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Marketing boring products and Social objects

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Real Estate Agent

Please read this post on hugh macleod's blog, gapingvoid.com. Don't let the cartoon on the top throw you. It has nothing to do with the post.

 Excerpt:
"If your company wants to succeed, it needs to have a social object marketing plan.
Amen to that. But note what Chris also says:
I don't know about you, but when somebody walks by with an iPhone, I notice. If I see a kid stroll by me in some limited edition Nikes, that registers with me too.
Therein lies the rub. The Social Object idea is easy to get if your product is highly remarkable, highly sociable. An iPhone or the latest pair of Nike's are both fine examples of this.

But I can already hear your inner MBA saying, "Yeah, but what if you don't work for Nike or Apple? What if your product is boring home loans, auto insurance or... [the list of boring products is pretty long].

My standard answer to that is, "Social Gestures beget Social Objects."

Which is another way of saying, maybe the way you relate to somebody as a human being plays a part in all this. Maybe describing your product "boring" is just one more bullshit lie we tell ourselves in order to make the world seem less complicated and scary." Continue reading.

 

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Tracy Santrock
Santrock Realty Group Inc. , - Cary, NC
Raleigh - Cary Broker
Ok Jonathan how did you manage to get a coveted   This little bugger is running wild.
Nov 05, 2007 05:34 AM
Deborah Burns ~ Seattle Real Estate Agent
Realty Executives -BRIO - Seattle, WA

Interesting concept of "Social Objects", I had never heard of that before. 

I went to read Hugh's post and commented that:  

"Kimber is is right about the "boring" factor, that is a mental adjustment for the employee or service provider. 

Consumers want their choices validated by companies and service providers who believe and are enthusiastic about their product.  That belief and energy makes an outsider feel like an insider....
 

Exclusivity, or seeming "exclusivity" helps the consumer buy into the company or service provider. 

I think that is part of the reasoning behind developing "Raving Fans" of your product, or service."

That idea of Social Objects is interesting in terms of blogging.  As the "voice"of the blogger develops the "Fans" are attracted, the "club" is established, and you have your "Social Object"  

 

Nov 05, 2007 06:36 AM
Fran Gatti
RE/MAX Integrity - Medford, OR
Managing Principal Broker - RE/MAX Integrity

I enjoyed the post and gapingvoid.  I'm going to look around that blog a little more.  It's looks pretty interesting. 

I know that I talk up my market quite easily and with enthusiasm and it's contagious.  It helps that I live in a spectacularly beautiful area with unparalleled natural beauty.  I think it would be difficult if I lived in an area I truly didn't care for, but I guess the challenge in that instance would be to find something positive and talk that up.

 

Nov 07, 2007 02:11 AM
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