When it comes to marketing, positioning is everything.
To understand this, let's look at great stories first...
In stories, what makes characters interesting is not the character themselves.
It is a character's *relationship* to other characters that makes them interesting.
Is Batman, by himself, an interesting character? Not really.
But next to the Joker, Batman is VERY interesting.
You might even say there are no inherently interesting characters.
Only interesting relationships...
1. Walter White is interesting because of his relationship with Jesse and Hank
2. Neo is interesting because of his relationship with Trinity and Agent Smith
3. Don Draper is interesting because of Roger and Peggy
The RELATIONSHIP is what drives interest...
The same is true for business.
Tesla is boring in a world of warp speed personal space shuttles. But it's interesting relative to regular cars.
Amazon is boring in a world of on-demand 3D printing. But it's interesting relative to brick-and-mortar retailers.
What does this all mean for marketing?
It means you must understand the mind of your buyer—and your market.
Horseless carriages were compelling due to their (superior) relationship to horse-led carriages.
Tesla is compelling due to its (superior) relationship to regular cars.
In marketing, everything is contextual.
The most important question is not what does your product do—but what do your customer know?
Everything builds off of that.
Marketing is always an exercise in comparison. Make it a favorable one.
Conclusion:
1. The driver of interest in stories is not characters, but the relationship between characters 2. The same thing applies in business 3. Endeavor to understand what your customer knows 4. Marketing is, at its core, always a contextual exercise
Jeff Bezos banned PowerPoint at Amazon’s meetings in favor of narrative documents. He realizes the power of good writing and made it part of company culture.
Let’s look at why he did this and how strong writing
👉 Leads to clear thinking
👉 Which leads to excellent results.