Innovative approach to old-school marketing tactics.

1. Light that Never Turns Green
By: @shannavannorman
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All ye who worship marketing guru extraordinaire, Seth Godin, and Ted Talks, rejoice!
Let's dust off that dense desk-top computer and give it a makeover of the future – in the
form of killing off mass marketing strategy for good. Come with me, ride the totally
cylindrical innovation wave into marketing and startup triumph.
What’s not surprising is that Seth Godin devoted an entire Ted Talk to the ancient
strategy of mass marketing and, even more un-surprising that he suggest that money
and power no longer influence leadership.
So say goodbye to average… we’re only discussing innovative strategy on this here
blog.
We're talking in thrice today: starting with good 'ole Henry Ford and his cool factory idea
which changed the world of business as we know it:
#1: Henry Ford created such an efficient factory that it enabled him to take a guy who
was making 50 cents a day and bump up his pay to $5 dollars.

2. Seth reminds us, “With that sort of advantage, you can churn out a lot of cars, you can
make a lot of change, you can get roads built, and you can change the fabric of an
entire country.”
Here’s the problem, if you’re only focused on cheaper labor and faster machines, you’re
fighting a losing battle and will, undoubtedly, run your company into the ground.
#2: After the period in time where the biggest factory was no longer relevant, we then
started pushing mass marketing. We’d say, that there, it’s a good idear – I think we
ought to push that into the market…just keep pushin and pushin – push it out into the
world… If we have enough money and we tell enough people, then surely, we’ll sell
enough.
But as Seth points out in his Ted Talk, we can sell an entire industry on falsities. “Put
babies in your ads and if that doesn’t work, put doctors in your ads.”
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3. #3: And my personal favorite falsity:
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Be the KING.
In other words, they act like they are KING, and throw their ideas to the peons in the
back. Because, well, they’re in charge and they’re going to tell people what to do next.
The thoughtless idea is this: You’re above everyone and you’re going to push your idea
out to the masses.
Seth argues: mass marketing = average ideas.
He reasons, “that’s because mass marketing is for the masses – and requires lots of
money and ads.”
“What we’ve done as spammers is tried to hypnotize people into buying our idea,
hypnotize everyone into donating to our cause, hypnotize everyone into voting for our
candidate.”

4. Likewise, Rex Harris created a nice writeup about new-waves of marketing and also
pointed out some great tips from marketing gurus, one of whom, acclaimed author Mitch
Joel. Harris wrote about how Mitch Joel helped drive home the notion that marketers
need to create direct relationships with their consumers through “having sex with data”
and understanding the active vs passive audience of the medium you’re using to get
your message across.
Harris pointed out, “For instance, Joel lauded the fact that “banner ads don’t work
because it’s putting passive advertising into an active medium. One of the best ways to
create a relationship with your audience, he went on to say, is by creating a product that
offers true value to their lives.”
Plain and simple: Mass marketing is not effective.
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The good news:
There’s something that is extraordinarily effective: Tribes.
A term Seth Godin coined.
I call it social experiential and brand advocates – all synonymous.
Godin, “What tribes (and brand advocates) are is a very simple concept: that goes back
50,000 years. It’s about leading and connecting people and ideas. And it’s something

5. that people have wanted forever. Lots of people are used to having a spiritual tribe or a
church tribe, having a work tribe, having a community tribe… But now thanks to the
Internet, thanks to the explosion of mass media, thanks to a lot of other things that are
bubbling through our society and around the world…
tribes are everywhere.”
I believe, unrealistic expectations are at the heart of every mass marketing campaign…
and it’s just plain ‘ole common sense when you think about it. The Internet has
successfully done the exact opposite of what we expected.
For your consideration: The Internet has successfully reinvented the way we connect
and communicate, but it hasn’t homogenized everyone as we expected. Rather, online
mass communication has separated us all into niche groups - “silos of interests”as Seth
would call it. He explains, you’ve got white hats making food and white hats sailing
boats. In other words, they both wear white hats (seemingly similar) but have
completely diverse interests (extremely unique).
So, skippy, if you want to find rebellious vintage lovers and connect with them, you can.
Jealous Unicorn - Online Fashion Startup: email: info@jealousunicorn.com

