Superman should have put Lex Luther on the payroll.
Without good ole’ Lex, Superman is just a strong cop with a fancy logo. Think about it, Superman really didn’t shine until he had to foil Lex from sinking California into the Pacific. Superman had a bad-ass story when he had a villain.
A great Social Brand Story needs a villain too. Look closely and you’ll see a villain behind every great brand. Villains make for great stories and great stories attract passionate Tribes.
Take a look…
- Salesforce.com went to war against software. They’re winning – big time.
- Linux shoved Windows (that Penguin is a tough birdie), inspired millions, and built a darn good operating system in the process
- Apple picked a fight with Adobe Flash and the cult of Mac is lining up to fight…
- LessAccounting.com says “QuickBooks Sucks” – I (and hundreds of others) agree with them
Each of these companies kicked someone in the shins and gave their brand evangelists something to rally around. A “Cause” is a powerful motivator and almost always breathes life into a brand’s story.
Why Social Brands Have to Get Mean
If your blog can’t get any traction online then you’re probably too nice. Are you agreeing with everyone? Are you trying not rock the boat and take the high road? This works great for retired Presidents – it sucks for Brands.
In the Social space your followers need to know what they stand for. They need to understand when to “unleash hell”, raise the flag, and storm the hill. They rely on you to clearly point out the bad guy and say “they are wrong” and explain why.
Here’s How it Works
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not advocating you be a bully. Frankly it’s not needed. You just need to define what problem your brand solves and go to war with the troublemaker.
Brand: Atkins Diet
Problem: “Love Handles”
Villain: Carbs (or basically everything I love to eat!)
Brand: Round Up
Problem: Weeds in the Lawn
Villain: Pretender Weed Killers
Brand: Basecamp
Problem: Complicated Project Management Software
Villain: Microsoft Project
Although people, companies, and products make great villains, the strategy works just as well with ideas and concepts.
By the way, don’t worry if your chosen villain chooses to fight back! The tussle will attract even more followers to your cause.
Don’t Go Overboard
My dad always told me to never start a fight but always make sure that I finished it. Obviously I didn’t listen too well because I’m telling you to pick a fight! But, make sure that you don’t get so fixated on the villain that you forget your brand’s social media objectives.
At the end of the day, you want your brand to take center stage. So always steer the conversation back to your brand’s core story and benefits.
About Stanford
I want to play villain so bad, but I’m the annoyingly nice gal. I’m keen to declare war on those in my niche who make ‘hand assembled’ jewellery instead of making ‘handmade’ jewellery. This is bound to make me unpopular with other crafters. I wish I could be certain that my target market would care either way. I think I’ll dip my toe in the water so to speak and test the waters before declaring war. I know that’s not very brave of me. Doing villain is hard.
Nice perspective. I hadn’t really thought about it like that before but I do believe you’re right! Lets see who I can go pick a fight with.
Stanford:
What a great kick in the pants post! Sometimes it seems easier to to be nice and not make waves, but the truth is, stirring up the mud in the river makes for great content. Not only that, it attracts people to the mayhem and solicits more opinions from the masses. Well done on this one!
Lisa
I am a big fan of this post. Looking through the greatest companies it’s always true. It is not enough to just have a great product/solution, you need a great villain who wants to stop you from solving people’s problem with your solution.
I like to think of mozilla’s very successful assault on internet explorer with firefox. Matter of fact, it would be extremely interesting to see just how many successful companies have been built on the concept of being Microsoft’s nemesis for one thing or another. I would say most tech companies at some point have built a following for being in some way anti-Microsoft.
The question is: where is my villain?
You need to be willing to pick a fight. And you are in greater danger of going underboard than overboard: people in our space play nice too frequently because we all want to be collectivized into the cadre of winning bloggers. We can't afford to offend others.
You need to be willing to pick a fight. And you are in greater danger of going underboard than overboard: people in our space play nice too frequently because we all want to be collectivized into the cadre of winning bloggers. We can't afford to offend others.