Issue #10 - Breaking From The Brand Platoon

Lead or Die

Fall in liiiine!

That’s the first thing you hear in this life, when you burst out of your mama’s vag or via C-section. 

FALL in LINE. 

This is what society tells you to do in school, in the workplace or on your deathbed. 

Like we’re all in the LIFE REGIMENT. Well, we are. Because an obedient population is an easy to control population. 

- Sir, this is a professional newsletter, not your private #AnarchyShow…

Too true. My point was: what if they are wrong? 

What if the single best thing you could do with your life is to NOT fall in line? 

What if not falling in line is exactly what you need for your brand? 

Since this is a comic book inspired newsletter, on its special 10th edition (hooray, me) it’s only natural that I’ll lead with a comic books inspired story. 

Ten-hut!

Steve Rogers is Captain America (I hope you know what I’m talking about, otherwise you’re an infidel). But, the thing that makes him Captain America is not the super soldier serum he was given. Not the vibranium (hardest metal on Earth) shield he wields. Not his fighting skills. 

What makes Captain America… Captain America, is his HEART. 

See, Steve Rogers starts out as a sickly young adult who barely weighs 60 kilos soaking wet, with a brick in each pocket. But he wants to fight the Nazis because they repurpose content. Uh… sorry, wrong story. 

I meant, he wants to fight the Nazis because they are evil. So, after great effort, he joins the army. 

On a regular run, where he’s wheezing and almost dying from the effort his heart can’t take, but his spirit will, the commander stops his platoon. They already ran about 50 miles, they have 50 more. And the whole platoon is beat. 

Commanding officer shows them a pole with an American flag atop it. Whoever manages to get the flag, gets a ride back to the encampment in a jeep. He gets to relax for the rest of the day, skipping the run. 

Only one caveat: in the whole history of the camp, nobody managed to get the flag. 

Almost every soldier starts flailing about and wildly trying to climb the pole. Even if the whole platoon works together, they can’t climb the pole. It’s simply too tall and too slippery, and they can’t get any grip. 

Steve watches from a distance, as one by one, each of his platoon mates gives up. 

Then, when everyone else has given up, he stands up, walks to the pole, takes out the linchpin holding the pole up. The pole falls, he collects the flag, gets in the jeep, travels to camp. 

He just did the smart thing, and he stood out… 

Advertising is not education (wrong)

Advertising, branding, marketing… Not the same thing. But they do have the same common goal. And the same linchpin. 

They need to have a figure standing behind them. A goal, a mission, a flag. A person, if we’re talking about a personal brand. One of the worst mistakes you can make when doing all of the above is to position yourself as an outsider. As a mere provider. 

And say stuff like: “Advertising is not education.

Sure, providing your customers with the best information to understand and benefit from your products is crucial.

But on a higher level, advertisers can’t do much to change the way people are and what they believe in.

Thus, leaning into already existing beliefs is far better than trying to change them.

Don’t fight what’s already true.

Know what your prospects believe in, and align your product as the logical solution based on those beliefs.”

You know who believes the above? 

The soldiers who weren’t able to get the flag. Writers, marketers and founders who aren’t even willing to challenge the status quo. People who want to fall in line. Not lead and stand out. 

My take on it: 

Advertising is education. Even culture.

If all you are doing is being influenced, you'll always play catch-up. 

I believe that the best brands have a leg up on everyone else because they have the courage to also educate and bring new perspectives. 

The leaders in any niche didn't get to where they are by playing by the rules. 

Sure, if you want to be a platoon brand, do that. If you want to be a leading brand, boldly go where no one has gone before. 

Yes, even if the numbers seem to tell a different story.

Don’t let yourself be perverted

A while back, I interviewed with an advertiser from Romania. He wanted to collaborate with me on copy for ads. As of right now, we’re not working together. My intuition tells me we never will. 

And that’s because he both looks up to me and hates me. 

But, Vlad, how is that possible? 

He looks up to me because I am him when he was young. He hates me, because I still stick by my principles, and he’s given up. 

He still calls out oligophrenic communication, but he conceded that stupid people rule the planet, so you must market to the majority. 

I’m of the opinion that advertising is education and culture, so I won’t go along with that. As a result, nu business together. 

But whenever I look at him, I see an old guy, who used to stand for something. And is now just a blasé professional. I’d rather die an erect young idiot than turn into an old, blasé guy. 

Gastritis and all. 

Not everyone can be Apple

This is the favorite quote of marketers, writers and founders who are too afraid to leave the platoon. They’re comfortable in their mediocrity foxhole. 

But, if everyone was of the same opinion, we’d have no Apple. No leading brands. 

I can promise you ONE THING, and ONE THING ONLY. 

If you try to be Apple, you might not make a difference. You might not become a big brand. 

