Truth-based Marketing—It's CRAZY but it's good! Here's why…

Monday: MicroBusiness and Marketing Marvels FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: How was your weekend? I hope you all had a good rest and a great time with your loved ones. As we kickstart a new week, let’s delve into the insightful journeys of outstanding individuals in marketing and business. In today’s article, we put the spotlight on a 1990 movie whose main character teaches us a timeless thing or two about marketing. Are you ready? Read on to know about this movie’s useful and helpful marketing wisdom. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

Truth-based Marketing—It's CRAZY but it's good! Here's why… Have you ever bought something because the salesperson or the marketing for that product promised it would do for you what you wanted or needed (e.g. grow your hair, remove your belly fat, strengthen your immunity, etc.) in X number of days? What happened when you tried the product out? Did it deliver the results you wanted or needed as promised? Or… Did it fail your expectations? For those of you who answered the latter, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Countless others, including us, also experienced what you experienced and felt what you felt. That’s why today, we won’t focus on the glitz and glamor of marketing. We’ll talk about it plainly and truthfully through the lens of this film: “Crazy People!” Released in 1990, “Crazy People” is an American dark comedy film starring Dudley Moore and Daryl Hannah, and directed by Tony Bill. The movie revolves around the story of Emory Leeson (Moore), an advertising executive who experiences a nervous breakdown. In the film, Leeson creates a series of “truthful” ads a.k.a. blunt and bawdy copies, and of no use to his boss’ firm. Here are a few examples: “Volvo—They're boxy but they're good.” “United—Most of our passengers get there alive.” “Metamucil—It makes you go to the toilet.” Hmm. Pithy and punchy, right? Leeson’s agency and boss reject the ads and check him into a sanitarium thinking he’s taken leave of his senses… but you won’t guess what happens next! A mistake leads to the ads running in newspapers across the country anyway, and at that point the unexpected happens: The ads work. REALLY. WELL. There’s more! Because of that, Lesson is approached in the sanitarium to create new ads himself. He insists that his fellow mental patients also be involved and suitably rewarded for their work, transforming the sanitarium into a branch of the advertising industry. They come up with wild advertising slogans, such as one for a Greek travel agency: “Forget Paris. The French can be annoying. Come to Greece. We're nicer.” The patients experience happiness at being needed and improvement from their various illnesses. Leeson negotiates to get new automobiles for all of the patients as a reward, while he and Burgess, who have fallen in love, leave the hospital in an army helicopter. Leeson and Burgess then open their own advertising agency, with Sony as their first client. What a brilliant story! Truth-based Marketing in the “Wild” Many people write “Crazy People” off as a nonsense movie hijinks, especially with a main character like Leeson. While the movie mostly is, you have to take note that there’s also a pearl of wisdom in the film. Throughout the story, it is shown clearly that “truthful” marketing and advertising can be incredibly effective. Allow us to share with you two real-life examples: Saddleback Leather Have you watched this YouTube video uploaded by Saddleback Leather in 2014? In this video, all the person is doing is describing in detail how to knock off one of Saddleback Leather’s bags. Huh? Why would someone from the company talk about how to dismantle the very product they're selling? The reason is this: Saddleback Leather put a ton of time and attention into making a bag that lasts. This means if you’re tired of bags that fall apart quickly and easily, Saddleback is for you. Fiat It would have been laughable to claim that a Fiat was just as good as a Ferrari, so Fiat’s marketers didn’t go down that path. Instead, they call out the fact that a person with a well-established taste in cars, Mr. Enzo Ferrari himself, chooses Fiat as his practical car of choice. One word to describe this? Genius. As you can see from these examples, you don’t have to sling baloney to do marketing right. If you want your ads to work, base them on the truth about your offerings. In fact, truth-based marketing is straightforward! Here’s how: Find a unique and desirable outcome that your offerings deliver to customers. Talk about that outcome in your ads. Always remember that in this world, you have two options to market your brand: Crank out codswallop. Tell the powerful truth. Finalizing your decision between these two might take some time, but just to let you know: Option 1 certainly leads to doom (not immediately, though). Option 2 might lead to immediate doom, but it might also eventually lead to salvation for your brand. The only thing that’s left for you to do now? Pick your poison. You can either be Leeson’s boss or Leeson himself. Hope you’ve found this week’s topic interesting and helpful.     With a market capitalization of over USD 3 trillion, Microsoft is currently one of the world’s leading and most valuable tech companies. Learn more about Chris Capossela in next week’s article!