We’ve all seen it on commercials: a guy with a big, loud, obnoxious smile and a booming voice is sitting at the top of a giant, towering building, looking out over the city, shouting at the top of his lungs, “I’m here to say ‘Hello’ to you, and I’m not going to take no for an answer.
This marketing is called “gonzo.” This is the kind of marketing I like. It is also kind of scary because it can be incredibly dangerous. Many people are very good at selling themselves as someone special and they can get away with a lot if they are confident that others will buy into it. The problem is most people don’t know how to do this. They need to be made aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
Im not going to lie. I do have a tendency to hype myself a bit too much.
I have also noticed that a lot of people use this as an excuse for not being able to stand up straight. They say, “I can’t stand up straight because I’m so nervous” or “I can’t stand up straight because I’m too afraid to get punched.” People are prone to hype themselves. They are often in a state of self-confidence, but in reality they need to be aware of their weaknesses.
One of the biggest weaknesses of people who hype themselves is they often think they are better than they really are. I had this happen to me a couple of years ago when I lost a job and was forced to take a job with a smaller company. I was being forced to sell my car to a company that had a very similar style, but had a very different attitude. They had way more money and a bigger office and I was forced to sell my car to them.
That’s a classic example of the “I’m so good at everything I do that I’m really good at nothing” syndrome. And I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but many “good at it all” people actually do something that they really aren’t. I’ve known people who have achieved greatness in many different areas of their life and not done anything significant for a long time.
The difference between gonzo marketing and the sort of marketing strategies that work in companies like Google was clear as day on my first meeting with the guys, and that was before we even started talking about a business plan. On our first meeting the Gonzo guys were very serious businesspeople, but they were also incredibly friendly and very easy to talk to. The Gonzo guys made it very clear to me that they were in it for the long haul.
The Gonzo guys were also very good at keeping me on my toes, and they have a very specific way of making me feel comfortable. They didn’t just show up at the office with a bunch of suitcases. Instead, they gave me the “sustainable marketing” talk, which means they’re actually marketing something they’re building. So I can go to the office and be like “hey, I’ve been thinking about this.
The Gonzo guys are also very easy to talk to. The guys I know are very direct and matter of fact. I always think that this is one of the most important things Ive learned while working at Gonzo, which is that the way you should work is not always the best way.
I think this is a lesson many of us have learned the hard way. While a lot of marketing work is about getting people to buy into the idea that something is possible, or that they can change the world, a lot of marketing work is about convincing people that something is impossible. When you’re creating something, be it a product, an app, a website, or a program, you are creating a product and a goal. You are making a promise.