But if you don’t at least try to be Apple, you’ll always be a small brand. 

And so, I favour quotes such as these: 

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars.” - Oscar Wilde

“When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either.” - Leo Burnett 

Sneaky Leo, he obviously used old Oscar as inspiration. 

And, if you’re reading my newsletter for advice on how to create a Personal Brand, old Oscar’s got your back: 

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

But noooooo, advertising can never be about education and culture. 

Aw… you idiots. 

You got the name of the game wrong… 

Advertising, marketing, branding… they rely on content.

Problem is, people don’t understand what content is and how it works. And so, they focus on the distribution channels and the reach of content. 

Not on the quality and the ability of said content to resonate with an audience. 

Simply put, they push in the wrong direction.

Or, how Jay Acunzo (the man is my personal marketing Jesus, and if you’re not reading his newsletters you’re majorly missing out) would put it: 

“It's called 'content marketing' NOT 'marketing content.' Which comes first? So here's a WILD concept: instead of pushing harder to generate subscribers, make things worth subscribing to. Instead of obsessing over growing followers, do something worth following. I'm so tired of saying to people in marketing, Hey, yanno that thing you're making? You should make it GOOD. What a shocker! What a CRAZY idea!"

Suck it, Adriana!*

*That’s me saying Adriana should do the sucking. Not Jay. Whew, I really have to get this obsession under control soon, I’m tiring myself out here…

This is a newsletter after all…

So, here you are

Other people who agree with me: 

• Alex M H Smith

• Martin Zarian 

Or… I agree with them*. Doesn’t really matter. If you want to learn more about strategy and branding, go and read those guys’ posts, pencil in hand. At least the two I highlighted above. Pretty, pretty please, with a cherry on top. 

Yeah, remember, this isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. You don’t have to read my newsletter in one breath. Pace yourself, read other stuff and come back to it. It’s not a race for speed readers. I’d much prefer it if you took breaks, thought about stuff, and then came back to my newsletter when the time was right. It’s your Inbox after all… 

Clarification*:These guys don’t even know I exist. I don’t have any connection to them, I’m simply promoting them because we speak the same language. Of truth. 

Don’t disrupt for the sake of disruption

“I racked my brain for a while, trying to come up with a description about myself... Do I, like my clients, have a problem with writing about my (personal/professional) brand, when clearly I can talk about it for ages?

And then it hit me: my mum had feedback about my LinkedIn photo: "Why are you naked? You should have a shirt or at least a polo on".

No, because I'm not that guy. At least not anymore. No, because one size certainly does not fit all. And finally no, because I just felt like being me. Don't be disruptive for the sake of being disruptive. Be yourself and you'll be plenty disruptive. And you'll stand out, just like that.”

Does the above sound familiar? Probably not. 

It’s my About section on LinkedIn. Had it since I started out, one year ago. I still love it. 

But, standing out has come with its fair share of problems. I got shadowbanned on LinkedIn, my comments were tagged as inappropriate a couple of times. 

I also regularly delete subscribers on here who don’t really read my stuff. Which increases my open rate. I also got my first paid subscriber. Cheers, Jen! 

Point being… the authentic brand route is hard. But rewarding. Don’t do it like me, do it like you. 

More importantly, do it FOR YOU, which brings us to…

The man is on fire

Again, you don’t have to believe me. I’m an idiot, sure. But believe Jay Acunzo: 

“Finding best practices isn't the goal. Finding the best approach for you is."

Wait. There's something in there. Is this what I've been missing?

"Finding best practices isn't the goal. Finding the best approach for YOU is."

Why don't we start with the "for YOU" piece of this? Why do most of us begin our work by turning outward, not inward, seeking right answers? Why do we assume best practices are, in fact, the best, when really they can't consider the specifics of OUR unique situations? We treat them like precise math problems, but without those variables unique to us, we're running faulty equations and declaring our problems solved. Why?

School.”

For any troubled souls reading this and thinking I’m ripping Jay off: Yeah, I was in a call with him, and he said we can quote him anytime. 

I just happen to love his ideas. 

Meet them where they are, but don’t get it twisted

Ah, one of those misunderstood quotes that mediocre copywriters found online and are now sinking their dirty teeth into. Meeting people where they are is a great piece of insight, if you use it properly. Which… not many people do. 

There are two ways to read “meet them where they are”:

1. Speak their language. Make it seem like you are one of them. Then manipulate that situation, attack their pain points, and get them to buy from you. Don’t challenge them, don’t try to educate them, just exploit them. 

2. Speak their language. Actually understand that you are one of them. Make an emotional connection, extend your hand and present a better solution to their problem. DO NOT use FOMO to make sales. Just inform them that a better way could be out there. And keep on educating. 

If you don’t see the difference between A and B, just like an ex client didn’t, you’re an unethical cunt. Just like my EX client was. 

