Should you swear in your marketing?

Fuck.

There, I've said it.

I gather you weren't expecting that. And if you were then you probably fall into one of two camps: you either love it or hate it.

And that's the beauty of swearing in your marketing:

• Firstly, it gives the audience an element of surprise
• Secondly, it makes you stand out because so few companies actually do it
• And thirdly, it splits opinions

It's the third benefit that offers the biggest upside.

Indifference doesn't sell

When we try and sell something, the worst place for a potential customer to be is in the middle. Feelings of indifference don't sell anything. The worst sentence you can hear in sales is "let me think about it"

What you really want to hear is 'fuck yes' or 'fuck no'.

Ideally you want to attract the people that absolutely LOVE what you do and alienate those who don't and definitely wouldn't buy from you anyway.

And that is what swearing does. It splits opinion. It makes people choose one of two camps - either they LOVE it or they HATE it. From a brand and sales point of view, that is EXACTLY what you want.

Doug Kessler explains this (better than I can) here:

Be strategic

Now, I'm not saying you should swear for swearing's sake. You shouldn't. It needs to be strategic and entertaining rather than simply shocking. But when done correctly, it can be a powerful force.

I am a big believer in writing like you talk and I have never met a farmer who doesn't swear - including myself!

Based on this I think there is a moral duty for brands in the agricultural space to swear in their marketing yet so few actually do. I hope to change this over time.

This article here builds the case for why more brands should be swearing in their marketing.

I hope this gives you some inspiration.

Until next week.....