How to avoid bad marketing?

Switch off your phone.

Shut down the radio.

Throw out your TV.

Burn your magazines.

Lay in bed and don’t move.

And whatever you do — DO NOT GO OUT.

It’s everywhere. Always has been. The same generic ads. The same safe ideas. The same

forgettable content, multiplying like a virus across every platform.

But there’s an antidote.

Why weirdness works?

Because it is called originality. Originality sparks new neural connections in the brain, making ideas feel more exciting and memorable. From those new active connections the human gets most satisfied. That is why you like unexpected things or witty ideas you see in your daily life. Those are what matters. For you. For me. For everyone. Only with creativity can human grow and discover.

That’s what great brands do. They give people something creative — something worth remembering. And in return, they earn a place in people’s minds. When creating new ideas and crafting stories, attaching irrelevant things with already known concepts is vital ingredient for getting originality out. Some things will fail. Some will thrive.

But playing it safe guarantees failure.

What is relevant, unexpected and memorable?

Your grandmother telling a story at the dinner.

Your pet doing something ridiculous.

Your kids laughing at a frog for no reason.

What do these moments have in common? They feel real. They’re deeply human and worth remembering. They are part of your smile. Part of a story that is unfolding in front of every living person in the world. 

And that’s exactly what advertising should be.

We humans are storytellers by heart. That is how the knowledge from our ancestors is still alive by today. So attaching advertising with storytelling is the key to memorable content. 

The other challenge? Relevance. That is more challenging but doable as you need to understand basic psychology behind how the human brain. How the two sides, desire and permission plays together and gives instructions for the main ruler. You need to feed the inner monsters to get out an answer.

And nowadays the answer has 3-5 seconds to work.

Ridiculous idea!

Humor is the ultimate communication tool. It works across all cultures, all devices, channels and platforms around the planet. It doesn’t care about your industry or sexual orientation. It doesn’t require anything from you but to be open.

That is why the best things you remember makes you laugh or feel something. That's why best ads get shared. Nobody likes boring advertising. And yet, 90% of it is that porridge in the drain.

So look for the ridiculous ideas, jokes and happy accidents.

Those will lead you to the gold mine. 

What holds back in marketing?

The fear of being noticed. It lurks behind every bland banner, wannabe-viral video, stock image and even in your office. People are frightened about being noticed, because it can lead to pointing. But isn’t that the point? Nobody wants to be pointed at because it has the risk of failure. And damn we are so frightened about the risk.

Even if it is the only way to success.

Oh wait, I forgot one important thing, measuring, damn we also like the measuring and analyzing so much, there are all these cute small dots and their friends, we can hide behind all those graphs and charts so we don’t need to be brave. Of course companies need analytics and targeting and all that, but I refuse to accept it as an argument for skipping great marketing. There are exceptions in the crowd. Thank god.

Let’s make something bold.

Something ridiculous.

Something worth sharing.

Sincerely yours,