Love it or hate it?

I love a good debate!

My son passed round the following website this morning: http://www.alittlebitofsomething.co.uk/

It instantly started a healthy discussion about whether or not it was a "good" website. Like Marmite, there didn't seem to be any middle ground; the reaction was either "love it" or "hate it".

The discussion continued on Twitter, with contributions from our followers along these lines:

"I think it goes too far and is in bad taste and I wouldn't use him"

"Yep, good site and makes him stand out from the crowd."

"He will stand out from the crowd as an individual designer but his approach will alienate a lot of clients."

"Exactly! "He will stand out from the crowd as an individual designer". I expect this is his aim, so it works."

So, when is a website in bad taste and when is it effective as a marketing tool?

You will recall that French Connection was considered to be in bad taste when it ran its various campaigns based on the acronym FCUK in the 1990's. However:

"Launched by French Connection in the late ’90′s it was a hugely successful ad campaign which went on to sell millions of clothes emblazoned with the acronym. A hallmark of the ’90′s, the brash, bold and controversial campaign summarised the decade perfectly, an era which brought us Brit pop, ladettes and girl power." Fashionbite.co.uk

That said, the 2001 campaign that extended the FCUK acronym to include the words Kinky Bugger was deemed to have gone too far, and the campaign was banned.

Marketing can, and often does stretch the boundaries of good taste in order to get noticed. A successful campaign is also about increasing brand awareness, and there is no doubting that both the French Connection campaigns were hugely successful as far as brand awareness was concerned.

With the website above that launched this discussion, the designer obviously has very clear ideas about how he works and the clients he wants to attract. Yes, he will very likely alienate some prospective clients, but has he decided that he doesn't want those clients anyway? Who is his target market? This is a question I ask every client I go to see. Understanding your target market, and making sure they identify with your marketing message is of paramount importance. Depending upon what you do, you cannot be all things to all people.

The FCUK campaign of the late 1990's tapped into that decade's zeitgeist; it wasn't intended to attract in customers aged over 40. Did it alienate some sectors of the consumer world? Most definitely, but it hit home where it was meant to hit home. 

I ask every client I see to describe what makes them unique. 95% of these clients will use the words "professional", "efficient" or "providing good customer service". This is not uniqueness. These terms should be the basis on which every business is run as standard. What makes YOU unique? What makes Marmite unique? Do you love it or hate it?

This particular website has done the viral rounds, been noticed, and has got people talking.  Can you say that your marketing methods have got people really talking about you and your brand?