Do you have a 'boring' business and struggle to create engaging marketing?
The thing about a boring business is that they don’t have to exist. And as far as I’m concerned, they shouldn’t. Boredom is absolutely toxic to the human mind and how it behaves. It not only makes us susceptible to depression, anxiety, anger and poor work performance but it can swiftly make us feel agitated and want to run a million miles in the opposite direction.
So when we think of a business that has slumped into the realm of being boring it’s not hard to see the devastating effects it can have on staff and customer communication.
There’s always a way to make it interesting.
Even the most tedius jobs can be improved with a little injection of interest. Take this scenario for example, you are applying for two jobs as part of a recycling sorting line. It’s repetative, un-engaging and well… a bit boring.
One company is offering nothing but the job, it is what it is, you clock in, stand here for 7 hours a day sorting recycling then you clock out. The other job is exactly the same, 7 hours a day sorting recycling. But there’s a few differences. The second company cranks music while you work. Every now and then they send rewards down the line, maybe extra break tickets. They even have impromtue stretch routines and a healthy lunch bar. All of these things make the ‘boring’ job more interesting by adding more layers which disguise the mundane aspect of the job.
Which one would you pick?
Again, it comes down to a matter of which one you would pick. Put yourself in your audiences shoes, you’re faced with two brands, both do pretty much the same thing — which one do you pick? You pick the one that shows some sort of edge over the other. It could be the logo, the copy or the packaging. Anything that makes it stand out in a line up.
Interestingly enough, being in an industry that doesnt scream excitment is the easiest place to stand out. Take accounting or lawyer firms for example.
Typically, very serious, professional and more or less look and act in very similar ways. This is the perfect scenario for a business to take advantage of the category. You don’t have to be goofy or unprofessional but you could just change one aspect like your language and it would be obvious to your clients that you operate differently. Making the decision much easier.
Take a look at the image below, if there’s a certain look, feel and personality that we think certain industries must fit, this is what your potential clients are looking at when they try and find you. It’s hard, overwhelming and makes the decision process super difficult.
Turning boring into interesting can be relatively simple. It has to be unique in the category. If your category is super loud and in your face, maybe a more simple (even boring) approach is your strategy.
Remember, you don’t have to create a circus show to be different. You just need to find your unique spin.
Below a re a few brand strategies that can help:
Your name - While it’s not always a good idea to change a longstanding name, it is a great way to immediately establish a point of difference. Explore the fun, the alluring, the rymes and everything in between. Maybe it relates to the way you do business or maybe it’s the name of your first cat. The most important rule of all is to not follow the formula of your competitors. If it’s tempting because it seems to be working for them, chances are it will do the opposite for you.
Your Language - This is huge, language can set businesses apart very quickly for competitors. Using your own language not only establishes confidence but it also invites your audience in on a more personal level. Assuming you have done your audience research — talk to them like they talk to you. Connecting through a vocabulary list is a big oversight many businesses can make.
Your identity - This is one most people will be familiar with. This does what the title says. It’s your indentifier, it’s made up of your logos, fonts, colours and images. It’s how people recognise you. Imagine a world where we all had the same face. Meeting for dinner would be a nightmare.
Tone of voice - Similar to language, your tone of voice is the vibe you give off. This can be done through everything from your name, logo, colours, copy and images. You need a clear brand strategy to make this work. If your confused, your audience is 100x more confused.
This is one of my favourites. In the world of perfect chins, and formula 1’s DSC came out and did something so perfectly different it was an insane success.
Not to mention it’s launch video has been viewed a whopping 27m times at the time of this article. We’ve all seen the Mach10's and Turbo1000’s from Schick but check out the video introducing the Dollar Shave Club.
This another one of my favourites. We all know how boring insurance can be, it’s something that people hate setting up and sorting out. But Geicko have flipped the feeling of a super tedius task and keep on making hilarious ads to entertain and keep people smiling. Check out this video to see what I mean. I highly ecourage you to watch more.
This spins the idea the other way. There’s an explosion of non dairy milks at the moment here in NZ, most of which try and be very fun, quirky and organic-y. But Boring Oat Milk decided to go the other way. Calling it Boring, with boring packaging and boring design. It worked because it was different.
So confusingly, in this case, being boring was the more interesting approach in the category.
In conclusion, you don’t have to walk on your hands to be interesting. Get to know your audience, explore and find your spin to the category and double down on it. This will get noticed, and you will be remembered.
