Zain Jaffer is the founder and president of Zain Ventures, a family office that invests in real estate and proptech.
In his classic book On War, first published in 1832, Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz defined “war” as “a duel on a larger scale” and an “act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.”
Many in business love to use war as a metaphor. Hence, oftentimes, we hear people use words or phrases like “conquer,” “demolish the competition” and others. Some may frown upon these metaphors, but the reality is that business is, to some extent, a dog-eat-dog competition. This is especially true when many players go after a small market.
One thing that stuck out to me from Clausewitz’s definition is the phrase, “To compel our enemy to do our will.” In business, we cannot compel customers, but we can entice them. We can probably modify the phrase to say, “To entice customers to want and love our brand.”
Enticing customers to love our brand is what good marketers do. I believe that sometimes, however, marketers, with their skills in psychology and mass market thinking, fail to distinguish between real and imagined or even utopian desired futures. This can be particularly true with groups who hang around their respective echo chambers.
For example, someone who lives in a coastal city, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York, could have a significantly different point of view, outlook and biases compared to someone who lives in the Midwestern U.S. and is involved in agriculture and farming. A Madison Avenue ad executive who only stays in New York City, only eats at upscale gourmet food chains and only chats with former Ivy League classmates might struggle to see how a beer customer in North Carolina will view their ad.
The problem is that when businesses only look inside their own echo chambers, they can fail. Even expert pundits and statisticians can totally miss the big picture, despite being trained to eliminate bias in their polls and surveys. For example, not trying to understand how different groups think and just dismissing those who do not share your views, whether sociological, political or economic, can be fatal in business.
It is not bad to have a desired future and a business that not only tries to profit but also tries to advance that future. We see businesses successfully cater to target audiences of women, minorities, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups. To be clear, that is great.
Where many brands seem to fall short, however, is in confusing their desired outcomes with the reality of their markets. It is not bad to want a better, fairer society, for example, but before you can work toward that in your marketing, you need to sell your products and services to your primary consumer base first.
Not seeing reality because of idealistic filters is a misstep that can lead to a brand’s failure. To understand your market, you need to take the time to understand how the people buying your products or services think and live their lives. Consider their needs, and prioritize keeping those loyal customers. Then, you can grow from that base and experiment with branching out to reflect your brand’s social values or longer-term vision.
Although it is important that ads continue to reflect values that bring society together, it must be done thoughtfully, not in a roughshod manner that bulldozes how others think. Like honey attracting bees, marketing should be methodical and well-studied, gradually converting people while maintaining brand loyalty.
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