I'm in a hotel room, away on business. It's October 2017, and I've got my little travel blender out on the desk with the fruit and veg for a morning smoothie, so I take a photo and share it on Instagram.
A comment pops up from a follower. They used to love a particular healthy food brand, they say, until it slagged off most of its own customers. Then they suggest the brand could do with a visit from me.
I have no idea what they're on about, so I go looking.
Biting the hand
It turns out one of the brand's founders had written a blog post having a go at people cutting foods out of their diet. It singled out vegetarians and vegans, and the documentaries that had inspired some of them.
This was a company selling several plant based milks, aimed squarely at those very people. Retailers were reported to be dropping it. And it wasn't the only slip. Around the same time the brand posted a jokey line about full fat milk that went down badly with exactly the same customers.
I'm not naming them here, because this isn't about one company. They're far from the only business that's done it, and they won't be the last.
People buy from people
If you don't know who your customers are, what they care about and what they believe, you're in trouble. It doesn't matter how good the product is. People buy from people, and they buy from businesses that seem to get them.
It's easy to forget when you're busy. You start talking about what you care about, and stop listening to what your customers care about. That's how a business ends up saying something that makes its best customers walk away.
The flip side is simple. If you don't care about your customers, why should they care about you?
Still happening
Nine years on, I see versions of this every month. A post that misreads the room. A joke at the expense of the very people paying the bills. It spreads faster than it did in 2017, and the screenshots last forever.
It's the opposite of reading a dancefloor, which I talk about in Bedroom decks, 1987. And it's why I keep saying your marketing isn't about you.
When did you last ask your customers what they actually care about? Ring or message a handful this week. Ask what they love, what bugs them, and why they chose you. Write down their exact words and use them next time you post.
First published October 2017.
