All The Successful SaaS Companies Have A ‘Big Idea’. What’s Yours?
There is no marketing genius that has a perfect success record.
Even the undisputed king of Madison Avenue didn’t get it right all the time.
Yes I am talking about David Ogilvy, the father of modern advertising.
If you’re a SaaS founder or marketer, strap in your seat belts securely for we are going on a merry go round ride on one important element of startup growth.
For today’s ride, David Ogilvy is the driver, and I’m his trusty sidekick in the passenger’s seat.
Although, Ogilvy died before the SaaS era as we know it, startups can learn a lot about marketing from him.
For example, you likely know about Dove soap. Yes, Dove, a product from the multinational consumer giant, Unilever.
What if I tell you that Dove is a household name today because of Ogilvy?
The way Dove was marketed to the general public was (and still is) pure genius.
This is how it all went down…
Ogilvy, weary after two failed assignments for the lever brothers (now known as Unilever), was determined to redeem and prove himself with the third project from the client.
Although the client gave him strict instructions on the angle and idea to advertise the soap from…
Ogilvy’s customer research revealed that the target audience could care less about that angle.
Pause. Let’s look at the above paragraph again. Research revealed what the target audience wanted (or didn’t want in this case).
The point I’m trying to make is self explanatory but let me reiterate…
Research is the bedrock of your business.
You have to know what the market wants first, and then create a product to fit that market.
Or, if you already have an existing product, adjust your product to fit that market.
Ok back to what I was saying.
Once Ogilvy found out that the proposed angle was a no go area, he knew he had to come up with something mind blowing… and fast.
Here’s what he did.
He went back to the client, told him of the disappointing results, and went on to further research more about the product.
In the middle of a boring and technical presentation by one of the chemists, booooom!
Ogilvy had an Eureka moment.
So apparently Dove soap is composed of an ingredient that doesn’t leave the skin dry after use I.e it moisturizes the skin.
Thus, Ogilvy’s biggest sales idea was borne… The “1/4 moisturizing cream” formula.
This campaign pulled in 63% more orders for the soap than any other competing brands at that time.
Whew!
Now, look at the above ad again. What do you think made it such a success?
The beautiful image of the woman used? The name of the soap? The landline?
No. The reason for the raging success of the Dove campaign…
The Big Idea.
The big idea of this soap is…
“DOVE IS ONE-QUARTER CLEANSING CREAM — IT CREAMS YOUR SKIN WHILE YOU WASH.”
Can you see how that would have fascinated a lot of people? A soap that doesn’t leave your skin dry. It creams your skin while you wash.
A killer idea if I do say so myself!
Ok enough of Ogilvy and Dove.
Let’s get into the nitty gritty.
What is a big idea?
Andy Mukolo describes a big idea as “Saying something in a new different way that people have not heard before”. The job of a big idea is to hold your prospect’s attention.
David Ogilvy goes on further to say “It takes a big idea to attract the attention of customers and get them to buy your product”
Big ideas are new ways of looking at old concepts. You absolutely don’t need to invent new things before your product is a success.
Even products in saturated markets can sell well provided they are marketed with a big idea.
How does having a big idea fit in with your SaaS brand?
In a world where every startup has more than nine competitors competing in the same marketing segment, your SaaS startup needs a big idea to set you apart from your competitors.
How to discover your big idea
David Ogilvy, once talked about 5 questions that will help you identify a big idea:
- Did it make me gasp when I first saw it?
- Did I wish I had thought of it myself?
- Is it unique?
- Does it fit the strategy to perfection?
- Could it be used for 30 years?
If you ticked all the above boxes, congratulations, you are one of the few people who actually have a big idea.
But if you don’t yet tick all the boxes and have a big idea, don’t fret, I’m going to show you how to develop one .
Although there’s no one particular blueprint for developing a big idea, your big idea will show itself in the least expected places.
The best advice I can give on developing a big idea is one that David Ogilvy himself gave…
“Big ideas come from the unconscious… But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process.” — David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising, p.16
What does this mean?
