Don't get a drink thrown in your brand's face with pick-up lines

"Customers reject pick-up lines from companies, just like women will reject pick-up lines from guys. Pick-up lines don’t work. They might get a customer’s attention for a nano-second, which is just long enough for a customer to see through the ploy in order to reject a brand’s unwanted advances." - from John Moore's (author of Tribal Knowledge) essay in BRANDWEEK.

Building on the pick-up line analogy, Moore explains why it’s critically important for marketers to go beyond shallow attempts to get attention. The answer is to build connections with customers through an ongoing playful conversation. Some of his suggestions on how to do this:

• Be a Playful Brand: Customers do not want their brands to take themselves too seriously. Examples: Trader Joe’s, Voodoo Doughnut.com
  
• Be a Challenging Brand: Customers want to tango, they want you to be interesting in order to get them interested. Examples: Threadless.com, Sendaball.com
  
• Be a Predictably Unpredictable Brand: Customers are turned off by complacent brands. They value brands that are willing to take calculated risks. Example: Google

Read Tribal Knowledge: Business Wisdom Brewed from the Grounds of Starbucks Corporate Culture

Image courtesy of Neville's Financial Blog