This Is Marketing: You Cant Be Seen Until You Learn to See

 CHAPTER TEN 
Trust and Tension Create Forward Motion
Pattern match/pattern interrupt
You’re going to do one or the other.
The pattern match is business as usual. When the offering you bring
matches the story we tell ourselves, the way we tell it, the pace we’re used
to, the expense and the risk . . . it’s an easy choice to add you to the mix.
Consider the family with young kids that’s used to a never-ending parade
of breakfast cereals. Cocoa Krispies led to Lucky Charms led to Frosted
Flakes—whichever one is on sale or has a cool promo (that a kid yells
about). When your new brand of cereal shows up, buying it is a pattern
match. Sure, why not?
Or it might be as simple as a sitcom on Thursday night at 9 p.m. Millions
sit down every week to watch TV . . . you’re not trying to change their
pattern; you’re simply putting your new offering into the mix that already
exists.
A pattern interrupt, on the other hand, requires some sort of jolt. Tension
is created, and energy is diverted to consider this new input. Is it something
worth considering? Most of the time, for most of those you seek to reach,
the answer is no. The answer is no because the patterns are established, time
is precious, and risk is something to be feared.
If you want someone who has never hired a gardener to hire you to be
their gardener, you’re asking for a pattern interrupt. If you are trying to
secure a five thousand-dollar donation from a wealthy person who
habitually makes hundred-dollar donations to charity, you face the same
challenge. The pattern requires undoing before you can earn forward
motion.

---

When life interferes, new patterns are established. This is why it’s so
profitable to market to new dads, engaged women, and people who have
recently moved. They don’t have a pattern to match, so it’s all an interrupt.
On the other hand, the purchasing manager at a typical organization has
been taught that matching the pattern is the best way to keep a steady job
with no surprises.
The best time to market a new app is when the platform is brand new.
When you market to someone who doesn’t have a pattern yet, you don’t
have to persuade them that their old choices were mistakes.