I am sitting in the Las Vegas airport as I write this. When I look around, I see a common sight – people trying hard to express youth and status. A woman with too much plastic surgery wearing clothes designed for someone half her age. The guy next to her has a bad hair dye job, fake tan and is wearing a status symbol shirt – Gucci.
In college, I studied signal theory. Signaling theory states that every action a company takes sends a signal to the market, and customers interpret that signal to judge risk, credibility and purpose.
These two people I have been focused on in a low key are clearly sending signals to the world. They want people to see them and say, “Look at that beautiful girl,” and “Wow.
But if you have a little judgment like me, it’s not what you think. You can tell someone because, to quote George Costanza, “We live in a civilization here.” But what I really think is: these people are desperate.
That’s the problem with poorly designed signals. They communicate against their intent – and that’s very important in marketing.
Intentional communication is the foundation of effective marketing. That’s what novice traders miss. They are like this man and woman, chasing youth, importance and status. But to their customers, it reads like desperation.
The pizza crashes and burns
Take, for example, perhaps the biggest marketing blunder in DiGiorno history.
In 2014, #WhyIStayed became a popular hashtag on Twitter among domestic abuse victims following the Ray Rice scandal, which brought domestic abuse front and center in American culture. The tweets shared by victims and their supporters were raw, sensitive and vulnerable in a deeply personal way. It was the speech of the people talking about torture.
In the midst of this deeply personal conversation came an ad for frozen pizzas. DiGiorno’s marketing team wrote: “#WhyIStayed Ube pizza.” The response was swift and brutal. Within seconds, they received thousands of responses ranging from mockery and criticism to anger. DiGiorno deleted the tweet seconds later and issued a full apology. They then spent the next few hours personally apologizing to the survivors for speaking out, one by one. But it was too little, too late.
This is the problem with emerging marketers. They want to be the life of the group, regardless of the type of group. This leads them to do things to get attention regardless of the context. It’s like asking for a bar at a funeral.
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The life of the party
When I was dating my wife, there was one group of people that everyone seemed to know. These women lived in the same house and there was always something going on there. At first, it seemed like an explosion, until I saw something. These women did not really stand out. Everyone knew the house, but couldn’t tell you much about the people who lived there.
My wife was different. He didn’t party. He was not in a hurry to stand out in society. He was just who he was – and that made him impossible to ignore.
That’s the difference between being the life of the party and actually standing out. One is everyone’s doing. One is a signal to the right people. That’s the difference only professional marketers fully understand.
Dance your song
Louis Grenier is the host of the podcast “Everybody Hates Salesmen” and the author of the book “Stand the F*** Out.” Making a good impression is kind of his thing. In his program, he mentioned several chain businesses that are doing a good job of dancing to their tune.
Grenier provides criteria for what it takes for businesses to stand out from the crowd. It has nothing to do with clever tactics or how (about) the marketing team makes the most of cultural time. Professionals are in no rush. They don’t need to.
They create a signal. Grenier puts it simply: if you can’t change your logo for a competitor and nothing changes, your brand doesn’t stand out. Just the third violin in the orchestra, not a soloist featured.
Winning products and marketing strategies are unheard of. They get specific, exclusive and are committed to 100% authenticity. Especially when it alienates certain people. Because those were probably not good people in the first place.
The Gin Engine
Gin is a hot topic in the alcohol world and it’s hard to differentiate. In a world of delicate glass bottles and decanters, Engine Gin went a different route. Their bottle looks exactly like an old oil can. It’s not subtle and it’s definitely not trying to appeal to everyone. It’s a sign for the type of person who finds a sophisticated gin drink to be a pretentious person. The engine did not rush to match. It’s not even on their KPI list.
Fast + Light
Fast + Light is a marketing agency for ecommerce products. Their tag line is “think of us as the revenue mechanics for your ecommerce business.” Wherever they go, they wear branded shirts and stand out. Because who is the guy the target customer might remember? Another guy in a suit or a guy in a mechanic shirt?
Basecamp
Many B2B SaaS companies are running for big deals with big companies. They wanted to wallpaper their website with Fortune 500 logos. Basecamp went the other way. Their copy says, “Most of the big software companies are fighting for Fortune 500 companies. They can have them.” They price it at $299/month regardless of company size. They stand out because they rejected the playbook of the rest of the class. They have built an army of loyal customers who happily spread the good word.
The paradox of fitness
None of these brands chase conformity or use copycat marketing. They don’t send signals other than “this is who we are” and “this is what we do.” They don’t care if everyone hears the sign. They just want the right people to hear it.
The woman at the Las Vegas airport and the man in the Gucci shirt are sending signals, too. Not just the intended ones. Expert marketers understand that the goal is not to chase the next viral hit or emulate the latest trend. Chasing relevance is the fastest way to become useless. They just need to be skeptical of the right people. Build that signal, and you don’t have to chase customers. They come to you.
