Subtle Marketing Should Be Bold!
Monday, May 25, 2009 at 10:01PM I was in a discution the other day about being subtle in your marketing. I am highly against that and expressed my opinion very strongly. As I have been thinking about it I am discovering that perhaps we were not speaking the same language. I would like to illustrate by talking about hiking. I love hiking and have many trail guides. On trails that are hard to mark such as bald mountains you'll often see "Look for cairns, and the route will become obvious." A cairn is a manmade pile of stones, often in a conical form. They blend in to the scenary because they are made from materials found in that area. Some are small and some are very large but they do not detract from the scenary. They are, however, bold enough to keep the hiker on path. I was hiking with my children in Acadia national park. We had spotted a trail head we wanted to explore while mountain biking the day before. As many of you know the weather changes often in Maine. As we got closer to the top the fog rolled in and a slight dizzle started. This made seeing the path a little harder, but those cairns stood out almost defying all who dared to hide them. You marketing efforts should be the same way. Always bold enough to draw attention even in the fog and drizzle of other products out there. They can be built upon natual materials found along the way. The will, if bold enough and not too far apart, guide the consumer to their intended destination.
While I am speaking of Bold, you should meet my Co-Host on Making Mountains Out Of Mole Hills, Lynnelle Wilson, CEO of Bold Vision Consulting. http://www.BOLDVisionConsulting.com
Reader Comments (1)
Love the suggestion of using 'natural' materials in your surroundings. I feel like I've known that all along, but I'm grateful to have words to clarify the intent. In a way, the company you've built exists in a 'universe' that you've created for it - with it's own culture, design, food chain, etc. Make sure that your public communication is created to exist in that universe, or you'll have discontinuity with unknown results.