“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
– Mark Twain
My Take: Is this really true anymore? We’ve all heard the stories of a bygone era when mediocre products were made popular because of advertising. But does it work that way anymore?
I want to say no. I want to say that only great products make it these days, and they’re only supported by advertising and marketing communication.
But I don’t think we’re quite there yet. We’re closer, but I think mastery of the tactic can and will always be able to propel the mediocre, at least in the short-term.
What do you think? What examples can you think of when the medium is what makes the product?
This post is part of the weekly series Marketing Quotes by Marketing Greats, posted every Thursday at MarketingInProgress.com (beginning January 1, 2009). Read them all here.
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Brett,
Two “medium” stories come to mind. Okay, they may not be traditional mediums but here you go.
What until your baby grows up and you both go to the grocery store. I don’t know what it is about those darn bubblegum and crappy trinket machines by the front doors, but they must emit some kind of mind altering ray that preys on the less than 3 foot tall human-folk and makes them beg beyond reason. The $.50 is not for the quickly-discarded, crappy toy as it is about the chance to crank a shiny knob.
Now one story about the taller than 3 foot human-folk. Remember when the iPhone first came out? There were basically two places you could get it – The Apple stores and the AT&T stores. Full grown adults camped out on pavement in front of the Apple stores while the AT&T stores remained relatively quiet. The stiff back from lying the pavement and the battle scars from the door rush was all part of the story. Sure the iPhone was the same in both places, but the Apple store “medium” was what made the phone a little more glorified.
Bill – OK, the “chance to crank a shiny knob” has got me thinking. I feel another blog post coming on. I mean, how often is the real thrill in what we have to do to get something, and not actually the thing itself?
Apple seems to make everything better, don’t they? I remember the campouts. There’s actually two mediums worth noting here: Apple’s store environment vs. AT&T’s (“geniuses” vs. telecom reps) and the lines outside each store. Apple’s environment and lines made you think you were stupid for not checking it out.
Of course, the iPhone is also one of the best products ever invented, so that helped, too.