I was at a Dan Kennedy seminar last week in Anaheim…and he talked about how you gotta polarize your audience…something I’ve known for a while and talk about frequently.
Your job as a marketer is to make your customers KNOW that you are talking to THEM….and make those you are NOT talking to know that too.
You’ll only know that your marketing is effective when your non-prospects begin to COMPLAIN … loudly. Dan said that he only knew that a client was on the right track when one of his prospects called the police. Great story.
And Dan was giddy to tell it.
This all came to life for me when — the day after that Dan Kennedy seminar — Harris Fellman sends me a link to a site that was a perfect example of polarizing your audience.
If you’re easily offended by scantily clad women, DO NOT follow this link. For the brave or curious, here it is:
To save you the trouble, I’ll explain it to you…
Ecko Jeans has revamped their website, and is now centered around the story that beautiful young women in bikinis make all their clothing. And so the site is filled with videos and photos of these women doing their “jobs”…sewing, ironing, shipping…
You get the idea.
Is it offensive?
To some people, I’m sure it is. On many levels.
To others, not so offensive. Just entertaining. Inspiring. Motivating. Arousing.
But regardless of what YOU think of the marketing, I can tell you this much…
It’s going to be a HUGE success.
It will get press.
It will get people arguing.
There will be people angry at you if you mention it to them. There will be people angry at me for saying it’s smart. (I’m sure I’ll get some comments on this.)
And they can be as angry as they want.
Because IT WILL ALSO SELL JEANS!!!
Nice job, Ecko.
To Your Success,
-Mark
P.S. On the subject of OFFENSIVE Marketing, Harris Fellman is right up there. He’s pretty famous these days for coming up with ‘characters’ to promote his products. Among his most offensive is ‘Uncle Sal’, an italian garage mechanic with ‘family’ ties.
I’m not sure how effective or offensive Harris’s characters are, but I will tell you this…
Harris is a VERY smart man. He’s also just released his “Recession Proof Your Income” program, which is worth a look. I just logged into the download page and what I’m reading is very, very smart.
If you haven’t started yet to make your first dollar online — or you’re looking to make more — Harris’ program is worth a look — whether you like or hate ‘Sal’.
Central to the program is how Harris teaches you how to pick a niche that is both recession proof, non-cyclical, AND high-margin. One of the questions I get most often is how to find businesses like this, and Harris gets to the point on the first 6 pages.
Let’s just be thankful it’s not Harris in the bikini.
http://www.MarkPrefers.com/recessionproof
-Mark