Unless They Form An Opinion On Your Brand, No One Cares What You Sell

During my classification talk at Gateway Rotary in Lacey, Washington today, I mentioned that my goal was for everyone to have a formed opinion on the Lacey Pocket Gophers Football Club that I own. A product that most of you reading this, may not know anything about.

As I told my fellow Rotarians, I don’t care if anyone likes the semi-pro soccer team's brand or not, but they will have an opinion formed on it by the time we launch our first home match May 5 at South Sound Stadium against our Western Washington Premier League opponent Federal Way.

Later in the day, I had some Rotarians approach me at two different functions, asking me why it was important to me for them to have a formed an opinion on the team.

I’m using three different social media platforms, an email blast (always next Tuesday at 8 a.m. Pacific) and my LinkedIn blog, in order to convey my expanded thoughts on the subject.

Note: Some of those folks who asked me about the "formed opinion" advocacy won’t even see what I have written here or know that I expanded on my answer for them. Because no matter what you do, you aren't going to reach everybody regardless of the platforms you choose to message on. Even if they are typically paying attention to you.

Which adds leverage to my point: Whatever you are doing for marketing, whatever platforms you message on, whoever you target, it is never enough. Not until they form an opinion on what you are selling. Then, you've got them, only as long as you decide to also keep them.

Marketing Failures Start At Limiting Brand Opinions

The problem with people attempting to market or sell is that they aren't willing to allow people to generate an opinion on their brand. They passively market. They think what they are doing is "enough." They believe that they are hitting their audience absolutely by doing a single message platform that they also personally respond to. They get a lukewarm or lackluster response for a lot of wasted effort. And that’s why they generally fail at marketing to enough people.

It isn’t just the platform, it’s the ability to have your prospects or consumers form an opinion on your product or brand. You have to force them into making a clear choice, whether they like or dislike your brand or product, but it is still a set position that they have to be put in by your marketing efforts. That comes from hitting them constantly, in various different media, platforms, etc, with your brand message. Switching up the message to suit each platform, but constantly forcing them to decide. Do I like this, or do I not? You haven't done anything until the recipients of your brand or product are ready to either sick of the message or pound their chest to advocate for it.

And until you reach a line of demarcation, you haven’t done diddly for marketing your product or brand effectively. And once you hit that line, you need to keep hitting them, so that they constantly make that choice again along without forgetting about you.

The TV show Cheers did a great episode on marketing, where a hack jingle writer uses a basic song that everyone knows that allows them to form an opinion on a brand.

Forget how many Facebook likes you generate, how many Twitter followers, LinkedIn connections, or the reach of your local newspaper’s subscriptions. It doesn’t matter how many viewers that the local or regional television station says you are hitting. Because until you are on all of these mediums, as much as possible, you aren’t doing enough. And even if you are, until your recipients form an opinion on what you are selling, you are providing nothing but white noise advertising.

Why?

Because “no one knows” about your product until they basically are sick of it. Even if they love it.

Think of that hit song such as the macarena or gangnam style or any Katy Perry song. Everyone has a formed opinion on them. And they reached such an epicenter of fandom that they overwhelmed their audiences and became trends. Until this point, you are never done marketing. And even after this point, you need to come up with the next product in order retain those folks who came over for the last product you were selling. It's the Apple theory that continually works. Hit critical mass, but always have the next product waiting that they will want more.

No One Knows Your Product Exists Until They Form An Opinion On It

You may think people know what you are selling, but they do not. Ever. They are tuned into themselves. They may have only a small bit of their time to devote to something, that could be you or it could be something else. And until you get them to a point where they have a formed opinion on your product or brand; want to either bitch or praise your product or brand with that opinion to others; and are consumed by your product or brand to where they ignore all other similar products or brands in favor of focusing on specifically what you are selling, your marketing hasn’t done anything.

Case in point: I have a person who reads my Facebook feed. After several months of blasting out messages, videos, and pictures regarding the Lacey Pocket Gophers Football Club, our mascots in the community, etc., I sat next to him at a board meeting two weeks ago that I attended to promote the club. He was the first person to ask “What are the Lacey Pocket Gophers?” His question showcased that he wasn’t paying attention at all to my constantly marketing. My marketing had not reached him enough to create an opinion. Or even to be relevant. And simply because he was on the same platform as me (Facebook) doesn’t mean he retained or acknowledged anything of what he saw.

This is why it is wrong to assume that everybody “knows” about your product simply because your brand amassed a ton of hits, likes or views on one social media platform. Great, you made a TV spot or you were on a TV newscast. That’s not enough. Not as many people saw it as you hoped. And even if they did, their attention dropped away the second anything else came up to dominate their focus. You need to make the assumption that your marketing is never receiving enough attention and love for your product or brand can be easily lost, much in the same way that a talented child actor can never do enough to please that driven stage parent who pushes them to every audition.

