Are You a Barker or an Attractor?
November 4th, 2008 by Jeb Foster
Jackie Huba, of the Church of the Consumer blog, noticed a while back that restaurants in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, generally employ one of two (very distinct) marketing strategies. “Barking” and “attracting.”
The typical barker: Host as shill, interrupting passersby with “Try our steak!” “Drink specials!” “Happy hour!”
The typical attractor: Hosts as figure head, calmly standing next to a good looking menu and a restaurant with pleasing décor and atmosphere.
You can guess which restaurants were packed.
“Barking as a customer acquisition strategy is a relative affair, whether spamming bloggers with press releases, peppering a neighborhood with door hangers , dressing up a mascot to stand on a street corner, or pimping a new website on Twitter,” says Huba. “Real marketing is designing elements into a business that will get the attention of customers so you don’t have to yell.”
It’s a fresh take on what Seth Godin has been saying for years: being remarkable means never having to engage in marketing.
