Hair-Club-For-Men Marketing
This morning I heard a crazy radio ad. It was narrated by the owner of an identity theft protection company. His gimmick was revealing his entire social security number on the air. Pretty ballsy, I thought, daring any cyber-thief to try to steal his personal data. And he backs up his service with a million dollar guarantee to boot. It’s straight from the Hair-Club-For-Men school of marketing. You know…the guy who plugged his hair loss treatment company on TV by showing off his own company-installed hair plugs? “I’m not just the owner; I’m also a client,” he quipped. Other examples that come to mind are James Dyson, who invented a new fangled vacuum after being frustrated by vacs that sucked at sucking; and good old Victor Kiam, the former NE Patriots owner who liked Remington razors so much that he bought the company.
I have to admit that the identity theft guy’s ad caught my attention. I’ve been way too promiscuous online, recklessly handing over my personal information to any web service that caught my fancy. The only place my online identity hasn’t been is Heidi Fleiss’ little black book.
So that got me wondering: do ads like these work? Do companies in which the owners have skin in the game come across as credible, or is it just personalized snake oil? Do these ads compel you to buy? I want to know. Vote up or down in the poll below.
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