Worst Idea Ever, Or Absolutely Brilliant (You Decide)

In: Business Ideas| Marketing By: Brian Armstrong

2 Dec 2009

I was watching this video today about how to stand out in your market place. It gives some good examples of companies (like VooDoo Donut and ZipCar) who created a strong following by:

1. Doing something different
2. Having fun
3. Not being afraid to be a little weird

It reminded me of Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” button or Facebook’s Pirate language setting.

It also reminded me of some of the ideas I wrote about in word of mouth marketing.

Then I started looking at the BuyersVote.com homepage and I got sort of sad. It looked really boring.

It looked like every other review site out there. If I saw it for the first time, I’d probably be sort of confused, do a few clicks, and then leave.

So I started wondering, what is this website actually ABOUT damnit. It’s got to convey it instantly. And I blurted out “it just so you can find out if something sucks or not before you buy it!”

So I decided to change the tag-line of the site from “Online product reviews made easy” to “Find out if it sucks, before you buy!”

Irreverent? Yes. Junevile? Probably. Fun and engaging? I think so. At least it would cause me to give it a second look, and maybe even participate in this community – it’s sounds fun.

What do you think? Worst idea ever or good marketing? I think I’ll test it out for a bit.

P.S. Because it worked out so well last time, I’ve started a new category on BuyersVote for “Best Christmas Gift Ideas 2009“. Hopefully you’ll find it useful as you do your last minute Christmas shopping. Please take a moment to go check it out now – and don’t forget to vote or add your own idea if you have a good one. Thanks!

Until next time, keep breaking free!
Brian Armstrong

25 Responses

Erica Douglass

December 3rd, 2009 at 2:16 am

I think it’s a great tagline–and will definitely help people get engaged!

You’re good at testing–split test it and let us know what happens. ;)

-Erica

Brian Armstrong

December 4th, 2009 at 5:19 pm

Haha, thanks Erica :)

Penny Feigel, IAC-EZ

December 3rd, 2009 at 3:33 am

LOL. I think it is both humorous and impelling. I would have look at the site even if I stumbled on it by mistake.

The idea has my vote for good marketing!

Brian Armstrong

December 4th, 2009 at 5:20 pm

Pleasantly surprised everyone seems to like it, thanks Penny!

Gordie | LifestyleDesign4U.com

December 3rd, 2009 at 4:18 am

Good move, Brian. It meets with my approval. :)

Taki C

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:15 pm

I like the direct approach. Reminds me a bit of woot.com.

Andrew

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:42 pm

I’m leaning towards the absolute brilliant side!

Michael

December 3rd, 2009 at 8:58 pm

Hey,
Good example :)

That’s a lot better this way. It really has to work with who you are !

sthomps

December 3rd, 2009 at 9:27 pm

I think it breathes life into a generally boring sector of the market! Let us know how it works out. Should help out with the retention, like you said, forces you to take a second look.

Money Funk

December 3rd, 2009 at 9:31 pm

I totally got sidetracked and giddy after you said ‘Facebook’s Pirate” and then I clicked and found Google pirate. Totally cool! Arggghhh! LOL.

BTW, I like it the tag line. It makes me think, it would be fun just to look around and see what people think sucks.

Brian Armstrong

December 4th, 2009 at 5:21 pm

Yep my favorite on Facebook was when it changed every reference to “Friends” to “Mateys” haha….

Tom Primožič

December 3rd, 2009 at 11:46 pm

Hey Brian!

I’m a knowledgeable twenty-something and I’m thinking about getting into Web Design. I’m also a frequent reader of your website, so after I read this post, I thought to myself: “We can both profit!”

I need a portfolio for my design work, so I’m offering to you to redesign the buyers vote web page for you. You don’t have to pay me, or anything, just maybe give me some outlines about what other pages you like and what you’d like included in the design. I will then send you a proposal (several, maybe), and we’ll just see how it goes from there. E-mail me if you’re interested. The only work of mine online is the current design of my homepage – I’d hate to leave it empty :D

Brian Armstrong

December 4th, 2009 at 5:26 pm

Hey Tom,

That sounds cool. Your homepage at least lets me know you know what you’re doing!

In general I like clean, minimalist designs. Web 2.0′ish looking stuff. Some designs I like:
http://www.crowdspring.com/
http://goincase.com/
http://vimeo.com/

I can’t guarantee I’ll use it before seeing anything, but if I do I’ll be happy to sing your praises on this blog. If you want to try some preliminary stuff first just email me at brian@. Thanks!

