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Pushing the uniqueness button: Just how far is too far in marketing?
9/20/2012 7:50:18 AM
How unique is your business? In marketing, we are constantly beating the drum for customers to stand out in a crowd. We say wise things such as, "if you look like everyone else, you will find you are just competing on price, not your quality,” or "if you blend, you’re bland…and no one likes bland.” But just how far can you push the uniqueness button in marketing your business? Is there a line you can cross over that makes you so "out there” that no one wants to buy anything from you?

Where the "in good taste” line is drawn

When you are trying to market your company or its products as being unique, you will need to toe the line of good taste without crossing it. We live in an outspoken society. Everyone has an opinion and, with a plethora of places to voice their distaste, they will deposit complaints. If your target market is repulsed by the method you are using to capture their attention, they will turn on you, you can count on it. But just where is that line? Can anything be said that is not offensive to someone? What one person thinks is repulsive is extremely humorous to the next. For instance, watch this Doritos commercial, which was pulled from playing on TV during the 2012 Super Bowl. Do you find it funny or repugnant? With social media being what it is today, Frito Lay has allowed this Doritos commercial to run on YouTube, but pulled it from airing on network TV. Why? They know that YouTube is an opt-in social network, whereas the TV network is not. In other words, if I am going to see this commercial on YouTube, I will have to seek it out or click on a link that one of my friends has sent to me. If running over the lady for a bag of Doritos is your kind of humor, you will "lol” and then send it to your friends who are likely to think like you do and find it funny too. This is social network marketing at its best. The ad will go viral and a rather macabre ad will score big branding points with you and your network of friends. However, putting it on network TV for everyone to see was too far over the line for general consumption. This all comes down to understanding your target market and the segments within those markets.

Of course not every company has followed this plan. One of the most criticized ad campaigns of the past few months has been that of coupon giant Groupon. They have taken heat over their ads featuring celebrities talking about awareness of social issues which quickly turns, mildly poking fun at the issue to push Groupon’s discount coupon programs. Take a look here.  It is hard to understand who would find humor in making fun of oppressed Tibetans.

Out of bounds lines

There are several lines that are certain to offend people and should be steered away from in your marketing efforts. Making light of religion, ethnicity, race, and all those other basic civil rights is clearly out of bounds. Unless you are running for public office, getting political in your marketing will land you in hot water as well. You may hold very strong opinions in these areas. You may even have a values-based business model. That is all great. I encourage you to stand on your principles. But once you make it part of your marketing so that you show prejudice against the other side, you have stepped out of bounds. You will lose customers and you will lose market share. Outside of politics, religion, and civil rights, what else should be considered out of bounds? That would depend upon your target audience. What does the group think is over the line? How much protestation from groups outside your target are you willing to handle? Will the sales to one group outweigh offending a group outside your target market? Take a look at this ad for Nike that ran a dozen years ago. For many women’s rights groups, this was over the line. But the audience was not the women who made up these groups. The target was teenagers who crowded to a number of slasher movies, who would find this familiar, provocative and effective in gaining their business. However, the protests against this ad were very loud and Nike pulled it. That is why you probably don’t remember it. What Nike came to realize is that even though they were trying to sell shoes to teenagers, they had a wide product line that would suffer if they were labeled a corporation that promoted violence towards women.

Back to being boring?

With the myriad of opinions that are boiling up like Vesuvius over what is acceptable and what is not, what can you do? Can there be any creative license in marketing? Can there be any pushing of the line to grasp the attention of your audience or are we resigned to being boring in our marketing efforts? If you are going to stand out, you need to have a clear message of how you are unique compared to your competition. In an ocean of marketing messages, you have to be creative to get anyone to notice you. This is where having good, solid creative types who also have sound business minds come into play. The point of being creative and of pushing the line is to make sure you get the attention of your target audience. If your marketing is creative, but fails to gain anyone’s attention, it becomes little more than a pretty picture. One of the best things you can do is to test your marketing with a group that represents your target. First question: does my marketing resonate with these people? If it works with some, but not all, have I identified a subset group within the larger group that I could market to in this way, but would need to find a different method for the group at large? Second question: do they remember what is being promoted here? Do they identify with my brand? Do they understand what is unique about this brand by my marketing efforts? Third question: are they likely to purchase from me? The bottom line of marketing is to drive you to a sale. If it is not working, you have to change messages, methods or maybe both.
 

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