Embracing quirky
May 4th, 2007
“What makes this business great are the knuckleheads. All the people just slightly left of center. This business seems to attract them.
All in all, they make for an interesting day at the office, these oddballs, artists, misfits, cartoonists, poets, beatniks, creepy quiet guys and knuckleheads.”
-Luke Sullivan in “Hey Whipple, Squeeze This”
Why are you afraid of those quirky people that love your company? And why aren’t you embracing them? Are you afraid that they might not look like Ken and Barbie? Are you afraid they don’t have 2.5 kids and a white picket fence? Or are you afraid that they (gasp) might want to talk to you some more?!
Listen, quirky is what makes life interesting. Quirky is the salt of the earth. Quirky usually has great stories attached. It’s not vanilla. Or predictable. Or boring.
So don’t be afraid of your quirky fans. They’re YOUR FANS, after all. And if you reach out, you just might learn something. In fact, I know you will.
Other posts by Spike.
Eduardo says:
I love this article and I love quirky people. It’s sameness that I find boring. Sameness never leads to any great innovations or discoveries. I’ve written several articles on this topic…here’s one
http://www.reddeerblog.com/2007/04/you-laugh-at-me.html
I just discovered this blog and it is certainly worth returning to!
Truthteller site
May 6th, 2007 at 6:16 amhttp://www.reddeerblog.com
Christy says:
Hah! You are so right. Dangit, you haven’t given me anything to challenge lately…
I work with a brilliant guy; this is our second time working at the same company. At our previous gig, he was the quiet one. Everyone wondered why we recruited him for the next gig. What was once the guy who “burped in meetings and scratched his belly” is now the guy who keeps us on our toes, calls a spade a spade, and can bring more great ideas to the table than our entire team combined.
The brilliant part is that he sparks creativity in *us*. After being lit by him, we all think better and more creatively.
Oh, and he’s a die-hard evangelist who will tell you about Sottini’s sub shop in Ann Arbor and Pete the Barber in Detroit.
Fabulous post, Spike.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:36 amSpike says:
Great comment, Eduardo. Sameness is the death of a business - especially if it gets embedded in the people that work there.
Sorry, Christy, I’ll try harder to give you something the challenge!
May 7th, 2007 at 6:32 amCK says:
Actually entire industries are built on bolstering quirky fans(take the Comic-Cons that rose from Sci-Fi fans). Look at what Subway did with Jared (who, um, was so ‘embraced’ he became not quirky about sandwiches but annoying). The most memorable idols other than the winners? The quirky kids at the auditions that can’t sing.
You’re finding industries are avoiding their quirky fans? I’m finding that more and more are on the lookout for them.
May 7th, 2007 at 1:00 pmChristy says:
Sorry, CK… I’ve worked with tons of companies that want the “normal” person as the product fan. They don’t see the value of leveraging someone as memorable as Moe Cheese dancing the curly shuffle at every Red Wings game. To us, it just makes sense. I can’t wait for the rest of corporate America to catch up. After all, we are talking about outliers and non-corporate references so far.
May 8th, 2007 at 7:13 amCK says:
Agreed it makes sense. Embracing all makes sense but loving the fans (passionate customers) who do your marketing for you is just plain logical. Guess they’ll have to lose market share (and fans) in order to learn. So much unnecessary fear and good marketing opps wasted.
May 8th, 2007 at 8:56 am