The only way to push your prospective consumers into buying your product or brand is by making them generate an actual choice on what your product or brand is all about. They have to have a formed opinion. They need to regurgitate your brand. Even if they absolutely hate it, they are still thinking about your brand or product. And you are, at all times, fighting for their attention. It never stops. The moment it stops, your product or brand is irrelevant again. And its a tougher fight to get back to the top of mind.

Notice the national U.S. political system currently. Even if you didn’t vote, or didn’t vote for them, you still have a formed opinion on the major candidates who ran for U.S. President in 2016.

Because they are constantly hitting you with new messaging, even in 2018, that sucks the air out of the room for everyone else.

This is what your product or brand should be doing. If you cannot suck away all of the air from the room, be at the top of mind for all conversations regardless of whether you are present or not, you aren't marketing enough. Pacing yourself is for fools and people with zero job accountability toward success or failure. Don't fall victim to the assumption that you are ever doing enough. Dominate every component of attention that you can get. Otherwise, you will be failing at marketing in general.

Notice, you don’t hear about any other candidate or potential candidate who might run for 2020 for more than a few seconds. Then, they drop out of sight back into irrelevancy. Because they cannot keep up with the lack of oxygen in the room. The "a players" of the 2016 U.S. Presidential campaign refuse to get off of the stage, regardless of if they won or lost and they aren't giving up the microphone to to a "b player" who wants their turn on stage. Never give up the mic until they rip it from your hands. And if they somehow manage to get the mic, you had better be willing to fight to get it back.

All of these "upcoming" candidates have failed to be aggressive enough. That's why they are "b players" in an "a player" game. They don't understand that marketing is now a knock-out, drag-out, bloody, street fight for attention. They have fallen victim to “big splash” marketing or the single "press release" mentality, which is the old school of thought. That doesn’t work anymore. The new normal is formed opinion on a brand, good or bad.

Trump associate Sam Nunberg held the attention of every media outlet for one day on March 5, 2018. Saying outrageous things. Outlandish claims. And 23 days later, he's irrelevant. Think of how hard it is to keep the attention of the public. He basically ran around FOX News, MSNBC, CNN and every other media outlet with his hair on fire, had the full attention of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and yet, this is probably the first time some of you reading this have even heard his name or don't even understand the relevance. Because as big of a splash as Nunberg made, no one really has a formed opinion on him. He's a "b player," unlike his former boss, who is an "a player," who can absolutely change public messaging narratives with a tweet, which he does on a constant basis.

This is marketing in the new normal. Even if you go "meta-level" Marvel Comics new movie release splash, you may only be important or top of mind for a few weekends or two. The Black Panther surprised a lot of Hollywood by now becoming the top grossing Marvel movie in the history of the U.S. Box Office. Wait until the Avengers Infinity War comes out April 27. Or the next one after that. Or the next one after that. There is always something fresh and new to dominate the attention. The only thing that protects some of these products is a formed opinion.

Stop Marketing As If It's 1994 or 1982

Too often, old school marketers attempt “passive marketing” which is essentially making a “big splash” effort. They will get one newspaper article, expecting the same attention that it would have received in 1994. Doesn’t work that way. A lot of seniors read the newspaper, but even they might not react to it. A radio interview may have been great in 1982. Now, it may be background noise if no one is paying attention.

This is not to suggest that social media platforms are king. They have the eyeballs to a certain degree, but marketers fall victim to the idea of reach over reaction. A quick hit is too easily forgotten. It also comes to length of the article as well, and whether readers will read past 600 words even if it is relatable to them… if you’re reading to this point, congrats, you got to 1,500+ words, and may be only 10 percent of the audience who started the article in the first place. Maybe even less than that.

My point, exactly.

But you've got an opinion formed on my brand. So therefore, my marketing to you worked. As long as it holds until the next thing grabs your attention. Now, to get the rest of them forming an opinion on my brand as well.

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Sports business consultant Troy Kirby has helped generate revenue for three college athletic departments and professional teams. Owner of The Tao of Sports, which focuses on Sports Sales & Revenue Analytics, Kirby has interviewed over 600 sports executives for a three-times per week podcast and writes daily about sports business, including the secondary market. Founder/former President of NAATSO, the only college ticket association, as well as the creator of The Sport Sales Boot Camp. Kirby is also a frequent contributor to The Association of Luxury Suite Director's quarterly publication, SEAT Magazine, and former editor of the late website, Ticketing Today.