COOL STORY, BUT WHAT ARE YOU FIGHTING AGAINST?
Yesterday, under a post of mine where I was mocking the tendency of the most hated man in Italian marketing to never miss a single criticism that fake gurus throw at me and to always highlight it, someone wrote: "Well, what about you? You only define yourself by what you're against!!!"
For him it was a criticism (there's no shortage of guru followers and annoying people), for me it was a huge compliment. Because he cited one of the hardest components to deploy when building a brand and personal brand.
Everyone can — mom teaches us from childhood — be a nice guy, try to be liked, wink at people, talk only about beautiful values, passion, peace, making things and the world better. It works perfectly and is desirable in social settings. Much less so if you want to do branding.
Even though NLP nonsense tells you that negations don't work, in cognitive science the exact opposite is true. It's easier to remember my fight against fake gurus than my nerdy obsession with data, graphic beauty, eliminating every waste in my agency's processes to offer great prices, great margins, and pay my team well. Those are bland topics. Whereas remembering that "Galvani is the guy cited in the Treccani encyclopedia because he tears apart the charlatans, the conspiracy theorists, and those who run ads full of lies" is infinitely easier. I'm 90% someone who creates, who fights "FOR" things, not "AGAINST" — but there's no point denying it: antagonism anchors itself to our tribal instincts and our biases memorize negations and oppositions better.
Of course, "fighting for something" (what do you stand for?) has no free lunches. That's why as individuals it's best not to overdo it. But in business? Oh man! I literally give up every day on having as clients anyone who attended a fake guru's course, who follows the latest Theory-bro, or went to some convention like "Marketers World." Every day I give up on having as clients those who only want my intellectual side and are annoyed by my character-building that oscillates between Descartes and bodily fluid metaphors.
But are these clients I want? No. Are they clients with money? Largely no — they're kids, micro-entrepreneurs, suckers. So it's a well-calculated sacrifice.
I lose something. Not everyone is like that. But "fighting against something" creates around me a small tribe of people I LOVE having as clients, or simply as connections. Great people. Dead serious but ready for a crude joke when needed (like me). Often smarter than me, but grounded in reality, and who despise mindfucking.
What do you stand for?
Or better: are you actually giving up something substantial to build a stronger brand, or is it just a bluff?
