Getting noticed isn't enough if your message repels people. Ugg's founder learned this when ads with models on surfboards flopped, but switching to semi-pro surfers the audience aspired to be drove sales. Differentiation works only when paired with genuine attraction to your target community.
As I was doing my research for Get Different, I looked into what's called the attractor factor. Now there's three elements of Get Different. The framework is this. It's dad, differentiate to get noticed, attract to engage, and then direct to compel. Well, when it comes to your prospects, once you get noticed, it must be attractive. You know, if it's something repulsive, they're going to turn away. So you can do an ad, for example, that is just comp covered with F bombs. That'll get noticed, perhaps because it's so extreme, but it may not resonate with your audience. Surely some audiences that appreciate that or that resonates with them, that's their lingo that will resonate. But if it's not, it may repel. So really understand what your audience is all about. I think the best example of this is when I was interviewing Brian Smith. He is the founder of Ugg and he was running advertisements to sell the Ugg boots to surfers. That was the initial niche community is going after. Well, he hired models to show off their surfboards wearing Ugg boots and no one was buying. The reason was the consumer was not attracted to that. When Brian Smith started to use semi pro and professional surfers wearing Uggs, that's when the audience was compelled to start buying the product. You see, they were attracted to that because those are the people they aspired to be like. Aspiration, to be like someone else is a very attractive component. So in your marketing, can you have aspirational components? Can you speak the language of your community? What can you do that attracts your audience? If you're not doing it, differentiation will get noticed, but those people will run away. You must differentiate and attract.
