I’m reading a book by Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons, titled Punk Marketing. Laermer and Simmons are out to change the way the world markets. In the first chapter, the authors lay out the fourteen articles (plus another open ended discussion article) of “The Punk Marketing Manifesto.”
Article one stopped me…and I had to read it over and over: “Avoid Risk and Die”
The authors go on to say that “the trick is to take calculated jumps and share them among all stakeholders with your own blend of saucy verve and gusto” [italics mine]. They argue that Ted Turner never checked with consumers before he launched CNN. (Mr. Turner said: “There’s never a reason for a study if your idea is conceptually sound. You have to have confidence in your own ideas.” [South Africa's Young Magazine])
So…ideas don’t have to be run by your audience to make sure they like it. You don’t have to double check to make sure the data says that your idea will be a hit. Think through it (really think through it) and discuss it with people involved in actually creating the thing - do that, and risk much. We’re smarter than we give ourselves credit for…take calculated jumps! Think, discuss, risk - and come out a winner.
Sounds like a good book. Would you be able to provide a fuller review when you have completed it?
Here’s hoping. Always like reading recommended marketing books.
The authors are really forward in their thinking.
Definitely hoping to provide a more comprehensive review once I’m done.