Tom Primožič

December 6th, 2009 at 9:15 pm

Ok, will do. I appreciate minimalist designs as well, so we’re on the same frequency here. I will create a design in the following days, and send it to you. I hope I get the right inspiration, like I did for my homepage :D

Brian Armstrong

December 6th, 2009 at 9:55 pm

Sounds cool, let’s try it!

Brian Armstrong

December 8th, 2009 at 7:36 pm

Btw, just wanted to mention I love the http://shopify.com design as well. There isn’t really a hurdle to get started on BuyersVote (registration not required) so I think the homepage could be more like Google (start using it right away) as opposed to the more marketing oriented screenshot-with-headline type sites. But just wanted to throw it out there as a good design example.

Matt

December 4th, 2009 at 12:18 am

Well, the new tagline is great, but it doesn’t solve your stated problem: It still looks like every other review site out there, just with a better tagline.
Redesign and go bold.

BTW, even if the new tagline sucked, I’d say it’s far from the worst marketing idea ever. Quizno’s little rat creature ads come to mind as an example of a much worse idea.

Brian Armstrong

December 4th, 2009 at 5:27 pm

Haha, very true Matt. Let me see what I can work out design wise….

It’s interesting you’re the third person who has mentioned the design to me today (and how it could be improved). I kinda liked it…but now I’m starting to reconsider! :)

Mar

December 4th, 2009 at 11:38 am

Absolutely brilliant! With just one sentence you’ve sort of twisted your potential target audience — from a serious/corporate user towards a more fun/juvenile one, whom are more likely to participate in it.

I applaud the change in the tagline, but now comes the hard part — will the website’s cosmetics follow suit? Isn’t it gorgeous to know that there isn’t any shortage of generous designers around here. ; )

Brian Armstrong

December 4th, 2009 at 5:28 pm

Haha, thanks Mar. I’ll give it a try!

JONNY | thelifething.com

December 5th, 2009 at 5:29 am

Brilliantly Poor I reckon

Brian Armstrong

December 5th, 2009 at 10:14 pm

Haha, not sure if that’s good or bad Jonny…

Brian Armstrong

December 5th, 2009 at 10:28 pm

Btw, great latest post on your blog!

James Kennedy

December 9th, 2009 at 3:47 pm

Hey Brian

You probably won’t be surprised to find out where I stand on this. The easy answer is to just split test (assuming you have enough taffic – http://blog.revahealth.com/2009/11/sample-sizes-for-ab-testing.html) – but you already knew that.

My theory is that you have to snap people out of their ‘comfort zone’ in some way to get their attention. There needs to be something to poke you in the eyeball a little in order to move you from passively reading, to engaging. I guess this is where copywriters come in. I’d say there are only a few ways of getting attention

* shock (easy)
* humour (harder)
* recognition (as in brand recognition)
* having the words the user is looking for in your title

Shock is a tricky one and your tag line combines a bit of humour to soften the blow. I’m all for that. You will get people who rail against it but as a benchmark, if you get 1 or 2 emails a year complaining about it, your about on the right track.

I’d think in terms of percentages rather than absolutes.

10% people would have preferred the old tag line (and clicked it)
10% would have skipped the old tagline but like yours
75% makes no difference to them
5% get offended and don’t click

Of course figuring out what these percentages are is the tricky bit. I would argue however that having triggered some kind of emotional response from your reader, they are more likely to ‘do’ something. Emotional responses heighten our energy levels and make us more prone to suggestion. I’m not trying to brainwash anyone here , but at a guess I’d say that someone who is already smiling by the time they get to your reviews is more likely to contribute and get involved than someone who is not.

I’d suggest ferreting out some of the more humorous categories and putting them up front. Maybe even seeding a few. Some suggestions:

‘Presents most likely to get my gf to consent to a threesome’ (bit weak)
‘Best heap of crap Jap import that I can buy for $900′
‘Best piece of technology I can buy to ignore the fact I have tax returns to make’

My favourite exponents of this kind of thing are over at http://www.theregister.co.uk. They take, frankly, mostly driery press releases about new RAID arrays etc and make them interesting.

I have to day though, I like the ‘before you buy it’ bit though. Very strong appeal to people’s insecurity.

Brian Armstrong

December 9th, 2009 at 5:29 pm

Haha, brilliant James!

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