No, advertising is not a tax you pay for being unremarkable
Robert Stephens, founder of Geek Squad, once said, “Advertising is the tax you pay for being unremarkable.” Author Seth Godin helped make the phrase famous. Because it’s provocative. It sounds true. It feels true.
Great products and companies generate buzz, get talked about, spread virally. Right?
Now that it’s 2020, it’s time to kill this platitude. Because the facts don’t back it up. Mainly, this one big fat fact:
Even "remarkable" products advertise. A lot.
Yes, Apple’s game-changing products got tons of buzz. But those dancing iPod silhouettes didn’t become ubiquitous on their own: Apple outspent other music players by 100X.
DTC darlings (Allbirds, Away, Everlane, etc) are all running big, expensive ad campaigns.
Tech giants (Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc) are now running massive ad campaigns on ... network TV.
Even Uber — which should be the poster child for organic growth and marketing that’s ‘baked in’ to the product — spent half a billion on advertising in 2018.
Why do even “remarkable” products advertise?
Lots of reasons. Here are just a few:
To let people know they exist.
To remind people they still exist.
To create associations with abstract ideas like creativity, rebellion, courage, and justice.
To show up in media environments they want to be associated with (Vogue, WSJ, etc).
To signal that they’re big, stable, reliable companies.
To win a competitive arms race.
To show retailers or distributors that the company will, you know, create interest in the product.
Of course, there are exceptions. Trader Joe’s and Sriracha come up a lot as cult brands that don’t need to advertise. And it is possible. But it’s a strategic decision that comes with pros and cons like other marketing investments (packaging, real estate, etc.). For most cult brands, once the initial growth spurt is over, advertising becomes a smart investment for continued growth.
And yes, even Seth Godin uses ads sometimes.