Hey Jude
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007 by Mark | Posted in Business, Marketing, Marvelous Marketing, Small Business, Unconventional Thinking | CommentsIt’s that electric moment. Suddenly you see or hear something that comes out of who knows where and blows you away. But where? And why?
Let’s step back and put this in perspective. A rich life is all about moving through new dimensions. Only the electric moments can transport you through these passages. These mysteries. And yes, mysteries they are and should be. Because sometimes the less you know, the more you can imagine. The more you can color the palette according to your dreams.
Great businesspeople leave mysteries in their path. What is Hey Jude all about? John’s son Julian? God? Clapton’s girlfriend before Layla? A million theories, but no knowledge. Great mystery.
You know it the first electric moment you hear it. It knocks you on your ass groping for answers and there are none to be found. But you want to hear it again and again and as soon as you get close to figuring it out, you realize it slips away. Because the Beatles figured you out. They want you guessing. They want you in the dark. They want you to wander in the luxury of mystery.
But the lesson is so often lost. Today, marketers tell all the facts. Nothing is left to the imagination. There are no palettes. Just incredibly suffocating detail. And not a single person wants that. They may say they do, but they prefer, in their hearts, to have blanks they are free to fill in, to speculate on, to dream of how they will take a product or service and make it their own. Impose their own story on it. Forget the facts marketers.
Bring on the fantasy. That’s what sells.
Ask YouTube.
Ask Jude.
Ask God.
Mark Stevens
CEO
Email This Post
February 6th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Stevens, let me just say you are on FIRE in 2007. This is another blog post that hits home with me. Constantly I battle my own technical knowledge to trim down marketing collateral and make it more fun and less wordy. Our products are within telecommunications, Voice Over IP, and pbx phone systems, so they are very technical products with feature lists as long as my arms. My inner brain wants to spell everything out, but the salesmen in me wants to produce a piece that’s impactful and short & sweet. Some pieces can have more detail than others, it all depends on the role you want the piece to play.
Often, my girlfriend Andrea who works with me day & night is the one to come in and clean up my content, and point out how i’d be better at writing encyclopedias! It’s amazing how much smarts and common sense women have when it comes to business marketing and keeping things simple! Nonetheless, this piece hits that sweet spot for me where the technical facts go out the window. Marketing is about generating an emotional reaction, one that will lead to action. If you don’t generate that reaction, it’s not going to be as successful as it should be.
In your case your use of the word ’sucks’ generates a reaction on nearly everybody. Either they love it or hate it, but there is emotion that leads to action….i need to find my “sucks”
February 7th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Another pearl of wisdom. The true spirit of Marketing has been minimalized for years, particularly since the dot com boom/bust, with leaders and marketeers who cater (in their messaging) to themselves and ignore the #1 rule in effective marketing: K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
February 8th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Good point Mark. It’s like having some woman tell you her entire life story on the first date, “…this one time, at bandcamp…blah blah blah…” Here is a good question to consider, why are entertainers more successful than educators? Bueller? Bueller? Simple. They leave you wanting more. Lead your audience were they want to go and leave them there. They will find their way back to you.
Does anyone remember…
Seamonkeys
Ginsu (but wait, theres more)
Charles Atlas…
February 10th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Doesn’t some advertising cat posit that MYSTERY, along with Sensuality and Intimacy, can transform a brand from being just a brand into being a Lovemark?
February 14th, 2007 at 10:01 am
I am so intrigued by the idea of a Love Mark. Anyone can have a trademark. A Lovemark can have poetic power. Great thinking.
Mark Stevens
CEO
March 24th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
[...] el blog Unconventional Thinking hay un articulo interesante sobre la falta de misterio en marketing en la actualidad. Mark Stevens menciona el caso de la cancion