Your secret start-up marketing magic
- Tue, November 08 2011
- Filed under: Marketing essentials
Does might make marketing right?
Not always.
In a happy read for the underfunded nonprofit, there was recently an interesting article in AdAge that talked about how some small companies - through very little traditional marketing but a great story - have built huge brands.
Citing Ben & Jerry’s and Starbucks in their early days and Zappos, Terracycle, Orabrush, Method, Honest Tea and Lululemon more recently, the article notes: “The common thread through all these no-cost, low-cost marketing success stories is a good story, one that bears repeating and fares well both in social and PR-fueled traditional media. Almost by definition, such stories are easier for bootstrap entrepreneurs to come by than, say, 65-year-old detergent brands. Many of the brands, from Terracycle to Method, Seventh Generation, Honest Tea and Stonyfield Farms, all have taken on the air of social movement.”
So what works about these companies? A great story and a team of true believers who are treated well and treasured as employees.
Don’t forget you have a real asset in your organization’s powerful uniting principle and dedicated team. It’s the stuff that start-ups dream of. Do you play up your story as well as a Stonyfield or Honest Tea? You should, because yours is even more powerful than theirs. Do it the justice it deserves. You don’t need the budget of those who sell soap, because you’re selling something far more special. You’re not removing stains - you’re saving lives. You have great material.