When writing this post, I found myself falling back on so many stereotypical clichés, but instead of resisting those annoying catchphrases, I decided, to heck with it, just embrace the jargon and keep writing. (Plus, I had no time to rewrite my blog.) After all, these infectious buzz phrases exist because their streamlined messaging is timeless. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, 1) seriously? and 2) Forbes offers up some of the main marketing industry offenders.)
The true guerilla marketer in all of us should be infusing the fearless spirit of these themes into all of our content strategy. Sure, our clients might be afraid of the big, hairy, surprising [hopefully not smelly] guerilla messaging – but it’s our job to assure them of the jackpot memorable outcome.
A handful of my favorite “whatever it takes” mantras with which I motivate my Rebel Self daily:
(And by “rebel self” I refer to my gingham cardigan and preppy shoes.)
- Think outside the box.
- Dare to be different.
- Go big or go home.
- Take the path less traveled.
- Go against the grain (to get the most bang for your buck).
- Don’t be afraid to take big risks, if you want to get big rewards.
The collectively evergreen, albeit trite, marketing message here: be brave in the delivery of your message, enough to shake people out of the auto-pilot of their day, and make them more likely to engage. Whether you’re a 2nd grade teacher trying to teach a lesson to your easily-distracted 7-year-old students, or a marketing agency tasked with launching a new product to an already-saturated market, the premise holds true: Differentiate to Get Heard.
Recently, I had the pleasure of witnessing (and instantly becoming smitten with my new intellectual man-crush,) Dave Rendall speak at the Triangle AMA’s High 5 Conference. Several of our Walk West team (formerly Greenroom Team) members were there, literally at the edge of our (uber-excited, fan-girl, front row) seats.
Dave’s brilliant Freak Marketing: Differentiate by Amplifying Weaknesses breakout session instructed/reminded/urged us that we must go against the grain to achieve excellence. Think about it: everyone is normal…everyone does what is expected and “allowed” …so if you want to be more than everyone, more than normal, you must do something different than everyone.
Excellence > Normal
Weirdness = Wonderful
(Did I mention that this guy is my hero?)
Conforming to what is allowed, or what has always been done, is going to get you results that are … expectedly … ordinary. But since you’re reading our blog, and considering our unique combination of genius production & recognizable quirkiness for your next project, we’re pretty confident that conformity and ordinary is not your end goal. And for this, we give you a big high five.
Q: But what if this unconventional, guerilla-style delivery turns off some of our audience? Yep. It’s gonna happen. Expect that your delivery won’t be universally accepted by the naysayers who are afraid to stray too far from safety. You can’t please all the people all the time, so just accept their “if it ain’t broke” model of decision-making, and move on. (They weren’t going to be your loyal, long-term customer anyway). Own your bravery. Make big things happen. (See #1-6 above.)
As your marketing partner, Walk West (formerly Greenroom) works with you to uncover your strengths, push you a bit outside of your comfort zone, hyper-target your messaging to engage your ideal audience, and most importantly, amplify your unique quirks and differentiators in a way that makes people stop and take notice. We’re not afraid to do what hasn’t yet been done, because that’s where we’ve made a name for ourselves. So, for gosh sakes … be brave. Be a trailblazer. Be that 800-lb. marketing guerilla.
