FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE
Don’t Market Another Boring Brand
Think you have a boring product? Think differently. If you have a product that is considered boring by others, you are probably right (and not alone). Unless you are advertising the latest and greatest technology, weight loss secret, or some sort of beauty fad, you probably don’t have a huge following. This gets even tougher for brands that specialize in niche products including finance, manufacturing, and this (which is surprisingly popular in Asia). But think about it. What you consider boring has to serve a purpose, otherwise you wouldn’t have a brand, let alone a company to support your brand. I guarantee your company wouldn’t be in business if your product didn’t offer some value to someone, somewhere in the world. If it’s not already in front of your nose, you just have to find what that value is. It’s often closer than you think.
What makes a product boring?
A boring product is simply one that doesn’t have a direction, and therefore, no following. But just because you don’t have a following (digital or retail), doesn’t mean you are boring. It may just be that people don’t know about your product.
If you feel that your product is as risk for being boring, create a value proposition for your product. What is the problem that your product solves? Find your product’s value and begin to market that in a way that others begin to find similar value. Do some research to find those that have a need for your product and will, moreover, pay money to have it. Find what sets you apart and what makes you different, or what I like to call, pizzazz.
Each of the brands and products listed above bring a certain pizazz to their marketplace. Taylor brings pop hits and catchy lyrics to country music, her cats bring a look inside Taylor’s life to her fans, Apple brings cutting edge technology to the world, Amazon brings one of the largest virtual shopping malls (including drone delivery) to the internet, and ShamWow is magic for cleaning up those big messes.
If your product solves a problem with pizzazz, congrats. The hard work is done. Now all you have to do is market it.
What makes a boring company?
“Me… boring? How rude!”
Think about yourself as the company you’d consider boring. You obviously aren’t boring – you probably have a fantastic social life, plans for the weekend, hobbies and passions. So do successful companies with potentially boring products. They have great clients and employees, plans for expanding departments and branches, and innovative ideas for the future.
Conversely, a boring company has no drive and vision for the future. The company doesn’t invest in its employees, sees them as bodies to fill positions, and often times doesn’t even realize the value in employing the right people for the right jobs. This company probably has a lackluster company culture or one that is not positive. Internal problems are then reflected by boring and obscure products. It doesn’t see a project through from start to finish. Because of its lack of innovation and focus, this company and the product probably won’t be along for many years to come. (If you are working at the company I just described above, get out quickly.)
If your company has a strong company culture and loyal employees, advertise that along with your product. After all, it’s about the whole package, not just what’s inside the box. As long as your packaging and product don’t compete or conflict, sell the product as an extension of the amazing company it (and you) represents.
Work with what you have.
Be you. Be different. Do what you do and be convinced that you do it the best. That’s enough. Just remember to have confidence in what you do and the product(s) you sell. People can smell a lack of confidence or excitement a mile away. If you convey passion about your product, you are destined to spread passion about it and create a following, one interested and engaged customer at a time.
How?
Instead of branding your seemingly lame product, advertise your company, mission, vision, and future plans. Don’t let your product define you. Take what you know works for the company and apply it to your branded product.
Engage your customers on Social Media and create email campaigns catering to their needs. Stand in your ultimate customer’s shoes. Answer his or her questions and troubleshoot his or her problems with solutions (double points if that solution is your product).
Create a campaign that incorporates your brand and/or product with current popular events. Research the latest and greatest trends and find a way to become a part of the conversation. Take RIX Industries for example. During the month of May, RIX created a campaign for #PetMonth by posting daily photos of #RIXPets – real pets of real company employees. 
It was a simple, yet effective way to reach new followers online (and it also gave internal employees something to get excited about).
For a great opinion piece of how potentially boring products have been branded to advertise in an engaging manner, check out this article. http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2015/04/13/boring-brands-can-crush-social-media-and-5-other-things-you-can-learn-from-3m/
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Don’t Market Another Boring Brand appeared first on
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