Thou Shalt Not Steal Anothers Headline
Thou Shalt Not Steal Anothers Headline
Posted on 04/28/2009, by
DMC
Thou shalt not “got _____ ?” or use “yes you can” under any circumstance.
Today’s commandment, number two, in our Ten Commandments of Successful marketing is all about individuality. If you would like to go back and catch up on the 1st commandment, click here. We extensively covered how to Protect Your Brand From Boredom in an earlier post, but it bears repeating – if you’re best option is to utilize someone else’s marketing, what compelling reason do you leave your customer to purchase your product. What you’re really telling them is, “Do you remember that other, better know product? You should buy that instead.” Do this and your brand is instantly boring.
This is what happened with the insanity spawned by the “Got Milk?” campaign which launched in ‘93. Every single one of us has seen the Got Milk campaign – it was creative and fun, then it got ripped off and extensively copied. A more recent example can be taken from political life. Have you seen the “Yes, You Can” show up in anything other than campaign ads recently? Perhaps just every cheesy billboard lining the streets? It has become the snowclone of the late 2000’s.
The prevailing emotion has always been that plagiarism is the most sincere form of flattery. However, for today’s advertisers that is no longer the case. Plagiarism has ceased being flattery and instead can become the most sincere form of mediocrity. The flaw in this thinking for many companies is that by sounding like a bigger competitor they can garner the credibility of the market leader for their own products and services. Unfortunately, what it says to evaluating prospects is, “There is no discernible value between these two companies, why take a risk on a company you don’t know.” That is the best case scenario. At worst, it says, “We are one of those companies operating on smoke and mirrors, hoping our customers don’t realize our lack of compelling value.”
There is hope. You’ve worked this hard to get your company to the size and scale it is today. There is value which is unique to your company alone and an asset that can fuel sustained growth. It starts with uncovering that value and communicating it clearly and consistently to your customers and prospects. Click here to read a post from earlier this month about how to avoid being a “me too” company.
Then get out there and start doing it. Yes you can!
