Why I Posted A Half-Naked Picture of Myself With My Company's Logo On It On Facebook & Twitter
If you're reading this, then it's very likely that I reached your attention (maybe twice now :), potentially created a visceral emotional reaction, and maybe even offended you. But at what cost, did it communicate the right message, and how many people still didn't care or even noticed that it happened? I mean, the picture was only up for 24 hours, from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon.
Noise
Did you know that in 1950 people were bombarded by approximatley 500 ads per day, but today that number's skyrocketed to over 5,000? How in the hell do you or your company plan to stand out in a sea of noise so loud, it drowns out everything but iPads, Google +, reality TV and US Weekly?
You can't. Unless you spend millions of dollars in advertising or build the next iPhone. Or, you do something shocking.
Billboards In Times Square
Imagine if this picture was on a billboard in Times Square in New York City. Would you notice it? Would you wonder what Evolyte does? Would you go through the tremendous effort of pulling out your phone and Googling it?
In the mid 80s when Tommy Hilfiger wanted to launch his brand, he needed great ads to get him there. He turned to George Lois, who had just previously created spectacular ads for MTV, including the shocking "I Want My MTV" grassroots campaign that played for one day and made the networks pick up the fledging channel. Lois created the ad you see above. He was also the advertising mastermind behind Jiffy Lube, ESPN, Esquire, Reebok, etc. Basically the biggest brands that are still in existence today was solely because of this man's ads. If you do nothing else, click through to his website and read everything in his portfolio 20 times.
This ad, plus another one which instead of the “fill-in-the-blanks” had pictures were horrific. They instigated. Lois created ads like these because if Tommy wanted to raise his profile with less aggressive ads, he would need millions of dollars. These ads ran it home, quickly. Lois loved making things that first horrified you and then you saw that they were above the noise. Tommy said that because these ads represented Tommy as a great in fashion, he forced himself to work harder to make sure he lived up to the title that his ads said he had.
The success happened right away. It created the billion dollar company that exists today.
I heard George say something in an interview that stuck with me: "Don't study losing, unless you want to lose. If you want to win, study winners". Did you know Tommy Hilfiger was absolutely embarrassed by the cockiness expressed in these ads, but also got him on the tonight show and on the lips of the fashion elite in New York City overnight. I think we can all agree that the brand is now internationally known, and is even making a comeback.
So What Was The Result?
Let's look at a couple quotes I received from people bold enough to even make a comment:
Do you know how many people texted me saying, "What the hell is Sean thinking posting that?". Do you really want to be known as being cocky?
Wow you are such a fucking hyprocite Sean. I refuse to be around arrogant people who are highly insecure.
Yep, I basically destroyed a few personal relationships to make a point about my company, Evolyte, and create marketing messages. If there's one thing you need to know about me, it's that I'm willing to jeapordize my personal reputation in order to FINALLY get you to recognize something I've been saying for years:
- Marketing Tip of the Day: create double takes
- Marketing Tip of the Day: shock and awe
- Marketing Tip of the Day: create visceral emotional reactions
So yes, my friends and loved ones think I'm arrogant, cocky, and hypocritical (because I hate people that post MySpace-esque profile pics of them in sexual pictures). But did it send a message about Evolyte and my own intensity? Do you think that if I tell you I can do a thing, that I can actually do THAT specific thing, and do it better than a competitor?
Did you know that the second most competitive business model on the internet, outside of Groupon, is web design? Have you ever seen another web design company post a picture like that? We also make iPhone apps and web apps. Do you know the #1 most asked question on the forum where all the developers of these apps hang out (i.e., Hacker News) is? "How do I launch or market my new website, business, iPhone app, etc?" It's always a marketing question. Doing the same ole shit is going to get you just that: shit.
The consumer market is the most crowded, competitive, intense industry in the business world. There are billions of websites and companies. And you know what?
There will only be about 10 people who actually read this post, and there are probably only another 20 that actually ever saw this picture. There's so much noise out there, even this didn't break through it. There's not enough fuel behind it and it's not broad enough. If people are too lazy to even click links in email, why would they click a link in one of your tweets out of billions?
What Does Noise Feel Like?
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That's about what 1,000 ads per day looks like. Now multiply that times 5 and see if you can find Evolyte in there just by briefly glancing in this direction. Now imagine that's a bunch of radio, TV, billboard, tweets, emails, texts, and Facebook status updates, but none of them are exactly the same and organized like the above.
Mission (NOT) accomplished. We have two iPhone apps launching in a few weeks. Do you think I'll get your attention then? Doubtful.
Of course, nobody said shit about the profile pictures I used before and after this one because, well, it's just more of the same old noise:
Think Different, Braveheart
If Apple taught us to Think Differently, then Braveheart taught us that sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for what you love and believe in. What happened to being bold, making some noise, and bucking the establishment? What happened to standing out from the crowd in a unique way?
So I'll make you a promise: I'm not going to stop taking calculated risks just because they're potentially dangerous.
I spent a few weeks thinking about whether I should post this picture, going back and forth, then after deciding, another few hours actually editing the image in Photoshop and adding the copy (which sucks by the way, and definitely needs some work).
But, if you don't live 10% outside your or your company's comfort zone, how can you expect to make an impact on this world, in your industry, or even in your company?
Evolyte is a professional services company with clients ranging from some of the most recognized brands in the world to small startups that haven't even launched yet. But, we don't talk about who we work with or post our portfolio online (check out the Evolyte Blog if you want to read why). That said, how are we supposed to communicate what we do and how we do it in a way that grabs your attention when we have no physical, tangible product? We don't have an iPod that we can throw an album cover on and say "We've got the Beatles: iPod".
So, we've got to be as creative in concept and messaging for ourselves as we do with our clients. Some, or maybe many, of you will not agree. Only time will tell...


