How to Be an Iridescent Marketer

Much can be learned about effective target marketing from the physics and biological function of colour – really.

Impatient to get to the point? It’s this: Be an iridescent marketer. Let me explain.

First, a double nod to Dr. Helen Czerski, a research fellow/lecturer at University College, London, and to TVO for broadcasting her engaging documentary: Colour: The Spectrum of Science - Episode 2: Colours of Life (available online as of this date).

Second of a three-part series, it delivers fascinating observations about the colours of the natural world, the physics underlying them, how they’re perceived, sustain life and enhance the Earth: “Life has painted the planet in a kaleidoscope of colours: Bright, vivid, beautiful.”

But one idea merits special attention if you promote a product, service, company, idea, person…etc.

The ability to perceive colour (e.g., a red strawberry against a green background) gives animals a survival advantage. On the flip side, a plant that offers animals a colour signal indicating that its fruit is ripe can attract the animal to disperse its seeds through consumption and…uh, well…digestion. “It’s a wonderful example of the intimate connection between colour and life. …It’s what makes colour one of the most powerful forms of communication in the living world. …Messages sent, received and understood in colour.”

Colour can also be used to conceal and protect: for some species, it’s the difference between life and death. But in a crowded world, “sometimes you don’t need to hide…you need to stand out.” You may even require the “rare and spectacular” quality of iridescence – shimmering flashes of colour perceived by the eye.

Questions about the iridescent properties of some hibiscus flowers led to a compelling discovery. Bees are one of the hibiscus’s main pollinators. Iridescence enables them to find the flower much more quickly and with much less energy. Somehow, the hibiscus (which cannot move) has “figured out how to attract the eye of the bee,” making it more likely they’ll be pollenated in the wild. “Iridescence is the solution to a problem.” In these flashes of iridescence, the bee sees a “beacon advertising its presence.”

If you’re involved in any pursuit that seeks to connect a target market with what you provide, you’ll know it’s a constant challenge to attract not just “an audience” but the right audience. Many strategies and tactics are pursued to achieve this goal and, undoubtedly, some can be or are effective. But identifying an “iridescent” approach – especially in our digitally-saturated, always-on, constantly distracted, mobile-device era – remains a formidable hurdle, one that will persist.

So, learning from the hibiscus, let me suggest the following “formula” for guiding your strategic thinking:

 1) Know yourself/your value proposition.

2) Understand your chosen market’s key behaviours.

3) Focus your imagination on how best to attract your target.

4) Apply potent insights from other disciplines and spheres of endeavour.

5) Learn how to be an “iridescent marketer,” i.e., aim to create the special connection that makes your offer uniquely appealing to your desired audience.

Best of luck.