“The Few. The Proud. The Marines.” is the Marine Corps’ advertising slogan. It won a place on Madison Avenue’s Advertising Walk of Fame during Advertising Week 2007.
The Army offers a $50,000 college scholarship. The Navy offers you a chance to see the World. The Air Force will train you in a high-tech, high-paying job. The Marine Corps wants to give you something that no amount of money could ever buy — an unshakable tradition, an unbreakable value system; an incomparable life. That one slogan made and continues to make many young men want to be a Marine.
Why?
Because you understood that the Marines were interested in the few, the best.
When you consider traditional marketing, it is about creating messages designed to reach the masses. It’s about competing for the attention of some and converting a few into customers.
In the connected economy, we have access to any information we want 24/7. We have more than enough choices.
What if we did the opposite of traditional marketing?
What if we put our efforts and focus on connecting with the few who are eager to do business with us? What if we gave them a reason to remember us by exceeding their expectations?
Today we don’t win by trying to reach everyone. We win by becoming indispensable and meaningful to the few.
Well said!