As I opened my fortune cookie at the turn of the year it told me that “a wise person would give me timely advice”. “Ooooh” I immediately thought, “who would that be and what advice would they give me?” I was intrigued.
Fortune cookies are a popular conveyor of messages and the reason why they are so well liked is because they wish good fortune to come our way.
In marketing, and as an entrepreneur, I believe that fortune favours the brave. Even the quintessential entrepreneur, Del Boy, recognised that in a crowded market, doing something differently, and getting people’s attention was the best way to sell anything. (Absolutely anything in his case!)
Being different is something we actively encourage with our clients. Our guerrilla marketing clients are seeing just how approaching marketing in new and unexpected ways are getting results. Daring to step outside comfort zones, pushing your marketing tactics and creative messaging to new horizons, will pay dividends.
Of course not everyone dares to be different for whatever reason. But, no matter what your brand; however industrial or unsexy you may think it is, creating stand out marketing will get you noticed. It may not always be the safest option; but where does safe get you?
Clients who have been brave, bitten the bullet and gone for it, have seen their bravery rewarded. Truth is, that by taking a different approach to marketing they have made something happen; whether that’s a shift in internal perception, the pride of being noticed by the trade and their peers, or cold hard bottom-line results.
Now is certainly the time to review your marketing comms and the tactics you have planned and ask yourself how it fits into the “daring to be different “category. Some commentators are suggesting that tough times are set to continue, and if they are, now has to be the best time to be standing out in the eyes of your customers.
Ask yourself “How best can I do that?”
So if I were a fortune cookie giving you timely advice for good fortunes in 2011, I would say be brave with your marketing. And remember the words of a popular wise man … “He who dares, Rodney, he who dares ….”
Karen Lambert is an experienced strategic marketer and Managing Director at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
