One of the most important messages from the recent xPotomac conference came in the opening keynote. 
Vanessa Fox, founder of Nine By Blue, stressed that the future of digital search is tied to the ability to break people’s habits.
Case in point: Google is a habit. It’s synonymous with online search. Hell, it’s even in the dictionary!
Yahoo, Bing and the rest all lag behind. Far behind.
As marketers, our job is to disrupt habits (or positively reinforce habits…we can be a very confusing sort) to get more attention, clicks, downloads, purchases, traffic, etc., for our clients.
One of my favorite “disruption” quotes comes from the classic movie “They Live,” where the main character, played by “Rowdy” Roddy Piper interrupts an alien invasion (just go with it) by saying, “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubblegum.”
There is no doubt that he is all business and has every intention of getting his way.
You, too, can kick ass in marketing (bubblegum chewing optional).
3 Keys to Disruption in Marketing
1. Be Bold.
It’s hard to make a statement if you’re talking to yourself in the corner. Think about Lady Gaga. Does she do ANYTHING without giving it 100% (even if it’s 100% insanity)? No. Meat dresses, intoxicating hooks, undying passion for her fans. Nothing she does feels hidden…and you can’t NOT pay attention to her.
2. Be Opportunistic.
In 2008, coming out of a TV writer’s strike and entering a painful recession, one product saw explosive sales: The Snuggie. With TV ad costs falling, a low-budget two-minute commercial for the Snuggie was seen at rates well above the usual infomercial fare. The result? 4 million units sold in six months.
3. Be Different.
You can’t disrupt the status quo by just being bold and opportunistic. You must present some measure of uniqueness. If you don’t, you’re just a copycat. Netflix, for example, greatly disrupted the video rental industry. The catch wasn’t that the content they had (at least at first) was all that different than what Blockbuster or Hollywood Video presented. The difference was that instead of you going to them, they would come to you. World changed.
What else can you do to disrupt people’s purchasing and usage habits?
(Mar…
