Earlier this week, I had what I can only describe as an amazing purchasing experience fueled by some brilliant brand execution...and I'm not one that buys into branding easily. At the most, I've sipped the Apple Kool-aid via iPhone ownership. As we all know, the recently retired Steve Jobs has built one of the most loyal brand followings in the history of mankind (all you Mac folk out there know I'm telling the truth), and it's because he sold more than a product, he sold an image, an idea, a concept...he filled a spot in peoples' lives and identities.
There's been...so...much talk of branding in the last few years. It made me a little sad when it crept from the business world into the political world, but I get why. Branding is all about connecting, personally, with the people you want to inform/sell to/talk to/change/help. It's not just about telling your audience that you serve them better than your competitors, it's about letting them know that you are the ONLY option for the experience they're looking for. BJJ is such an amazing niche market. (I really wish I'd been training while I was in school...it would have made a lot of the projects much more interesting.) It's (I believe) in its fledgling stages, in both the fan and practitioner stages, and it has the unique tie in with a growing sport (MMA) that I really don't think any other martial art has had before.
I believe there are a couple of people making some Jobsian (or maybe Godinian) moves in the world of grappling and BJJ and I can't wait to get writing on them. Stay tuned...
You're right and the amazing thing about the the grappling market is that we will continue to buy non-stop. I have at least 20 books (instructionals), 10 DVD's and just broke my addiction to grappling magazines. In my quest for improvement I have locked myself into purchasing grappling related goods.
ReplyDeleteAs more people create more products for the BJJ lifestyle I will be the first in line.
Well, I for one have swallowed entire gallons of Apple Kool-Aid because every Apple product I own actually works. Apple products are truly user friendly and easy to set-up. Many years ago I suffered through the mind numbing misery otherwise known as the "PC," which was a chronic malaise of error messages and system failures. Now I have Apple stuff.
ReplyDeleteOn BJJ branding...hmmm...yeah...I'm curious to read about who you think is making headway in this field.
Lol@Dagney, I'm about to do the same. I bought my last PC for school...if it hadn't been such a pain to interact with a Mac, I'd have one already.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lazy! I almost forgot about the mags! I haven't gotten into those yet, but I want to give them a shot.
Marketing is wonderful. It's a forum of communication and when people forget that or are too lazy to take it as that (they don't participate and feed back to the marketer) they start complaining and nagging about "selling out" bla bla :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I tell you "look at my product and how wonderful it is" then you should jump at the opportunity and tell me how you'd want me to make it better and wonderfuller!
I'm looking forward to the results. I'd really be interested to see what your thoughts are on the different gi brands and how they present themselves to the BJJ community.
ReplyDeleteMatt at BreakingGuard.com
I don't know if many consumers are ready for that feedback loop Liam...it'll happen one day, I'm just not sure when...
ReplyDeleteI really like that idea Matt. Gi marketing seems to be at a point where it's heavily reliant on word of mouth and professional sponsorship, with a few standouts. It's going to be an interesting evolution.