Photo by Dar’ya Sipyeykina

One of the easiest ways to market something is to make it easier to join the “club”. You want to be cool? Dress like we do. You want to look like us? Exercise like we do. But is there a risk to using this technique?

First, by putting the “in club” on a pedestal you’re making them a worthy goal. But what happens when “they” start doing dangerous, illegal, or stupid things?

Secondly, the “in club” knows there are lots of wannabes. They actively root them out, and know that many people are “posers”. Looking like you lead the lifestyle and living the lifestyle are two totally different things (unless you’re simply looking at the club’s veneer, and not at its soul).

Imagine you’re selling a magic pill to people who are looking for an easy way to lose weight. It’s made of natural herbs. People who take it lose weight. So you build a marketing campaign to tie the pill with happy, healthy, thin people. All’s fine until the ingredient in your pill causes some major side-effects. While your customers may have lost weight, they may not be facing serious health consequences. This creates three major problems that’s liable to send your company into a downward spiral: (1) fewer people buy what you’re selling, (2) those that bought it, now want retribution, and (3) you’ve lost people’s trust in their ability to lose weight.

(Un)fortunately, there is no magic pill to marketing success. Selling the sizzle is easy. Selling the steak is harder. Selling steaks to people who appreciate your steaks is the ultimate goal.