The three types of business

I recently started working with Norbert. I’m using his real name because I’m proud of that collaboration. And he brought some really valuable insight into my life. Namely, that there are three types of businesses out there: 

1. Commodity business

Nothing really special about them, so they have to compete on price.

2. Innovation business

What they do is so special that they build and dominate a niche of their own. 

3. Personality business

You offer a service that already exists. Maybe differently, but that difference is not apparent when you start out. So you have to base your ascension on your personality. 

Now, I don’t work with business number 1 out of principle. I can’t do anything to help them. I’m open to working with number 2. 

But number 3 is my bread and butter, since I know how to coax out even the shyest of personalities. But the person has to be willing to take the journey. 

There’s only ONE PROBLEM. 

Business number three loses nerve and tries to compete on terms used by business number one. 

When you try to compete on commodity terms, while you have a personality business, do you know what happens? 

YOU

BECOME

A 

COMMODITY

And one of the most known strategies used by commodity business is offering stuff for free. 

My take on it here. 

Here’s the difference between free and “bullshit free”

Free means you just want to make your customer happy. 

“Bullshit free” is just you asking for something in return for the “free” stuff. 

There’s a very important nuance there:

Are you doing it for your business, or are you doing it because you really appreciate your client? 

The answer to that will allow you to make the difference between free and bullshit free. And the difference between a commodity and a personality business. 

Do you have the IT factor? 

The subtitle for this newsletter was “Lead or Die”. And I’m really asking you now: 

Do you have what it takes? 

You might think I’m talking about talent and work ethic, connections and money. 

I’m not. 

I’m talking about RESILIENCE. 

Seth Rogan says it better here. 

I’m going to stand for that and write that until my hands fall off:

If you want to make it, and you want to build resilience (or resonance for that matter), you have to LIKE IT. 

One of the coolest feedback I received about my writing is that it has a certain “freshness and spontaneity to it which so many other people's don't.”

You know why that is? Because I trust my own knowledge and intuition, and I write for myself first. 

And you should brand for yourself first. 

The two branding approaches

I’m going to leave you with a practical example. There are two ways of doing branding. The one I subscribe to and the one Cromwell (made up name for other marketers) subscribes to. 

Cromwell does branding this way: 

They check out what’s popular on the market and they make a strategy. Then, they tell the person that they are not the brand. They have to do what’s successful, not what comes natural to them. So they start telling people to take out and add pieces of themselves to create the Personal Brand. What’s left is… the illusion of a truly PERSONAL brand. Nothing personal about that approach. Stop using brand archetypes as an excuse to work less. 

Vlad and other professionals do branding this way: 

They start with the person. They don’t care what’s popular, cool or trending. They just care about the real person in front of them. After they get to know the person, and learn what makes them tick, what they stand for, what is the mission and their goals, THEN and only THEN do they create the strategy. And they take or add pieces to that strategy based on who the person is. That’s a Personal Brand. 

Don’t believe me? My latest client signed on with me specifically because they worked with Cromwell before and, I quote:

“That strategy simply wasn’t… me.” 

Case closed, shot, tagged and bagged.

Going forward

Well, I don’t know if number 10 is as glorious as I wanted it to be. But… since I write it for myself, I’m going to take your like or dislike as a bonus :)

If you loved this issue, you might be interested in

Previously, on B00ls: Issue #9 - The Friendliest of Foes

The blank page is not your enemy

Next time, join MadVlad as he takes on…

Issue #11: 1 + 1 Makes for a Boring Brand

Tabula Rasa: The top ways you’re screwing yourself 

You can get access to the full archive here if you missed any other issue. 

In the meantime

If you liked my stuff, this is how we can work together: 

1. I write for you. Check out the Experience section on my LinkedIn

2. I consult marketers and founders. Ask about my bespoke marketing approach

3. I consult writers. Ask about my bespoke writing approach

Are you a writer/marketer/founder who wants to learn how to do things for themselves first and stand out like that? 

Reply to this e-mail if you’re interested in the above. 

Know somebody who’d also like that? Share my newsletter and point them in my direction. I’ll give you a beer if you’re ever in Bucharest. 

Offers 2 and 3 are detailed up on LinkedIn. But you can also find them here: 

Only one little problem. I’m all booked up for writing services. Next week, I’m going to add a client form here, and you’ll be able to get on my waiting list for writing projects. 

But I’m still open for consultancy services. Grab them while I’m still available. 

See, that’s real scarcity, as opposed to stupid fake scarcity. That scarcity that screams “Work with me NOW! Cause I’m broke”. 

That’s small and desperate brand energy. Don’t do that if you want to break from the Brand platoon. 

Cheers

If this was the first, but also last time we meet: Thank you. 

I write for myself, but you reading my writing gives it additional meaning. I literally could not resonate without you.