Research. It is the backbone of your big idea.
Before David Ogilvy created the Rolls Royce ad, he spent two weeks researching the product .
Research EVERYTHING about your product, your competitors’ angle, and your audience.
Now, most times your big idea won’t reveal itself in your research, but your research will open the doors to great ideas. You feed your subconscious during the research process and it rewards you by coming up with an amazing idea when you least expect it.
Having discovered your big idea,
Where should you apply your big idea?
Should your big idea span across your brand i.e copy, content, emails etc?
Simple answer, Yes!
Now more than ever, the big idea of your company should reflect across all your mediums of communication: content, emails, copy, ads, etc
“Originality and unique value are still essential for commanding attention — and they still draw attention away from ideas that are smaller and less ambitious. If anything, the effect today is even more pronounced, with search engine algorithms and social media feeds reinforcing the visibility of content that changes the game.” Source
When drift honed in on conversational marketing as their niche, they used it everywhere: press releases, headlines, their homepage copy, and their conversations. The result, customers started to use it all on their own.
This marketing takeaway from leadfeeder sums it up:
If you brand a term, you need to own it. Own its definition and its SEO fingerprint — become (and stay) the authority on the thing you created.
Now, Let’s examine 3 SaaS companies that made use of the big idea concept and are currently doing well.
3 SaaS companies with big ideas:
- HubSpot: Customer relations management(CRM) was not a new term in 2006.
The big guys like Sales force were into it and had a huge chunk of the market already. Although Hubspot is essentially a CRM product , it’s founders refused to call it CRM so that prospects won’t compare it directly to Sales force.
After research and observation, they discovered that people were desensitized to the in your face marketing that their competitors were doing. People wanted to be helped.
Hence, the term ‘inbound marketing’ was founded… a new approach to reaching customers.
Inbound marketing is Hubspot’s big idea and it worked tremendously well for them to the point where they released an inbound marketing course in hubspot’s Academy.
Today, Hubspot has grown into the CRM tag. But the inbound marketing is still synonymous to Hubspot.
2. Drift: At a time where all other chat box companies were focused on support teams, Drift knew they had to stand out from their competitors.
The sales and marketing experience of one of the co founders led to their light bulb moment: Going deep on sales and marketing aspect of chat boxes.
Thus the term, ‘Conversational Marketing’ was borne, making it Drift’s identity and the core of their company.
3. Apple: These iconic words cemented the gospel of Apple.
“To the crazy ones. Here’s to the misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The people who see the world differently.”
Those were the opening words of the ‘Think Different’ campaign by apple and the unveiling of apple’s big idea.
Now Apple is technically not a SaaS company, but they are a great example of how a big idea can shape a business.
I shudder to think of how apple would have later turned out without the ‘think different’ campaign. They probably would have faded into extinction.
Before this campaign, apple was struggling. The public had a skewed image of Steve Jobs and apple was “hemorrhaging”. They were in a bad shape.
The big idea of the think different campaign was basically showcasing your uniqueness by owning an apple product.
Fast forward to today, and that idea is still working for apple. Owing an iPhone or MacBook is associated with a feeling of pride.
You know what fascinates me? The fact that pre ‘think different’ era (in 1997), apple was being called a “toy”. As if that wasn’t enough, they were chastised for not having the same operating system as everyone else.
Fast forward to Post ‘think-different’ era, apple’s different operating system is what makes it Apple…the most profitable company in the world with a market value of nearly $2.3 trillion.
Truly, an original big idea for your SaaS product will let you stand out from your competition even in a red ocean market. Discover one, and I guarantee you that your product will not be easily forgotten. Remember…
I leave you with these words from David Ogilivy…
“Try and get great ideas, great ideas that nobody has ever had before will last for years”
Tamilore is a storytelling SaaS content marketer and copywriter. Book a free discovery call to analyze your startup marketing strategy and needs here.
