When it’s distilled down to its most basic core, marketing is about relationships. Pure. Simple. Very Touchy-Feely.
Therefore, when I preach that
Surprise is perhaps the most important aspect of contemporary marketing, its
influence goes way beyond merely what we buy, and extends into relationships of
all types.
Most notably the personal kind.
So, when I said Friday that I would
dig deeper into the ramifications of The Five Things Meme—which has become so viral that
Vladimir Putin could use it to get rid of the next rogue Russian spy—this is
where I was going. (Uh, into personal
relationships, not Russia...)
Think back to your first date with
your current, or most recent, significant other. In most cases, it was a real treat. But even if it was the Date From Hell, what
mattered most was your Surprise learnings.
First dates are the place where the
Five Things Meme gets played out face-to-face. There’s a relative stranger in front of you, and for this random pairing to have even the slightest hope of ever
becoming a relationship, you need to establish some common ground. So you toss out a few factoids, hoping
they’ll result in a positive reaction. And the positive reactions that really magnetize you two are the ones that raise the
eyebrows, the “I didn’t know”s.
“I didn’t know you were into Tom Waits!”
or
“I didn’t know you were so environmentally conscious!”
or
“I didn’t know you also had a parent die of cancer.”
or, in my case,
“I didn’t know you were such a lunatic!”
With The Five Things Meme, bloggers
and their readers all over the world are embarking on virtual “first dates,” so
to speak, and no matter how revealing their previous writings may be, they are—hopefully!—unearthing
a scoopful of fresh Pow! with their Five Things post.
I don’t wanna get all Dr. Phil on
you here, but the diminishing element of Surprise over the years is why so many
personal relationships break down. After a while amongst couples, every action
is expected, every story has been told dozens of times and every move is
choreographed. Predictability breeds contempt, and is the lifeblood of divorce
lawyers everywhere.
So if this new-age chain letter is
finding ultra-traction, it’s because of the newfound spark of Surprise it is generating between
the blogosphere relationships we have previously established.
To its further credit, it is also establishing
a whole new batch of relationships, like the one I now have with Nancy Friedman
over at Away With Words. And until she reads this very line, she didn't even know one existed!
One last point on personal relationships: wanna keep yours going? Then keep finding ways to Surprise the one you love. It ain’t easy, and some will backfire (somewhat like Kid Rock seeing Pam Anderson in the Borat movie), but I guarantee the effort to return of the wide-eyed discovery of your first date will result in excitement, conversation, interest and a solidification of your bond.
And if not, you can always use it as a story in your next Five Things revelation.