Advertising-less Advertising

Recently I had read a blog post by my fellow classmate Shawn Davis about the "advertisement" of marijuana. Shawn pointed out a very interesting fact "it literally markets itself: no ads on buses, skytrains, TVs, magazines, and for the most part even the internet" and at that point, I realized that there are so many more businesses which do not advertise at all, but still comes back with incredible amount of revenue.

Take facebook for an example, one of the most unbelievable story of the past decade. I think we can all recall how we first became the "addicts" that we are. We did not get talked into by some random sales person, nor did we see any direct TV commercials. Chances are we first stepped into the world of endless-hours-of-being-on-facebook after hearing our friends talking about it. This is the power of "customer loyalty", and it's one of the most effective ways of spreading popularity.

We trust our friends and family more than anything. Hours of persuasion by a stranger could not compare to a 5 minute chat with a friend. We believe that these people that we trust always have our best interests in mind, and that they do not try to get anything out of us. 

That's what's so great about "customer loyalty".  It's relatively cheap compare to other methods of promotion, and it's far more effective. But of course, to have a solid foundation of "fans", a venture must have some sort of competitive advantage over others, and always treat their customers with respect and care.




(picture source: http://xprojectmanagement.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/customer-loyalty_retention.jpg)