Tangles, Bangles and Angles

Genetic memory?

Seems I’ve always had a fascination with tangled string. It could be OCD. But, whenever I do see tangled string, line or rope, I have a compulsion to untangle it. The challenge is not cutting it – ever! It helps refine my problem-solving skills. It helps me to further develop my observation skills. Others in the family love doing puzzles. I can’t stand them.

The more I do and teach marketing, the more similarities I see between it and tangled string. Marketing, to me, controls current, as well as, potential problems. The cause is more important than the effect. Yet, many business owners and marketers concentrate on the effect. Tangled string is the effect of the lack of attention or improper handling and storage. Line, what sailors call rope, has a specific lay. It “curls” naturally and when the nature of the line is ignored, the line gets fouled – tangled.

Mind your lines and you won’t get them tangled or worse yet, get tangled in them. Solving a marketing mystery as to why something is either unexpectedly working or, not working as expected requires experience in untangling string. Many businesses try to pinpoint the cause of their under-performance as if it were a puzzle to be solved. A puzzle has all of the pieces of a bigger picture. The challenge is putting them together to reveal the whole picture. Untangling string, on the other hand, is a lot different because it is a deconstructive process while puzzle making is a constructive or reconstructive process, if you prefer. The difference is in the thought processes.

When the puzzle picture (the problem) is reassembled it’s the same old picture you started out with. When line is untangled, it is the same line as before but, the only difference is that now it’s functional. And, in its re-purposed state, the cause of the tangle remains clear and the actions that lead to the tangle can be avoided.

Hope this is making sense to you! A tangle is a muddle and a muddle is something that is unclear. Most products are not properly promoted because their true nature, representation or what they signify hasn’t been made clear to consumers. Pricing issues can also become quite muddled because price is promoted when a better way would be to tout the value representation. Price is logic. Value is emotion. Consumers, no matter what they say, buy on emotion. And if your store or web page doesn’t clearly show customers where to go, what to do and how to do it; they will not only be in a muddle, they’ll elsewhere and buy there.

There was once an off-price (factory outlet) in New Bedford that featured high-end designer fashions at deep discounted pricing. They muddled their communication message by aligning London, Rome and Paris with Milan and New Bedford. The obvious lack of credibility was just part of the larger problem. Local shoppers, seeing how serious the positioning message was aligning these major international cities with New Bedford felt that they could not afford most of what the designer factory outlet was offering. Customers had to be shipped in from New York and Connecticut.

The reason for my fascination with tangled string it seems is based in genetic memory. My ancestor, Antoine Fortier, came to the new world, actually New France (Canada) in 1654 with his father. He married one of the richest women in Canada and it has been said that the cream of Canadian society (French) was at the wedding. The only persons of power not in attendance at this social event of the year were Louis XIV, Cardinal Richelieu and Pope Blessed Innocent XI. Antoine used his marriage connections well. He was chartered by France to fish and trade in designated areas. Seems fishing regulations have been around for awhile. Legend has it that he was always imploring his sons to mind their deck lines. The irony of it all was that his foot became tangled in the anchor line and he plummeted to the bottom of the St. Lawrence River to his death.

No matter how well a business is doing, it can always do better. Shiny advertising promotions (bangles) don’t always cut it. The newest “thing” or the quick and “sure fire” way to do business is also not always the most effective. From my perspective, looking out for the tangles that choke up your business operation and straightening them out is always a better way to solve the problem. The problem can usually be traced to not having or consistently employing a unique selling proposition, or promise or, offer. Another is not trying hard enough to standout from your competition. Even worse in my estimation is not owning the word that describes what you do or offer. Purdue owes the word chicken. iPod is the word for mp3 player. Not having or employing a wow factor makes what you do seem boring and homogenized. To borrow from a classic Dunkin Donuts slogan, It’s time to untangle the string and get the kinks out of your business.