After the photo on the blog yesterday regular reader Karine wrote in the comments “But, isn’t there a risk here as far as your credibility is concerned? I know no risk, no gain, but still. This is a professional blog, isn’t it? So, what does YOUR market think?”
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Hi Karine
Hope you are well. It’s a very, very tricky issue when you do something even slightly off centre.
As a quick example, I wrote a small article in the SitePoint Tribune newsletter about a study that found overweight people are discriminated against at work.
They get less promotion, etc and a decent % of people in the study said they don’t respect overweight people. It wasn’t me saying it of course, I just mentioned the study and the findings.
I wrote it as a heads up to let people know that others don’t always make decisions based on what they probably should.
(To read something similar, but a lot more articulately than I can put here, check out Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘Blink’.)
Anyway, I received more email for that article than any other article I’d ever written. The vast majority was critical – such as “How dare you say that you pig.” (even though I said it was a study.)
What Happens Next
So yes, there is a risk. But the risk isn’t as big as it might appear when you do something controversial (rather than truly offensive) because many people are drawn to controversy. They want to see what happens next.
With something like this on my blog I don’t think it causes any loss of credibility. My whole strategy comes from thinking differently and trying to develop strategies that stand out within the market (I wanted this to be an example of what others could use more than a marketing strategy for this blog).
Controversy, being a little offensive (think of your local radio shock jocks) and just being different works as a marketing strategy…..But it can be a fine line to tread.
Cheers
Thanks for your answer, Brendon.
I guess the line between what’s controversial and offensive is sometimes too thin to use controversy in a business settings without any drawbacks (it is also probably cultural, you know, a bit like humour that doesn’t transfer to another country/culture).
But, you definitely have a very good point. Keep up the good work!
After reading Anon’s comment above Brendan responded (see the above comment).
After reading the posts and thinking about it I think Anon’s comments are totally insane.
What he wrote is completely illogical.
Anon said:
“the addition of the photo the other day reduced my perception of your credibility simply because it was rather unprofessional”
All brendan did was put the photo up there to stimulate some thinking about the role of controversy in marketing.
He put it up there and said “Heh, look at this controversial photo. Let’s talk about when people do this.”
It wasn’t put up there as a marketing strategy. It was put up there to say “Some people use this sort of thing as a marketing strategy. Here are the pros and cons of doing it.”
So on reflection Anon, I think what you said is complete and utter nonsense.
If it reduces Brendan’s credibility in your eyes then your thinking is irrational.
Why? Because he drew your attention to a marketing technique with an example?
Talk about shooting the messenger!
That’s political correctness gone crazy.
Hello,
“Anon” here. Let me give you my usual screen name: Kat.
First, I’d like to thank Brendon for his thoughtful response. I particularly liked this comment:
“But as an experienced marketer I know that the benefits usually far outweigh the negatives”
This made me realize that as a marketer, perhaps the goal isn’t necessarily to please everyone – just everyone in your target market.
Another commenter, whom I’ll dub “Anonymous 2.” said this:
“After reading the posts and thinking about it I think Anon’s comments are totally insane.
What he wrote is completely illogical.”
First, let me clarify that I’m not a he. I’m a woman and I think that may shed some light on my comments.
Second, while Brendon’s photo has certainly stirred up discussion, as a woman, I’m just not that thrilled about the photo. And as the writer of a female oriented business blog, I just didn’t want to recommend Brendon’s site and have my visitors be greeted with that post. Perhaps I’ll recommend his site when It’s off the front page…
Third, I have to disagree with this statement posted by Anonymous 2:
“It wasn’t put up there as a marketing strategy…”
True, it may not have been intended as a marketing strategy, but I believe that everything that has your name on it is part of your marketing strategy.
Thank you Brendon for provoking such thoughtful discussion. Let me know when that photo is off the front page… 🙂