The Marketing Courtship Process

While John is away, Skyon, a master marketing pick-up artist, will be sharing his provocative approach to attracting customers and earning transactions from them.

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Let’s recap. Marketing is more similar than dissimilar to the craft of a Pick-Up Artist. (Yeah, I know … this sounds odd, but it rings truer than most of us marketers care to admit.)

Seducing customers usually results in a one-night brand stand. (The walk-of-shame comes into play here disguised as “Buyer’s Remorse.”)

To gain a customer, a brand must be willing to lose a customer. (This is simply a provocative way of saying brands must have a strong point view and if that strong point of view turns off some customers … so be it, because it will conversely turn on some customers.)

And we’ve also learned that too many marketers think pick-up lines work. (Wrong. Pick-up lines in advertising only make brand look desperate just as pick-up lines make bar flies look desperate.)

What does work you ask. Well, what works is following the Marketing Courtship Process of ATTRACTION >> CONNECTION >> TRANSACTION.

To develop a transactional relationship with a customer a brand must first attract the attention of a customer and then start building a connection with a customer. From there, only after solidly building a connection with a customer will a brand earn a transaction from a customer. (The catchy acronym for all this is A.C.T. – Attraction | Connection | Transaction.)

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IMPORTANT NOTE: This Marketing Courtship Process works to develop a long-term transactional relationship lasting a few years. It doesn’t work to develop a life-long transactional relationship with customers. You see, I do not believe life-long brand loyalty exists. Think about it. How many brands are you LOYAL to for life? Don’t kid yourself by saying you are brand loyal to anything, cause chances are, you ain’t.

When I was in my early 20s, I thought I was loyal-for-life to Tommy Hilfiger. Nope. I’ve since moved on. In my late 20s I thought I was loyal-for-life to Met-Rx. Nope, I’ve since moved on. In my 30s, I thought that I was loyal-for-life to Hewlett-Packard. Nope, I’ve since moved on.

We marketers need to get real. Brand loyalty-for-life rarely happens, if ever. Instead, we need to be happy with brand loyalty lasting for a few years. You with me?

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So this ACT Marketing Courtship Process sounds simple, but it’s tough to do, Let’s break this down.

ATTRACTION
We’ve already touched upon how to attract the attention of customers. Brands must be interesting to get customers interested. However, brands must follow-through on the image they project through marketing with the buying experience customers go through.

The challenge we marketers face is the issue of Congruence. The style a brand displays when attracting customers must be congruent with how customers interact with the brand during all touch-points. If a brand marketing style isn’t congruent with their business style, incongruence develops and attraction will not happen.

Take Wendy’s. Their current Red Wig gambit of outlandish advertising is incongruent with its business style. When you experience Wendy’s, do you see this offbeat personality exhibited inside its locations? Nope, you don’t.

Apple is congruent with all its attraction-getting marketing moves. It’s advertising style is congruent with its business style. Customers are genuinely attracted to Apple because what customers see, they experience. From the packaging, to the signage, to the interaction with Apple employees, Apple follows through on what its marketing promises through its actions.

CONNECTION
It is not enough for a customer to be attracted to a brand. The customer must become invested in the conversation because the more time a customer spends interacting with a brand, the more likely that customers will want to begin a transactional relationship.

My advice? Be playful, be challenging, and be unpredictably predictable.

Be a playful brand. Customers do not want their brands to take themselves too serious. (Think ESPN’s long-running advertising campaign.)

Be a challenging brand. Customers want to tango, they want a give and take relationship and not one-sided take relationship. (Think Whole Foods Market. It ain’t easy to shop there because the brands they sell are so different. Try buying chips and salsa and you’ll be hard-pressed to recognize a brand. Yet, we welcome this challenge.)

Be a predictably unpredictable brand. Customers are turned off by complacent brands. They value brands that are willing to take calculated risks. (Think Starbucks and their recent iTunes in-store marketing program—unexpected, but cool.)

TRANSACTION
The result of first capturing attention with customers and then building a connection with them is the earning of a transactional relationship.

That’s the Marketing Courtship Process. However, I see far too many marketers mess up this sequencing process. More to come in the next post.

** END OF PART FOUR **

Comments

[Darrin Dickey]

"Take Wendy’s. Their current Red Wig gambit of outlandish advertising is incongruent with its business style."

It also strikes me as a half-hearted (half-witted?) attempted rip-off of CP&B's Burger King "Creepy King" commercials.

[Skyon]

@Darren--sure does feel like a BK rip-off except BK followed-up with unique product offereing. Wendy's hasn't. Wendy's boring food style doesn't match its outlandish marketing style.

[Epic Living]

Great post! The length of time for brand loyalty resonates. Humans, and the corporations they slave for, tend to believe in brand loyalty that lasts forever. It's just not so.

Chnaging our mindset to a shorter window is right on. We might even strengthen our focus and resolve along the way too.

[Branding Blog]

I really like what you have to say, although "Marketing Pick Up Artisit"?

I've posted some comments on our blog on your post. Check it out:

http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress/?p=328

[Bill Gammell]

Skyon,

I've enjoyed the series thus far. My wife used to call what you have deemed as “the-walk-of-shame” as the “shower of manifestations” – in the shower the next morning it was manifest to you just how dumb you were (suddenly I'm wondering if my wife came up with this before we dated or during our courtship. Hopefully it is not named after me!)

I'll check out your ideas on the next post.

[Justin Kownacki]

Great post -- you hit the nail on the head repeatedly. I actually enjoy the offbeat Wendy's ads for the Baconator, but you're right that the invitation doesn't match the experience.

Does that make Wendy's a tease?

[Skyon]

@Justin--Wendy's is indeed a tease. They are so trying to look the part, but they ain't following through by acting the part. As you said, Wendy's "invitation doesn't match the experience." Well said Bro.

[Steve McWhat]

I've been reading pick-up since the VH1 show. it's been interesting to say the least. Mystery's approach is quite rational, which is why it's so successful for marketing purposes. The "issue" is that it's overly marketed.

The best site for pick-up related material is either http://www.BecomingAPUA.com or Mystery's Venusian Arts.

[Josh]

Albeit, most brand loyalty doesn't occur for life, but in some cases it can.

I've been using Apple products since my dad brought a Mac home before I was born. I have no doubt that I'll be using Apple products until the brand itself is gone.

Some people (not me), are lifelong VW drivers, Ford drivers (although not enough to keep the company afloat), and Chevy drivers.

It really is contingent on the product and brand itself.

[Internet Attraction Marketing]

Thanks for the tips. I like what you have to say totally makes sense.

[PUA]

ATTRACTION >> CONNECTION >> TRANSACTION

just as

ATTRACTION >> COMFORT >> SEDUCTION