Anti-marketing

Could the enormous prevalence of marketing in our society be self-destructive? It seems that you can't go to an informative website without being funneled into a targeted eBay affiliate link or Google Adsense paid link (giving the site owner a few pennies), do a Google search without seeing dozens of catchy site taglines, or walk down Cottage street - let alone a major road in a city - without being bombarded by brand names of restaurants, hardware stores, gas stations, and clothing lines. The theory of "anti-marketing" (think of that super-hip club with just a logo for it's name) suggests that simplicity and exclusivity may be the answer.

Perhaps people aren't all looking for the site that is the first in Google or has the best landing page, or the store with the biggest sign, but for a more personal and exclusive touch. I know that I (and I assume many other people) prefer real-world communication to rather impersonal online "chatting" - why should this be any different with marketing? (on the other hand, it can be pretty annoying to be approached by Greenpeace or LaRouche PAC street-marketers in cities one after another on the same block) If people are made to feel as they have found something special, they will probably want to stick to it. They may also be most proud of things they discover themselves.

So what is the way to tap this market? Clearly it isn't the "EXCLUSIVE DEAL FOR OUR 10,000TH VISITOR" banners all over the web. Anti-marketing, really, seems to be a groundswell-based approach. By not advertising a quality product, people may be more inclined to spread the word themselves by bringing friends to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant or playing an obscure band's music at a party. However, I doubt that this method could create a Facebook or The Beatles or McDonald's. But perhaps this is irrelevant - there are many more small communities with a few loyal members, bands with a few loyal fans, and restaurants with one or two must-go locations in the world. And so long as the business models are sustainable long-term, these communities/bands/businesses (I'm sure you can all think of one) may not even need to be marketed outside the most basic groundswell methods at all in order to be highly successful.


Inspired by this article.