Give Me a Reason to Want Your Marketing
This is a kick ass example of collaborative marketing. You’d think that something like a museum would be forced to accept the fact that its content has limited universal appeal, but the Tate wasn’t having any of that. They didn’t limit themselves by thinking that only a certain kind of person would be interested in what they had to offer. They decided they wanted to branch out and figured out a way to do it, not by changing what the Tate was but by how it was perceived by the audience it was trying to attract: young people. They got help from people who were relevant to this new audience; they even used flyers outside of clubs to promote themselves – how cool is that?
Pens aren’t sexy. Nobody talks about them and nobody thinks about them past the fact that you never seem to have one when you need it. But, everyone at one time or another has played with them. It’s what you do when you’re on the phone, in a meeting or trying to avoid work. In a passive way, they’re fun. Now imagine that Bic comes out with a brand new line of graphic print pens and a slew of pen spinning commercials so ergonomically unbelievable your brain explodes in pure ecstasy. Can you say “White Hot Magic Maker?” Okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but it would be a great way to advertise. Pimping a cheap, disposable product that people use every day and adding an engaging experience that can be shared and will get people talking is brilliant. Again, the pen still functions as a pen, but now it has an edge over the competition.
For those of you wondering what any of this has to do with being an author, I’ve thrown in the Japanese death poems. I imagine this genre of writing is a hard sell to the general population. If someone offered me even a free copy I would first give the person a funny look then reject the idea out of hand because that’s my prejudice. This is the problem that some people choose to ignore: it’s not that people would read your work if it was free, it’s that their perception of what the work is prevents them from even giving it a chance. Right, like you didn’t have enough problems already. Anything, ANYTHING, can find an audience with a little creativity and a coordinated strategy. I like this video because it’s all about ambience: it engages the imagination with the old woman voice, eerie music and scenic vignettes. I’m not saying that by watching this video alone I am itching to get my hands on the collected works of Minamoto Yorimasa, but I’m now open to having a conversation which is a step up from where I started. Japanese death poems won’t likely fill a void in my life, but they could be something cool that I didn’t know I would enjoy. For this, I would need more information, but I’m lazy so the information would have to come to me. O Marketing, Marketing, wherefore art thou Marketing?
Are you reading between the lines, authors? Excuses aren’t doing you any favors. Stop whining about your limitations and start creating a better future.