The best marketing effort in history
Marketing is so complex that it is a multi-billion industry comprised of think tanks and brilliant minds crunching numbers and studying buyer psychology, rendering effective campaigns that convert and generate revenue. But what if your business doesn’t have the tone of a major auto manufacturer, isn’t as dry as a national chain of mortgage lenders, and certainly not as reverent as any retailer you’ve ever seen? What if you draw online comics of stupid dogs and childhood stories with crudely drawn stick figures and a plethora of cuss words? How do you market to match the tone your audience has come to expect?
Artist and comedian Allie Brosh is well known for her website Hyperbole and a Half which comically addresses everything from her very personal battle with depression to what it’s like to have a learning disabled pet. The first time I visited the site, I lost an entire workday because I was sucked in and had to read every story she ever published on the site. Every. Story. It’s addictive and my abs hurt from laughing out loud and my social networks became fatigued with me quickly because I shared every story across every network the second I finished it.
But comedians are not typically equipped to jump into the role of marketer, because they never set out to put on a suit and pitch a product, no, they just want to share and make people laugh. Brosh has since began the process of publishing a book that will be released in October, and I imagine she was on the phone with her publisher who said, “okay, Allie, we need you to start spreading the good word about this work of art,” and her saying, “I thought you would tend to that,” and them saying, “of course, baby, we will, but we also need you to begin just getting the word out,” then they hung up and drove away in a Ferrari with slicked back hair while Ace of Base is playing. I don’t know, that’s just how it happened in my mind.
So Brosh took to her social networks to launch what I consider to be the best marketing effort in the history of ever, because it exactly matches the tone of her writing, doesn’t stray from her personal brand, and most of all, I dare you to not want to pre-order her book after just a sample of her “marketing effort” below (and more hilariousness can be found as she interacts with her Twitter fans @AllieBrosh). I also dare you not to want to be best friends with her forever and ever.
Warning: there is a giant cuss word below. You’ve been warned.
So when you consider your own marketing efforts, take a hint from Brosh and stick to your brand’s tone. If your brand is serious (you sell caskets or maybe like religious artifacts), let that be reflected in your marketing, because no one has nailed their brand’s tone better than what you see above.
