In marketing, when you find yourself saying: “Well everyone wants this.” or “This is the social norm.” – it maybe true but a lot of the times you are making a fatal assumption.

That there are people out there that like the opposite too.

Really look at the assumptions of what you believe to be absolute truths in your marketing.

Look for and think about the “weird” people that don’t fit them.

You can’t story tell – storytelling is something you are always doing.

Storytelling is not what gets you the outcome – it is a byproduct of a successful brand.

A story being told and that is worth being told is not the main task of the brand itself a brand telling a story is only a byproduct of a successful brand.

Brand storytelling is formed through purposeful action in the real world, through real interactions with customers, non customers and the communication between customers.

Not though saying you are going to tell a story.

This is certainly never talked about in marketing but is one of the core reasons my customers become repelled by brands.

Brands must make promises and brands are promises – the problem comes when promises turn into exaggerations.

They may work to bring you more customers at first but eventually the system must balance. People find out that you are exaggerating and then that breaks trust.

Once trust is broken, it’s hard for people to want to do business with you again.

Is there parts in my marketing that are over exaggerated? If so, how can I make them be true? Or how can I change these expectations so that I over deliver?

I’m not a fan of extreme ideologies but I am starting to realize that I need to remove this one thing more from my life – especially in marketing.
What blocks you from asking “what if” from, having Sonder or empathy for another person, is ego.
Ego is concerned with maintaining your own identity, while empathy is concerned with the understanding of the ego of others.
Now, I don’t think you need to get rid of all your ego, but you need to understand that lots of the times, it can get in the way of what you are seeking to do, especially when it comes to marketing.

Status in marketing is not “status” in an arrogant sense. Status in marketing is more relative.

In the customers mind they subconsciously ask themselves: Where do I fit in here? Where do I fit in in relation to the other people around me?

There is this “pecking order” that is established. The brain is also drawn to changes in this order. Who’s moving up and whos moving down?

Some people are satisfied by being told what to do. Some are satisfied by blending in. Others want more and more status and desire to move up certain chains in society. Some want to be the underdog.

There are these different “Status Story’s” that can play in a persons mind.

One of the things that marketing can do for people, is use symbols to portray this status to people around us.

Having an iPhone 12 right as it comes out says something about you. Having a Google Pixel says something about.

Everything is and can be an indication of status.

Knowing this, marketers can use “status symbols” in interesting ways.

Just imagine that thing that you always fight every single day.

It could be you stressing out about a person. It could be you overthinking. It could be the fear you won’t get good at a craft or that you won’t be loved.

The essence of Sonder is the realization (not just the understanding) that everyone around you carries completely different fears or the exact same fears as you.

Stories that they tell themselves every single day – just like you.

What you can do as a generous marketer is enter that story and help them find a way out.

When you try to change someone reflect and how hard it takes to change yourself.

What are the patterns you go through? What are the stories you tell yourself? What are the assumptions that you have?

Similar stories go through your customers head before they decide to change.

The more you reflect and understand how to change yourself the more you can have the opportunity to understand how to change others.

Most companies design their offer based on what is good for their company in the moment, rather then what the customer needs at that moment.

The offer should make the customer excited. It should be clear, relevant and easy for them to identify.

When they see the offer, it should jump out at them.

If it doesn’t do these things, you were likely being selfish.

Under our simple day to day lives, the surface stuff at the top is typically what we talk about.

We talk about how we want to workout. We talk about how we want to run a business. We talk about about how we want to spend time with family.

What we talk about less is our need to feel strong, or desire to feel like we accomplished something and the need not to feel alone.

Below the surface is the deep human desires that no one talks about.

Marketing doesn’t have to be a zero sum game.

It can be something where something is created as a byproduct of marketing, rather then something being taken away.

You see, traditional marketing and the marketing of selfish marketers is built on this idea of taking attention, control and money away from the customer – leaving them in a lower state then they were before.

What the marketers of today have the opportunity to do is to change a customers state into a whole new form.

The idea of expanding the customers life rather then compressing it.