Eccentricity can be your best weapon in the Marketing and Promotion War, which for you, is about being heard over the white noise of your competitors.

One of the best marketing books I’ve ever read, Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan has a chapter dedicated entirely to eccentricity. By embracing their own personal eccentricities (marathon jams, extended mid-show breaks, free recording access at shows), the Grateful Dead became unique among musicians of the time and more relatable to their fans. In fact by being different, the Grateful Dead encouraged their fans to embrace their own personal eccentricities which gave rise to a loyal culture of supporters spanning generations. And it’s still attracting people today.

David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan put it this way: “In a world of ‘me-too’ products, the businesses that cultivate a strategy of appealing to the tastes of outliers are generating success.”

If you’re a marketer pulling out your hair trying to find new ways to reach your audience, it might pay off to lift the veil and capitalize on the traits that make your company different. It’s scary I know, but if you think about it, those eccentricities are a part of your story and since marketing experts are always saying “build and tell stories” why not tell it like it is. Right? Right.

So this is all great advice, but how do we implement it?

Get to know your customer’s personality. 

“Smart companies understand eccentricities and create a market from them.”
– Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead

Get to know your customer. It’s Marketing 101, but it’s easy to forget when you’re juggling a million things. So how exactly do you get to know your customer?

• Work with your marketing team to gather research on your current customers. Start tracking these statistics to see if you can identify any patterns. Are they mostly male or female? Is there a particular geographic region that most come from? Are they in large or small businesses? A particular industry? Do they follow you on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn? Are they more active on one channel versus another?

• Think about the personalities behind these traits. If most of your customers come from a particular geographic region, learn about that area. Are there any quirks you can incorporate into your marketing strategy that will help build a connection (i.e. is that area known for exceptionally tasty cheese? The best wings? Awesome coffee)?

Tell it like it is.

“Stop hiding your personality behind carefully scripted announcements, press releases, and events.”
– Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead

If your marketing content is full of industry terms and jargon that the average person would have no business knowing than you are thwarting your ability to connect. Your message must be clear and the words you choose to deliver that message should be relatable, simple and action-oriented. Notice how “relatable” is a consistent theme here?

Try new things.

“Marketers today need to experiment in their craft in order to make big breakthroughs. Instead of seeing failure as something to be avoided, CEOs and management teams need to free their marketers to experiment, quickly learn from failure, and experiment again.”
– Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead

Amen. Steven Pressfield eloquently says in his book, The War of Art: “The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” The same can be applied to your marketing tactics. It can be darn scary to try something different, and not really know whether it will connect with your audience. But how can you determine the best way to connect and build relationships with your customers if you stick to the same old thing? You can’t. So toughen up and follow that brilliant, scary idea you had. It could turn out to be the best breakthrough your company has ever seen. And if not? Try again.

 

Image: Pigpen & Jerry of Grateful Dead in Front of Egyptian Backdrop via dead.net.