Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable Word of Mouth Movements

Chapter 1. Movements Aren't about the Product Conversation; They're about the Passion Conversation

Dear marketers: You've been brainwashed.

It's not your fault. It's the industry's fault. The four Ps. The unique selling proposition. The out-of-the-box approaches. Jeez. We've been preprogrammed to follow the processes that everyone else follows (even though we all call it something different), crank out the same work, enter the same award shows—and then complain about how our clients don't let us do any good work.

But the biggest thing we've been brainwashed to do is talk. A lot. About ourselves, our company, and our product. We talk about benefits. Enhancements. Upgrades—God, the upgrades. How much we care about you, and how our customer satisfaction is the highest around. Talk. Talk. Talk. Blah. Blah. Blah. Me. Me. Me. And then we get turned down and go back to the drawing board to try a different approach.

It's hard not to talk about yourself first, or try to make it all about your product and service. After all, that's what you get paid to do. However, talking about yourself won't make others talk about you. As Tribal Knowledge author John Moore puts it, "Buzz does not create evangelists; evangelists create buzz."

So you have to ask yourself, is it really all about you? Or is it about others?

THE NEW PERSPECTIVE

There once was a local charity golf tournament where a putting contest was ...