There’s a huge difference between marketing an average product and baking marketing into a product. One needs to be marketed relentlessly to drive sales. The other doesn’t. In fact, people will market the product or service for you.
[NOTE: You can find out how to bake marketing into a product, service or business, here.]
Brand ambassadors
I was approached by a large computer manufacturer last week. They want me to be a brand ambassador for their new ultraportable notebooks. I was offered a ‘free’ $1900 notebook, plus access to some conferences and exhibitions. All I had to do, was share how amazing their hardware is with my readers and those who connect with me on social networks. I thanked them, but declined.
Earlier that same day, I was sitting in a coffee shop editing an article on my creative thinking website, which included the above photo. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll see that same brand of computer appears on the background image of my Twitter account.
Not only didn’t Apple pay me, I’ve paid them thousands to buy the 3 Macs I use. No one at Apple asked me to be an ambassador for their brand either. They didn’t need to.
Here’s the thing
When your product or service is just another (whatever), you need to push it to promote it. When your product has marketing baked in, people push it for you.
Moreover, they do it eagerly and without being paid.