Back off, evil marketers: the danger of over-delivering your message

The angle:

Read this blog because I wrote it, and you know me. So pretty please?
VS.
I write about it... because I think you should know.
Props, Seth Godin.

As most marketers know, the number one rule to "cool" is not to let your marketing show. MTV may be one of the most recognizable companies to fit this niche. After all, the network is one humongous advertisement - something is being sold; CONSTANTLY. If their primary TV audience all realized this at once, the network could potentially tailspin. When was the last time you looked forward to talking to an uninvited salesperson?

That being said...

THE MANTRA: MTV represents you in all your pop culture glory - they would never tell you what is cool. You tell THEM what's cool, and they'll happily sell it back to you in every imaginable way. It's a classic example of selling ice cream to Eskimos. The trick is making consumers feel as though they're not being duped (er, sold) - money spent on concert tickets, online music videos and countless hours watching meaningless reality shows is simply allowing consumers to participate in "cool" culture. A chance to fit in. In essence, MTV could be called Marketing Television. People will talk and propagate their messages and programs without the feeling that MTV is paying for any of it.

So, you already knew all of that? I'm glad someone is paying attention. So what business WOULDN'T want people to think the world of them? Why wouldn't you want to want to appear to be the number one brand?

Anti-brand

The irony is that having all the positive free publicity in the world can hurt you. Making promises and over-delivering doesn't work every time. Take the latest Indiana Jones installment (set to be in theaters May 22). Steven Spielberg is actually downplaying his film, worried that spoilers and other media will have people expecting too much from the latest Jones whipping action. The result of high expectations? Big letdowns. Simple as that.

Not to slight his own production, but Spielberg knows the danger in over-promotion.

The bottom line is this: a good product can help sell itself, but don't let everyone believe you're #1 unless you really ARE #1.