“The purpose of marketing is to find that intersection between what’s important to people, what they’re looking to do and solve for in their lives, and how your company can uniquely help them achieve that,” says Matt Kerbel, Director of Strategic Brand Planning at Turo. According to Matt, the three main things to avoid are what he refers to as the three Ps: perfectionism, pandering, and plagiarism.
Essentially, you’re marketing to people, not just businesses, and influencing a small group of passionate people who will help spread your message is more effective than trying to please everyone (and as a result, pleasing no one). Matt and Brendan discuss the importance of early discovery as well as the way that the unprecedented events of the last few years have affected the relationship between marketer and consumer.
At the heart of Matt’s success in marketing is a desire to do good in the world. He says that the upcoming generation is more interested in affecting change than any generation before, and that they are the most tuned in to sincere messages. Therefore, brands should go beyond storytelling and engage in what he calls story living, in which actions speak louder than words.
Quotes:
“Marketing is really trying to uncover those human truths, and determining whether your company is uniquely qualified to help them either solve their problems or achieve a quality of life that they may not have been able to if your company didn’t exist.” ([6:20]-[6:40] | Matt)
“One thing we did well was we really wanted to ensure is we did the opposite of what I think is crappy marketing, which are the three Ps: perfectionism, pandering, and plagiarism.” ([14:23]-[14:37] | Matt)
“There’s a lot to be said for progress over perfection.” ([26:18]-[26:21] | Matt)
“To avoid plagiarism, to avoid pandering, to avoid perfectionism, you need to have that upfront strategy tight and aligned. And if you do that, you can move fast, you can point and shoot, you can ship it, and you just know that you can continue to share story after story, initiative after initiative, product after product, that is going to be something that your audience absolutely loves, eats up, shares, evangelizes.” ([31:23]-[31:55] | Matt)
“If you target a small group that can have influence and be extremely passionate and evangelize, that’s actually much more important than trying to be everything to everyone.” ([39:33]-[39:46] | Matt)
Connect with Brendan Dell:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandell/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendanDell
Instagram: @thebrendandell
TikTok: @brendandell39
Buy a copy of Brendan’s Book, The 12 Immutable Laws of High-Impact Messaging: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780578210926
Connect with Matt:
LinkedIn: @Matt Kerbel
Check out Matt recommended books:
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780066620992
Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250103505
Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781451686586
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About the Author
Brendan Dell
Brendan Dell is an author and the founder of The Daily Creative. As a freelancer he's worked with clients like Expedia, Cvent, Panasonic, Brother, Windstream and 100+ more to build unignorable tech brands. At The Daily Creative, he shares advice and lessons to help freelancers level up.