6. What's cool: People want to be connected to things they love through people.
“The best part, it’s tribes, not money, not factories, that can change our
world…that can change polotics, that can align large numbers of people. Not
because you force them to do something against their will, but because they
wanted to connect.”- Godin
Upgrade your skills: Seth explains – you only need a thousand people– who care
enough, and those thousand people will carry your company, product, brand, team, to
the next round.
Another brilliant point: Whatever you create – whatever product you create – whatever
movement you create, it shouldn’t be for everyone.
Your idea shouldn’t be for the masses.
“It’s about finding true believers.”
Godin then shifts his Ted Talk with a wicked little circle:
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7. 1st: Tell a story
2nd: Connect a Tribe
3rd: Lead a Movement
4th: Make a Change
Around and around and around it goes.
Godin’s questions for your company:
1. Who exactly are you upsetting? (Because if you’re not upsetting anyone then you’re
not changing the status quo).
2. Who are you connecting? (Because for a lot of people, that’s what they’re in it for).
3. Who are you leading? (Because focusing on that part of it, not the mechanics of what
you’re building, but the who, and the leading part is where change comes).
Case in point: Blake at Tom’s shoes had a very novel idea: What would happen if every
time I sold a pair of these shoes I gave the exact same pair to someone who didn’t even
own a pair of shoes?
Badabing – a movement.

8. Credit <--- cool site
It’s a story of a product that tells a story.
Godin reiterates this theory in his blog post, Getting to scale: Direct Marketing vs Mass
Marketing Thinking, he again points out: “The key distinction is when you know it's going
to work. The mass marketer doesn't know until the end. The direct marketer knows in
the beginning.”
"But, everyone is doing it."
Armed and dangerous with mud and a slingin’ fist, any ‘old Joe can scheme up an
ineffective marketing strategy that minimizes profit and maximizes waste. Hint: it should
be the opposite.
Instead, we should choose the road less-traveled… create something fun, something
engaging, something intoxicating - fill a gap, find unique crews, ruffle some feathers
(peacock theory ;). And for the love of felines, allow the current to flow naturally. Go with
your target… let them do the choosing and the leading, but most of all connect with
them. And wham-bam, thank you ‘mam – you’ve got a hit.
Note: A movement isn’t forced and it doesn’t swim against the current – it flows naturally
and isn’t prey to competitors – because these connected people – they’re LOYAL.
Oftentimes for years, and if you’re super lucky, for a lifetime. That –is the only way you
have a long-lasting – sustainable– profitable company.
When in doubt, think of Tom’s Shoes… and when you walk around with Tom shoes –
someone will ask, where did you get those shoes, and then that person will tell the story
on Blake’s behalf…and suddenly – “it’s not one pair of shoes, or 10 pair of shoes, it’s
10’s of thousands.”
So smartmarketers and startupers, say goodbye to that slouchy old T-shirt and
destroyed knackers. Remember, if your head is in the clouds, it’s because you’re
marketing fluff rating is through the roof. Them there numbers, they don’t even
matter…here’s another reason why:
For starters, Avinash Kaushik, the guru I'll reference next, He’s the savvy author of 2
best selling books: Web Analytics 2.0, Web Analytics: An Hour A Day (100% of the
proceeds from both books are donated to The Smile Train, Doctors Without Borders
and Ekal Vidyalaya). Also check out his work on Market Motive – for fresh online
marketing education.
Rex Harris wrote up a nice run-down of some stellar marketing advice from some of the
greats and noted Kaushik’s marketing wisdom, ““Clicks, Impressions, Visits and Page

9. Views, Video Views, Followers/Fans/Likes are garbage. Those are not true measures of
influence.”
It’s far less romantic than spending money at the start, but it’s the reliable, proven way
to get to scale if you care enough to do the work.”
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So mass marketing is, in theory, the light that never turns green. Well maybe, for
a short burst of time, then it’s back to a red light.