Conflict sells. If you want to be
noticed fight a powerful and evil
enemy. Who or what are you fighting?
While planning your marketing
strategy pick an enemy. The tougher,
the meaner, the more disgusting your
enemy - the better for you. That
positions you as the hero.
"You complete me"
The Joker taunted Batman with that
phrase in the movie The Dark Knight.
The public image of both Batman and
the Joker were stronger because of
their conflict. A champion needs a
formidable villain and vice versa.
The marketing lesson from that is that
the public defines you by your
competition. If you are not well known
maybe you need to pick a tougher
enemy.
Make your enemy appear more
frightening
The boxer Mohammad Ali understood
this marketing principle and
demonstrated it well. He built up the
credibility and threat of each of his
opponents before every fight. That
made his victories more exciting. He
promoted his fight against Smokin Joe
Frazier as the Thrilla in Manilla. After
the fight Ali said, "Joe Frazier, I'll tell
the world right now, brings out the
best in me. I'm gonna tell ya, that's
one helluva man, and God bless him."
In a brief post-fight interview with one
of the commentators, Ali announced,
"He is the greatest fighter of all
times, next to me."
There's no glory or fame in
defeating a weak opponent
Superman was a bigger hero because
of his dangerous enemy Lex Luthor.
Sir Edmund Hillary would be nothing
without the challenge of Mount
Everest. Wyatt Earp is defined by his
fight with the evil Clantons. The 300
Spartans are defined by their stand
against the unstoppable forces of the
Persian Empire. David and his sling
shot is only remembered because of
his conflict with the giant Goliath.
Buffy the vampire slayer would be
unknown without the blood sucking
vampires.
Conflict captures attention and
helps to define your position and
value
Many consumer products are sold by
fighting previously unknown enemies
that were glorified by the marketing
campaigns. Consumer products were
promoted to fight morning breath,
dandruff and ring around the collar.
Fight Pain and Embarrassment
Bepto Bismol delivers a memorable
marketing campaign that offers to
defeat upset stomach, indigestion and
diarrhea.
Present yourself as the
alternative
Avis could not defeat the market
leader in the car rental business
Hertz, so they defined themselves by
the phrase, "We try harder."
With the taste tests Pepsi defined
themselves as the alternative to
Coke. It worked so well that it
unnerved Coke into blinking and
bumbling with New Coke. The folks at
Pepsi must have enjoyed how they
unnerved the market leader, Coke.
Make fun of the enemy
With its clever TV ads, (Hello, I'm a
Mac. I'm a PC) Apple positioned itself
as the alternative to the market
leader, Microsoft based computers.
A local plumbing company positioned
themselves as fighting clogged drains.
The owners of the business made
their enemy more formidable by posing
for photos with clothes pins on their
noses. They are fighting stinky drains
on behalf of their customers.
People love conflict. It's entertaining,
memorable and often vivid. Sometimes
it can be funny. That's why the
"reality TV" shows are so popular.
If you want to be better noticed and
remembered - pick a colorful enemy
and start a fight. Of course, only start
a fight that you can win.
Topic: ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY (Read 1200 times)