m-cause

As most of you know, I live in Geneva, Switzerland.  A few months ago I talked about the potential for mini black holes appearing in my backyard once the Large Hadron Collider at CERN started full operations.  Well, today, scientists cranked up the biggest atom smasher in the world inside a 17-mile (27-kilometer) long tunnel underneath the French-Swiss border.  The Collider ushered in a new era of scientific discovery by firing its first proton beam down a large circular tube.

If you don’t hear from me for a few weeks, then perhaps I have been sucked into a mini black hole of nothingness…

Speaking of black holes of nothingness.  What would you consider “black holes” in marketing?  Would you consider a black hole of marketing to be the infamous “middle”…that dark area that you cannot defend because it is too wide or there are too many players?

Here is a great post on black holes in marketing…below is an excerpt from that post:

The poet Yeats said, “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.” The center is untenable. The biggest brands usually have a big enough base to straddle the middle. The specialists cling to the edge. The rest have one of these characteristics-

1. They try to appeal to all sides, but they don’t have the wherewithal to stretch that far.
2. They have a niche, but no exclusivity.
3. They strangle themselves by hiring poor employees.
4. They fall easy prey to stronger players who delight to under-price and out-service them.

The drown-ees are stuck in the middle of the pool, can’t swim, have no life-preserver and no paddle.

Here’s what they need to do:

1. A Persian proverb says, “No matter how far you’ve traveled down the wrong path, turn back.
2. Cut your losses and begin again. You’ve already stopped to smell the roses, so act.
3. Get back to basics and create a useful brand. Pick an edge to the perceptual map and latch on to it with a strong product and appealing positioning.