The crux of Guy Kawasaki’s book “The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything” is about turning ideas into action! In chapter 9, “The Art of Branding,” Guy offers advice on how to create a remarkable product or brand.
Who:
Guy Kawasaki
What:
“Create A Contagion”
What is it?
Create “something contagious that infects people with enthusiasm.”
How is is done?
Contagion is…
- Cool – Cool is beautiful. Cool is hip. Cool is idiosyncratic. And cool is contagious…
- Effective – You can’t brand crap. You can’t brand something that doesn’t work.
- Distinctive – It is easy to notice and advertises itself. It leaves no doubt that it is different from the competition.
- Disruptive – Contagious products are disruptive. They either upset competitive status quo (“Oh, hell, this is better. We’re in trouble.”) or make them go into denial (“Why would anyone want a graphical user interface?”). But they do not leave people unaffected.
- Emotive – It exceeds expectations, and by exceeding expectations, it makes you joyful.
- Deep – The more you use it, the more you discover what it is capable of.
- Indulgent – Purchasing it makes as feel as if you’ve indulged yourself. This may be because it costs more than alternatives, it’s cooler, or it’s more than you really need. Thus, it enables you to escape the mundane.
- Supported – Provide exemplary service.
Guy continues the chapter with great advice on brand building… but we’ll stop here… with focus on remarkability.
Check Out
Books
- Get “The Art of the Start” from Amazon. (Amazon UK)
Online
- Guy’s site featuring “The Art of the Start”
- Guy’s Blog “How to Change the World”
This post could also be called: Guy’s advice for creating “Secret Sauce.” He recommends when you are pitching your product/service/company that you explain the underlying magic of your company. What is the “technology, secret sauce, or magic behind your product or service?” By sharing your contagion, you’ll accomplish this task.
See also my previous DailyFix “How to Be Different” posts:
- Seth Godin and How to Be Different: Create a Purple Cow
- Marty Neumeier and How to Be Different: Zag!
- Bill Schley and How to Be Different: ‘Dominant Selling Idea’
- Seth Godin and How to Be Different: ‘Being Remarkable’
Good post, Paul. I can’t help but wonder how some companies’ products can fulfill these brand guidelines if they are mundane and utilitarian. For example, how does a marketer make hair clips emotive, or windshield washer fluid disruptive? Sure, some creative people can stretch this, but it’s not an easy feat. What do you recommend?
hmmm… windshield washer fluid, huh? I’m going to have to think about that one…
thanks for the challenge…
Hair clips can become emotive if they work better. What if the clips were made so that they more easily slipped out of the hair without tangling. Women would love that.
Windsheild wiper fluid, that’s easy, it could be disruptive if it somehow saved your wiperblades and made them last longer.
Nice work, Jerry!
I like the way you think.
Perhaps this exists already, but RainX could market their own windshield washing fluid that also makes rain slick away and it easier to see when driving.