Do you really believe this? Does it even pass the giggle test?

If you're a marketer and you believe people care about your brand just because they buy it, you're headed for trouble. What we blithely call "brand loyalty" is mostly just habit, convenience, mild satisfaction or easy availability.

A smart marketer takes nothing for granted. He assumes that no one gives a flying shit about his brand. He assumes that he has to prove his value to his customers every day of the year.

He does not believe that there are "brand ambassadors" out there "advocating" for his brand. If there are a few, great. But he's not going to count on it.

He does not delude himself into believing that people want to "engage" with his brand or "share" his brand stories. If there are a few, great. But he's not going to bet the future on it.

For him, every day is Groundhog Day. Every day he has to drag his ass out the door and tell the world -- once again -- why they need his stuff.

And if he starts to get lazy, and puts his faith in the professional chatterers, and starts to believe the fantasies, he's a dead man walking.


BOOK UPDATE: My new book, "Marketers Are From Mars, Consumers Are From New Jersey" (selected as Amazon's #1 "Hot New Release" in advertising)is now available as an ebook here.


3 comments:

Debbie Grattan Voiceovers said...

I think of this whenever I see or hear an invitation to "follow - connect - or Friend" a company. I'm really not that interested. I may buy your product, or use your service, but that doesn't mean I want to read about it everyday. Now if I'm supporting a friend or business owner that I know personally, that's a different story.

Cecil B. DeMille said...

Just because I choose to use a toilet instead of cop a squat behind a bush does not make me toilet-loyal.

Tim Orr said...

If "a brand is a promise," as I've heard and believe, a brand had better start showing me that it cares about me before it has any hope of expecting me to care about it.