Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

I know otherwise bright, mature people that - when faced with something that doesn’t fit their world view (or makes them uncomfortable) - say exactly this. Nuh-uh, You can’t make me! On such do marketing campaigns (and governments and companies) rise and fall. (Too bad this isn’t a podcast so you could hear the utterly dismissive tone in the “NO!” statement. Ouch - alrighty then - we’ll move right along to the next topic. How ’bout dem Bears?)

Reinforce what people already believe and you’ve got a winner. Fit it in their comfort zone and you’ll be around for a good long while. Trying to change their mind? Talking scary stuff? Better get ready for some heavy road work if you want to sell to millions. (And, here’s also why I get so jazzed about our flattened Web 2.0 world. With the right stuff you can sell to the people who love change, embrace new ideas, and just “get it” - versus doing years of soul-deadening - and wallet-draining - missionary work.)

Seth Godin has built an entire career (and blog) around these things. (Even when I don’t agree with him - his blog remains one of my top “go to” sources for whack in the head perspective.)

But, as smart as Seth is - the truth has really been “out there” from the dawn of human history. Big things and little - it all comes back to the human heart often overrules the brain and we want things to “make sense” (fit our personal world view.) Tons of examples - from serious to silly. U.S. presidential campaigns (any of ‘em.) Mickey D’s pursuit of the the upscale crowd (They keep trying though). New Coke*. Expensive wine glasses that make wine taste better (We think, therefore it is.) “Spreading democracy.” Apple’s cult following. (”I’m cooler/richer/smarter than PC people!” Full disclosure: I love Apple.) And so on.

So, if you’re out there on the leading edge with a new product or company - remember it can also be a bleeding one if you’re trying to quickly change (a lot of) people’s minds. We humans are always fully in touch with our inner child when it comes to things we don’t like.

(* New Coke is a great example of how market research can sometimes lead you down a very expensive rat hole. People liked it better than Pepsi in blind taste tests. Then they totally rebelled when they saw it was replacing “Old Coke.” Oops.)