Forces of attraction

An uncomfortable truth for many marketers is the realisation that demand generation is a bit of a myth. 

The role of marketing, brands and campaigns pales in comparison to things like moving house, having a baby, taking up a new hobby, going on holiday, aligning with a cause, getting a new job, the death of a loved one, or any other major life event. These are the moments that truly generate demand. The role that marketing plays is largely to be top of mind, available and frictionless once these events happen.

Some paraphrased quotes from three recent customer interviews:

“I got fed up with Twitter and decided to start using Duolingo to be more productive with my time”.

“My boyfriend and I broke up so I joined Bumble so that he’d see I was on there”.

“My best friend moved to Australia so I got her a coffee subscription so that she’d think of me every fortnight when it gets delivered”.

These forces of attraction are crucial. If you don’t know them, start asking. They not only give us context and empathy, they serve us better targeting, media selection, positioning and creative on a silver platter. Our job isn’t really to generate demand but to capitalise on demand that’s already there. Surf the wave, don’t try to generate a wave yourself.

It pays to be humble in this profession. The market rewards listeners, not talkers.