Renegade Marketing summary

Today, marketing executives are trained to make marketing ever more complex; they have more data to work with than ever before, go to fancy training academies, and are given huge teams to work with. They’re told to imagine their target audience as having different personas and to try to tailor their message to fit every different audience.

But, here’s the thing: you absolutely cannot be everything to every person. If you make your message too all-encompassing, you actually end up confusing the consumer and pleasing no one. In order to be successful, you need to have the courage to have a simple pitch that’s different from your competition.

Let’s look at an example from the building industry. Neisser’s apartment board decided they needed to renew the hallway carpeting, and invited bids from different companies. The first two companies proudly stated that they worked for big restaurants, corporations, and private apartment buildings. The third company, JMPB Enterprise, made a different sort of pitch: it said that it worked exclusively on private apartment carpeting and offered no other services. It showed its expertise by naming specific problems it encountered on the job, namely complaints from residents about dust. Furthermore, it showed how it had solved that problem by budgeting for nightly cleanups and using special vacuums. By the end of the pitch, the board was sold. JMPB Enterprise had a unique selling point, and it could state it clearly and simply.

In the beginning, JMPB Enterprise had to turn down a lot of work because its target market was so specific. That was very scary, but over time it turned out to be its key selling point. It had dared to be different, and it worked.

The first letter in CATS stands for courage. To be courageous, renegade marketers need to be willing to cut through the noise and craft a simple, distinctive identity. And if something’s not working, they have to have the courage to pivot to something that does.

Making changes takes courage. But, in reality, failing to make the change can be riskier. Look at Netflix. The streaming giant was once in the business of mailing out DVDs. It invested in streaming well ahead of the competition and became a market leader. Blockbuster, on the other hand, was way too late to join the streaming game. This former entertainment giant went bust because it didn’t embrace change.

So, what kinds of changes are you willing to make to cut through the noise and make your company unique? In the next chapter, you’ll discover how to artfully articulate your company’s unique purpose — and make sure that it's shared by everyone in your organization.