Hello Marketing Mind,
There is one statement I have not been able to get out of my head lately.
Let it settle in and read it a few times to make sense of it.
“People like us do things like this”
is the most powerful marketing message that there is.
It comes from none other than the amazing Seth Godin, and bears more truth than I at first realised. (if you want to know why he matters just Google his name or visit Seth’s blog which he has run for over 20 years) https://seths.blog/
He explains this statement like this:
“For most of us, from the frst day we are able to remember until the last day we breathe, our actions are primarily driven by one question, “Do people like me do things like this?”
Seth Godin takes an excourse into decisionmaking, showcasing how our decisions are not rational, but very much driven by our need for signalling to others. Ultimately he argues, that we make purchases to have a feeling of belonging to a group of people thinking in a similar way.
This “Us” therefore is defined through culture.
When we’re comfortable realizing that our work is to change ‘a culture’, then we can begin to do two bits of hard work:
A. Map and understand the worldview of a culture we seek to change.
B. Focus all our energy on merely this group. Ignore everyone. Instead, focus on building and living a story that will resonate with the culture you are seeking to change.
That’s how we make change.
By caring enough to want to change a culture, and being brave enough to pick just one.
And why has this beengoing around my head so much you may ask?
Because only very few companies seem to approach their marketing like this. It feels like a well guarded secret right in front of us that no one sees. Unity and a shared goal in unity are hands down the most powerful message you can send. In my eyes adidas, apple, nike for example are masterfully using this concept to inspire people.
This sentence pretty much trumps all other marketing advice. It is like the overarching digma of Marketing to people.
If you manage to inspire a group of people in this way you automatically gain trust, trust in you, trust in your products and what they stand for, trust in your employees, trust by your employees. You also create drive, drive to belong to the group.
In 2019 for example was part of such a group.
I had joined Adidas Runners shortly after arriving in Munich. The main message spread there, is, that we stand for inclusion, pushing oneself and committing to improvement in sport, and showcasing that to the world, inside and outside of the group. The more one aligned to this goal, the more one got rewarded.
So let us keep this in mind whena approaching our next marketing project.
“People like us do things like this”
Cheers
David
