Be Undeniably GoodDecember 11th, 2008 View Comments |
Laziness = links…
Comedian Steve Martin on how to make it in any field:
Be undeniably good. When people ask me how do you make it in show business or whatever, what I always tell them and nobody ever takes note of it ‘cuz it’s not the answer they wanted to hear — what they want to hear is here’s how you get an agent, here’s how you write a script, here’s how you do this — but I always say, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” If somebody’s thinking, “How can I be really good?”, people are going to come to you. It’s much easier doing it that way than going to cocktail parties.
(via Chase Jarvis, Secret to Success in Photography)
Sean Howard, Wayne knows what many Word of Mouth experts don’t (in comment):
I believe that there is a new trends back towards small, where small is not a size of company but rather a mindset. We have to remember that the world has been lost in this idea of “scale” to the point that the very markets were expected to never correct themselves.
In a world gone mad with supply chain management, commodification, and outsourced value can we be so surprised that those providing services of quality with their own hands are a) valued or b) in short supply?
Great marketing cannot make up for poor product. Marketing can no longer obscure a product’s shortcomings.
Diamond D of Tribe Called Quest explains:
You gotta get a label that’s willin’ and able
To market and promote, and you better hope
(For what?) That the product is dope
The question: can great product make up for poor marketing?
Just thinking out loud…
December 11th, 2008 at 14:18
What are you thinking of as “poor marketing”? You mean like a campaign that offends potential customers (motrin moms)? Or poor as in too little effort spent getting the word out there or engaging customers? (any post with Steve Martin quotes is golden in my book
December 11th, 2008 at 14:46
Great advice for the individual: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
Great advice for the team:
You gotta get a label that’s willin’ and able
To market and promote, and you better hope
(For what?) That the product is dope
December 11th, 2008 at 19:41
Would the answer be different for those two kinds of “poor marketing”?
December 11th, 2008 at 19:49
I've heard that Tribe song a billion times, and it just popped into my head when I was thinking about this…
December 11th, 2008 at 21:00
It's a goodie: http://snipurl.com/7szez
And he hits that line so well: “That the product is DOPE.”
December 11th, 2008 at 21:02
But no, a great product can't make up for poor marketing. But I think the point is that, increasingly, they're becoming one and the same.
December 12th, 2008 at 00:41
hey, i'm asking the questions here! hehehe…yes i think the answer could be different.
great products have succeeded purely on word of mouth, with little to no marketing effort on behalf of their creators. great products have the potential to endure in spite of terrible marketing because the consumer's product experience (and probably that of their peers) is more important than the message of the marketing. right?
however, a campaign perceived as offensive is likely to be actively avoided, at worst, and at best, it can skew the context and perspective of the consumer, negatively influencing their experience.
so, in summary:
poor marketing + no consumer experience = death to product.
poor marketing + negative consumer experience = death to product.
poor marketing + positive consumer experience = potential success for product.
having said that, it's much smarter to take poor marketing out of the equation
December 12th, 2008 at 02:48
Brooks is right
And if you agree with Mickael Cailey http://tinyurl.com/5meao4 and Ethan http://tinyurl.com/5wuquk
one could say that tt's not “the product (which) is the experience” but rather “the experience (which) is the product”.
December 24th, 2008 at 21:52
I find myself repeating that line “Be so good they can't ignore you” almost every day now. It's a new mantra…
February 3rd, 2009 at 15:06
thanks for the post
February 21st, 2009 at 13:26
[...] never creates the desired mainstream appeal and usually angers the core. I try to hold the phrase “Be Undeniably Good” in my head whenever I’m making a product, business or life decision, and it’s [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 18:27
Thanks to Disqus this place is great.