Click the image for details How can one find effective marketing strategies? My experience is to "reject the first idea," even to "reject the first three ideas," especially those that everyone "unanimously" agrees upon. I am not the first to propose this view; it was originally put forward by a German field marshal. He knew that staff officers always devise several plans, usually three, so he often said: tell me directly what the fourth plan is. Marketing, like war, is competitive, just as sports competitions rank participants and surpass opponents. To surpass opponents, one must be different from them, especially different from the majority of competitors. If reflected in marketing thinking, it means rejecting the thinking and methods that converge with opponents, especially the majority. In the marketing field, "being different" is not necessarily effective, but "being unanimous" is definitely ineffective. The first idea that pops into your mind usually also pops into your opponent's mind first, so reject the first one; similarly, the first three ideas that pop into your mind are the same, so reject the first three ideas as well; in short, try to pass on anything that even your opponents can easily think of. Since my first day in the marketing field, I have done this. Initially, it was "forced," but gradually it became a habit. When I first started, I had no reputation. A group of friends provided consulting to enterprises, and each time I was "at the bottom of the list." When it was my turn to speak, the ideas I could think of had already been said by others. As a supporting role, I couldn't stay silent, nor could I repeat what others said, and my content had to be valuable and impressive. So, my approach was to reject the first idea. Later, I found that this was not enough, because others could easily think of your first three ideas too. Therefore, I cut off the first batch of ideas entirely and shifted to another way of thinking: what methods can others not think of? Which of those methods are valuable? As a result, my "bottom-of-the-list" speeches often received unexpected praise. Over time, this practice gradually formed my current thinking habit, which is "unexpected yet reasonable" thinking. Now, whether attending forums or serving enterprises, the situation is vastly different. I am grateful for my bold attempt to "be original" back then. Otherwise, I might forever be sitting on a small stool, or even lose the chance to sit on one. Do not think that "rejecting the first idea" is just a rule of thumb; in fact, it is a specific application of the economic principle of the "fallacy of composition." The "paradox of bumper harvest" is a classic case of the fallacy of composition: an individual farmer's bumper harvest is a good thing, but if all farmers have bumper harvests, it may not be a happy event. Because with unchanged demand, all farmers having bumper harvests means grain prices fall, possibly leading to the phenomenon of "bumper harvest without bumper income." In the marketing field, "unanimous" ideas are likely to form a fallacy of composition, resulting in the phenomenon of "bumper harvest without bumper income." When everyone did not know what "distribution" was, the first batch of people who started distribution succeeded; when distribution became a basic skill for all marketers, distribution no longer generated competitiveness. When everyone did not know what "terminal sales" was, the first batch who did terminal sales succeeded; when terminal sales became a consensus among marketers, terminal sales only consumed marketing resources without generating competitiveness. When enterprises were not large in scale, economies of scale held; when all enterprises expanded their scale, they entered the stage of scale "dis"economies. When enterprises did not build brands, those who built brands succeeded; when building brands became a consensus, brands could only generate "premium" but not "excess profit." I have always said that marketing is a "tricky" profession. Its trickiness lies in the fact that once you learn what you need to master, and once the majority also masters it, it immediately loses its value. The value of a marketer lies not in how much experience and knowledge you have, but in how much experience and knowledge you possess that others do not. If you think you can do marketing just by reading Kotler's "Marketing Management" textbook, you are greatly mistaken. Because "Marketing Management" is a must-read for those enthusiastic about marketing. Unless you can read out flavors from "Marketing Management" that others have not. If you only read bestsellers, then it is very dangerous. Because the more popular a book is, the more people read it, and the less value it has in making you different. Therefore, while bestsellers should be read, the key is how many non-bestsellers you have read. A different way of thinking, a different knowledge system, and different marketing experience—these are the fundamentals of being a "evergreen" marketer. -END-