To build a business empire, own an opinion (not a marketing budget)

[Ali Mese]

Elon Musk is inching towards being the world's richest man.

He is often hailed as the new Steve Jobs and perennially feted by the media, tech geeks and first principle enthusiasts, and, and...I could go on and on. Many do.

But none of these reveals his true genius.

His skill in marketing is the real superpower driving the electric machine.

His social escapades make Gary Vee look like he's just not trying hard enough! 

Elon is a figurehead for the new wave of marketing. Context Marketing.

Mathew Sweezey coined this term in his excellent book ''The Context Marketing Revolution." He posits that the customer is the new media channel creating more news and noise than traditional media and brands combined.

To better understand what this implies, let's take a look at the usual startup approach. 

1. Build

2. Market

3. Sell

His approach inverts this paradigm by following this loop. 

1. Market

2. Sell

3. Build

4. Market

However, as much as we all love Elon–he certainly wasn't the first on the good ship contrarian.

37 Signals-aka, the Basecamp crew have been doing this for a while.

Following on from the success of Basecamp, their latest product launch is a masterclass in owning a narrative.

The target this time–email.

Here's some of their current copywriting that set their tone.

|| Email sucked for years. Not anymore — we fixed it.

HEY's fresh approach transforms email into something you want to use, not something you're forced to deal with. ||

The fundamental tenets of the approach are edgy but simple:

1. Own an opinion - email sucks [well, not many dissenters there]

2. Pick a fight with a larger foe and present them as a bully

3. Explain a whole new way of thinking

By owning an opinion, the aim is not to sell a product but to sell a new way of thinking.

The goal is to sell to people who share your contrarian opinion– the ones who believe what you believe [a-la-Simon Sinek]