It’s The Most Powerful Word In Marketing…
By: Barry Davret
Tags: Marketing, Startup, Entrepreneurship, Business, Leadership

It’s The Most Powerful Word In Marketing…

And You Can’t Buy It

Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash

Back when I lived in New York City, I lived near a diner that served the most amazing fries I’ve ever eaten. I have no idea if the restaurant is still there. I can’t recall the name, but the fries were so good, they earned the most remarkable distinction a brand can earn. They did not buy this distinction — that is not possible. They did not ask for this distinction. That is possible, as you will discover later.

My friends and I referred to this diner’s french fries as “The Fries.” Yes, just “The Fries.” We did not attach any other qualifier or name to it. If someone said, “let’s get The Fries later,” we knew what it meant. There was no need to say “the fries on 76th and 1st” or the fries at [insert restaurant]. Think about the significance of that. Thousands of restaurants in NYC served french fries. If someone said “The Fries,” it could only mean one place out of thousands.

There is perhaps no greater marketing and brand coup than the word “The.”

If you become The [anything], you have earned a distinction that nobody can match.

You cannot buy this distinction. You can claim it but your body of work must justify it. If you lack the justification, you will sound like a buffoon.

Last year I took Seth Godin’s marketing course. He calls it The Marketing Seminar. It was a gutsy move that worked. Marketing is a wide-ranging discipline with a seemingly infinite number of practitioners.

Why Is It So Powerful?

To call your course “The Marketing Seminar” implies that you have the knowledge, experience, and body of work to back up the claim — he does. If anyone else had tried such a scheme, it would have backfired.

The word “The” implies top level. It implies you’re the patriarch or matriarch of your niche. It declares your product or service sets the standard by which we judge all others.

There is “The Design Queen” and there are all others.

There is “The Marketing Seminar” and there are all others.

Claim Your “The”

There are two ways to be become “The” person or brand of your nice or industry. Someone can dub you that person. My friends and I dubbed the diner on 76th and 1st as the place that serves “The Fries.”

If they had made that claim, it wouldn’t have worked. “Who are these guys to claim they have the best fries?” They’re one of a thousand diners in New York City. It would have been tough to make that claim and make it stick.

It happened organically. We started referencing it as the place for fries and it stuck. It’s one of those magical quirks of group culture that you cannot reverse engineer. Yes, you need to do or produce something otherworldly. But that’s not enough. I have never dubbed a bakery as the place to get “The Cookies,” or a bar as “The Place For Beer.”

The owners of this diner did nothing other than creating insanely delicious french fries. Chance took care of the rest. You can help the process along by creating labels around your best work. This diner could have called their fries “The Fries” on their menu. With enough repetition, it might encourage organic growth. It’s possible to make this work, but it requires a bit of luck.

Be Bold

Your second option is to dub yourself the “The” of your industry or niche. Let’s face it. Only a few people in the world have the body of work to claim that title in any industry. If you brand yourself as “The Design Guy,” or “The Marketing Gal,” you risk hurting your credibility. It sounds arrogant and delusional unless you have the resume to back it up. You need to earn the right to use that title. You cannot buy it. If you don’t have the history to back up your claim, it will backfire.

So where does that leave you? How do you become The guy, gal or brand of your industry?

Think Small

Forget industry and niche down. You may not have the chops to claim “The Design Guy or create “The Application Development Course,” but you might be able to claim a notch or two below. Consider these titles.

“The Marketing Guy For Dentists” instead of “The Marketing Guy.” “The Queen Of Marketing For Dentists In Northern New Jersey” instead of “The Queen Of Marketing.” “The Blogger Course For Techies” instead of “The Blogging Course.” “The Biblical Era Vampire Novelist” instead of “The Vampire Novelist.”

By niching down, you can claim that title as the go-to person in your niche. There’s an endless number of people who have accumulated an impressive body of work in marketing. How many of those folks specialized in marketing for dentists? How many specialize in marketing for dentists in northern New Jersey? How many authors of vampire novels focus on the biblical era? How many blogging courses appeal only to techies?

The further you drill down into a niche, the faster you can accumulate a body of work that positions you as an expert in that niche.

Where Do You Start?

There’s one thing both of these approaches have in common. You need to produce work that stands out above your competition. That’s how you claim “The” without sounding like an idiot. The diner made outstanding french fries. Seth Godin produced an in-depth course on marketing, sharing his unique expertise.

Look at where you are today. Examine your body of work. Think about the trajectory you’d like your career to take. Answer these two questions.

What “The” can you claim today?

What “The” do you aspire to become?”

Everyone can claim this title. If you’re just starting out, you have one advantage you can always assert. You have your unique voice, insight and experience. Nobody else can match it. Start with that and work your way forward.

Need an example? Let’s suppose I created a course called “The Davret Writing Method.” It would appeal to a tiny sliver of the market, but it would be unique to my experience and voice. If it were to gain traction, others would talk about it, generating more credibility and word of mouth.