There Be Dragons... (Or Why We Love Craig)

Why is Craig's List such a rip-roaring success? Because it's free, because it's easy, because everyone's doing it... Here's another clue, a warning to users from the site itself: "DEAL ONLY WITH LOCALS! Most non-local inquiries on craigslist are scams." Objectively that may be true. Subjectively, it's even more true.

Forget globalism, cyberspace and the world-wide-this-or-that. At heart, we are still tribal villagers. We trust what is nearest. The people in the next state have funny accents. As for foreigners, the less said, the better. There is a power in locality that many marketers miss, especially when web-merized.

Here's a thought experiment for today. Find six ways to localize your brand. Just sticking a town-name in front is a start, but not too imaginative. Your localization needs to be authentic. Get in there, identify the city character as the denizens see it, not the tourists. Look for ways to relate that character to your brand. Then ask yourself how far you could localize your operations, create an outpost office, or at least a local champion... This exercise is about spending imagination, not cash.

Start with your home town and then "franchise" the concept city by city.

Just suppose: instead of the dead hand of Starbucks falling onto every street corner on the planet, pictue a true devolution — same product, systems and quality of service, but a coffee shop with look & feel true to the neighborhood. And yes, perhaps a local twist on the name...