Recently The Doctor (of BBC’s Dr. Who) hid his companions with a simple device that skewed your attention just a wee bit to the left. So as they went past, the bad guys would just look away without realizing it and they could go on with saving the world and other such things.
If your product has fallen into the Gap of Despair there is a good chance prospects are doing exactly the same thing to your marketing message. It’s not that they are consciously deciding not to consider your product. They have unceremoniously and unconsciously put your ads, your message, your product into their blind spot. They don’t even realize you are being over-looked.
First response I usually see to this situation is a call for advertising to spice-it-up, which in general I’m for, but you can’t solve fundamental product deficiencies with spicier marketing.
Spicier marketing will grab their attention for a moment – they’ll remember the ad, but not your name. (We’ve all seen ads like this, twittering away about how funny it was and then completely forgetting what was being sold.)
Spicy communication tactics have their place. But first you must understand why you have fallen into the GAP. What changes to your product or target market are necessary before you grab for attention?
The Doctor’s technology did come with a flaw – if you stood right in front of a person, waved your arms and yelled, you would be seen. That’s what spicy communications can do for your product. Problem is, if you are not there to take down the bad guys and save your customer’s world (give or take) – they’ll forget about you as fast as they noticed you.