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Mr and Mrs Marketeer: how difficult is your job if your brand is…well…not sexy?

Forrester analyst, Josh Bernoff, writing on Groundswell reckons that anyone in marketing responsible for “boring brands” is really earning their keep, as “you are trying to get people interested in something they don’t really care about”.

Having worked in B2B public relations for more than a decade, I can testify to the sector having more than its fair share of companies that the world at large may call “boring”. It’s a totally subjective problem; where cable ties and ball bearings may be as effective as counting sheep to some, they are rock and roll personifed to someone else.

But back to Bernoff and the challenge of making the “boring” interesting…

Believe it or not, he sees social media as a thoroughly relevant way of bringing brands - that you wouldn’t automatically think of as social - to life.  

The point is, talking about your brand or company may be inherently dull to the customer, but talking about their problems isn’t. Bernoff calls this “borrowed relevance” - generating talk about things your audience really cares about. And the examples he cites show how coming at your company’s marketing from a lateral point of view (our sister company, TBWA Manchester, would call it “disruptive”) can achieve something that has significance for the customer and banishes the boring tag.

Especially with B2B organisations - where their overall customer base is unlikely to be on the same scale as consumer brands -creating a buzz about what you do and making it relevant to the people who matter is essential. And social media is another way of finding those people, keeping them interested and relishing just how beautifully boring your business is. 

I do most of my best thinking on holiday and my favourite place to go is the US. My bestest friends live there, I’m obsessed with US politics and media and I generally love the people.

One of the things that always makes an impression on me is the hotel staff. Always friendly and helpful, not (just) in an obviously fake way but asking you the kind of questions that conveys some kind of interest in you having a good time. Frontline staff are such great PR!

I smiled when I noticed this from Josh Bernoff. He stayed at a Hyatt Hotel recently and had to complain. Next time he stayed there he arrived at his room to find nice food and drink and a special note from the manager.

They’d obviously logged him and his complaint somewhere….and done something small but significant that showed they listened and value him.

I don’t know if Hyatt are savvy in social media but they sound like the sort of company that would be.