9xb - Creating Online Success

ARE YOU MORRISSEY OR CHRISTINA?

One is the moaning guy from Manchester with a quiff, the other is a pouting nymphette whose midriff hasn't been covered since 1998. So why do you care, and what lessons can you learn from them about your website?

Morrissey, to those who follow his work, is the greatest thing since, well, anything because he has lyrics in his songs like give me a drink, and make it quick – or else I'm gonna be sick all over your red pullover or you're the one for me, Fatty – promise you'll say if I’m ever in your way. You can argue forever about his appeal or lack thereof, but for what he does there is no substitute. This has meant a career approaching 25 years, during which the adoration of his audience has simple refused to dim.

Christina Aquilera is more or less the anti-Morrissey. Young, prone to flesh exposure and generally singing about what she's going to do to her next man (as a rule: get dirty). She probably outsells Morrissey fifty to one. She appears on bottles of pop, the sides of buses and in an arena near you TONITE! She is the latest bouncy pop floozie in a long line of bouncy pop floozies. But she shifts records, and everyone is clamouring for pictures, gossip and advertising opportunities with her. She is a phenonemon!

What you can learn...

Oddly, it takes more effort to keep Christina at the top of the charts. Whereas Morrissey could release Agadoo played on a tin whistle and still reach the top twenty, Christina has to constantly push the envelope. She must show more flesh, have a more outrageous video and sing louder and longer than before. All of which costs her marketing people serious money. She makes more, in a crowded marketplace, but she certainly costs an awful lot more too.

So if you asked your customers who you were, what do you think they'd say? Do they see you as somebody who is more or less the same as everybody else, or something really unique?

If you've got the budget, it probably doesn't matter if your business is the same as everyone else's. You can take the Christina approach and throw money at new ideas, makeovers and offers. Otherwise, try to find the Morrissey angle: one thing about your online business that your customers simple can't get anywhere else.

Today's moral?

Appearing different can be as successful as appearing everywhere.

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