Sorry 37 Signals, but you should really give your marketing strategy more credit

I’ve always admired 37 Signals as a company ever since I read Getting Real over a year ago. But when Matt Linderman wrote about formulating what, in my opinion, are marketing strategies based on self promotion and “riding the wave” I lose a modicum of respect for them.

From Signal Vs. Noise, 37Signals’ blog:

8. Ride the wave. Seek momentum and ride it. Is everyone buzzing about the iPhone? Then make an iPhone app. Are people interested in rapid development processes? Then blog about building your app in, say, under a month. Find out what people are talking about already and then figure out a way to get in the picture.

First of all, we all know that the market doesn’t need another mediocre product and how, pray tell, is the “ride the wave” mentality going to allow R&D teams to come up with a proverbial Purple Cow?

Starbucks became a Purple Cow not by “Riding the wave” and releasing a complementary creamer for Maxwell House coffee but by boldly introducing the phenomenal coffee bar concept to a market that, at that time, seemed to be unreceptive to the idea.

And even 37Signals as a company did not “Ride the wave” to get in the frame. The fact that their first product, Basecamp showcased the organic unity of milestone management, messaging, files sharing, and to-do list never before seen made it a remarkable product that took little time to spread virally–a Purple Cow.

Surely, Matt Linderman et al. know that they should give themselves more credit.

And about the “Self Promotion” bit, I think Seth Godin says it best:

37 Signals, as usual, has a thoughtful post about self promotion.

Except they missed the biggest part, by a mile.

They don’t do self-promotion. Self-promotion, as the term is used by many people, is a mildly pejorative way to describe someone who promotes himself at the expense of others.

Nobody says, “That Yo Yo Ma, he’s so self-promotional,” or, “can you believe what a self-promoter the Dalai Lama is?” That’s because they’re not promoting themselves. They’re promoting useful ideas. They’re promoting tactics or products that actually benefit the person they’re reaching out to.

Paris Hilton is a self-promoter. You don’t get any benefit out of her appearances other than temporary entertainment value and some schadenfreude. The guys at 37 Signals have never done a bit of self-promotion in their entire careers. That’s because they’re doing you-promotion, not me-promotion.

Yes, yes and yes.

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