Disruptive Conversation: The Art of Cutting Through

“The problem with marketing is that it’s all crap.”

Marketers: Say that line and I guarantee you’ll have your listener’s attention.

Why? In part because, well, it’s partly true. While certainly, not all marketing is crap, so much of marketing is crap that some audiences perceive all marketing as unworthy unless it throttles our attention.

That line also commands attention because it takes a stand that is itself divorced from a product or entity claim or me-too advocacy. It is counter to what we think a marketer would say. It is an example of disruptive conversation.

Ear ye, Ear ye…

Have you ever said “Hello” to someone and heard the response “Fine.”? That’s the rote conditioning of a repetitious exchange that we go through dozens of times a day. The responder doesn’t even know that they’ve skipped a line.

And how memorable is this exchange normally?  “Hi, Ben, howya doin’?” “Fine.”

Is Ben fine? Does Ben even care? Chances are, I don’t. I anticipated his response and had my next card ready to play, regardless of what he actually said.

Disruptive conversation turns the conversation on its ear, or at least, on the listener’s ear. With disruptive conversation you hear what you didn’t expect. And you actually hear it because you didn’t expect to hear it.

It creates a pause, a mental construct, an image. It helps to brand and tickle. The brain wants to know what something isn’t, as much as what it is.

We are all familiar with disruptive technology, a new product, service or offering that redirects the status quo. Disruptive conversation aims to do the same thing: To reframe the perspective and move the dialog forward on different terms.

Why should Advertising Have All the Fun?

Advertising has had disruptive conversation in its arsenal for a while. Getting attention is more than half the battle in marketing, and advertisers know it. Budweiser gets it, using humor to articulate the lifestyle around its beer. Often, a Bud ad never mentions taste, calories, or point of origination. Instead, Budweiser makes us laugh, and we remember that we felt good.

Years ago my partner worked at a videogame company, Rocket Science Games, which became one of our first clients. The company thrived on controversy, and, as the Media told them, they “Gave Great Quote.”

If that sounds a little like something else that begins “We gave great…” well, know it was no less salacious.

When members of the media asked “How will you take this money and do something different?” The CEO answered, in effect, “We’ll either hit the moon shot, or we’ll be a smoking crater in 18 months.”

The media loved it. For them, Rocket Science Gave Great Copy. Readers loved it. It was ballsy. You could root for or against them—either way, it helped people want to take a stand. Rocket Science was about being smart, yes. But the fact that the company acknowledged they could screw it all up was disruptive—it was a hook that got people’s attention.

The media expects tech firms to pitch stories about solving problems. But they don’t necessarily welcome them.  Big deal. Why else would people buy the technology? Saving time equals saving money equals blah blah blah. It starts to feel like it’s not news. It becomes more of the same. Boring. Untrustworthy.

Risk but be Real

Once you tip the perspective, you change the perception. Make a bold claim and back it up. Take a risk – albeit a calculated one, but one that can pay off by showcasing your differentiation. If you can’t come up with one, you’re not thinking hard enough or looking at your offerings from enough angles.

Disruptive conversation exacts a cost: You must mean it when you say it. It’s not being controversial for the sake of attention—It’s poker with real life stakes, and when they call your bluff, you have to stand up with your integrity and be the difference that you want to make.

This shouldn’t be much of a stretch for tech firms. After all, being in the technology business has never been about being like the next guy. It’s been about doing something different, being the next thing, pushing boundaries and challenging assumptions.

So be disruptive. Be artful in your arguments. Find the differentiation that cuts you away from the competitive pack. At my firm, Summit Strategy Partners, we tested our ideas on disruptive conversation through dozens of conversations with clients, partners and press. We pushed our hypothesis out to tech firms, biotech, pharma, and services. We even experimented with our clients’ focus groups, and disruptive conversation has delivered a return they have appreciated. 

Summit Strategy Partners provides pro-bono marketing services to Kidzu: The Chapel Hill Children’s Museum. If you ask me about Kidzu, I may try to jog your attention with something disruptive such as: ”I don’t agree with Children’s Museums—I think it’s wrong to have kids on display in dioramas all day. They should be outside playing.”

Maybe you find it funny, maybe not. But I bet you’ll remember Kidzu.


Jacqueline ‘Jack’ Perez is Founder and Market Builder for Summit Strategy Partners, LLC, a Chapel Hill-based boutique strategic marketing and communications firm.  Jack helps companies align their marketing strategy to corporate objectives and uncover their Disruptive Conversation™.  She regularly publishes MarketingSmack – a fortnightly humorous blog on the Human Experience.

 

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