Marketing Pro Tip - Oppositional Marketing Strategy

Oppositional Marketing Strategy

So, one of the coolest things in marketing right now that really is probably one of the most effective things in marketing now and, realistically, probably has been for a long period of time, is a concept called the Opposite Effect. And as much as I wish I could, like, take this as my own, it's not mine. It’s by a man called Steve Clayton. I'd encourage you to check him out.

The concept of the Opposite Effect is this: Consider a hundred people are in a room, right? And a hundred people are in a room and one person picks up a drum. And let's just say this drum signifies digital marketing or social media marketing. And they beat it. And all of a sudden, everyone in the room turns around and, "Oh, my God, there's that drum! What was that?" And they start paying attention to him.

And then everyone else starts beating a drum and sure enough, there is a racket going on in this room of 100 people. And next thing you know, no one can tell whose drum is whose. Sure enough, in the chaos of the drums, someone else picks up a trumpet, and they blast the trumpet. And everyone that's beating a drum turns around and goes, "Holy crap! Was that a  trumpet? What was that?" They all start paying attention to it. And sure enough, over time, people start dropping drums and start playing a trumpet.

And in no time at all, the place becomes a cacophony of trumpets.

This is an example of marketing and how it trends. Someone does something well and then it becomes Boom! Just overloads and it almost becomes ineffective, and then something new comes along.

Same room: everyone's beating the trumpet, just blasting it, ears are sore and then they turn around and they hear this one person just beat a drum. Just boom. And everyone turns around and they go, “Man, I remember the drum." And what it does is that it builds trust, it has familiarity. It’s understood, it's acknowledged.

So this is the difference between pumping Facebook marketing, for example, which is by all means very good, or doing a letter of introduction. Think of things that go just absolutely bananas based on trust; probably one of the most explosive apps, albeit not longstanding, was Pokemon Go. The window of people who could have used it, who were so familiar with it and had so many fond memories of the concept of Pokemon. It was the Opposite Effect. It was late adoption of an early concept. So when you think about your marketing, don't think about how you do the next thing or don't think about being part of the herd. Think about how you can communicate with your market in a way that they know, trust and love, and that is familiar for them. And I guarantee you, your marketing will excel.