Why Is Your Marketing Copy Falling Flat?

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📰 Today's Edition: Why Is Your Marketing Copy Falling Flat?

You've tried every customer acquisition channel. Google Ads. Facebook. Cold emails. But nothing's working.

Your copy isn't converting. And you can't figure out if it's because your writing sucks or because people don't actually want your product.

But most founders miss that the problem isn't your channel strategy. The problem is your messaging has no teeth.

If you're not a natural writer (and let's be honest, I'm a purple hippocorn, so writing isn't exactly in my DNA), this is the easiest way to create a compelling copy without overthinking it.

Pick an enemy.

Why does controversy capture attention better than features?

We're all drowning in information. Everyone's distracted. You have roughly three seconds to capture someone's attention before they scroll past.

Even if you have an amazing product that everybody wants, how do you break through the noise?

Say something controversial. Pick an enemy.

This isn't about being mean or unethical. This is about positioning yourself clearly in opposition to something your target customers already recognize and maybe already dislike.

What does picking an enemy actually look like?

Third Love is a textbook example of this strategy in action.

The company sells personalized bras. Their actual value proposition is pretty straightforward: customized fit that works better than anything else.

But that's boring. Nobody clicks on "our bras fit better."

Instead, Third Love positioned themselves as the exact opposite of Victoria's Secret. 

Victoria's Secret's messaging was essentially: "Buy our bras to be attractive to men." Third Love flipped it: "Don't try to be attractive to men. Be you. Do you."

Everything they did was about picking that enemy. They even took out a full-page open letter to Victoria's Secret in the New York Times, calling them out for excluding plus-size customers.

As Heidi Zak, Third Love's CEO, explained in an interview: "Just saying that a Third Love bra is more comfortable on a Facebook ad wouldn't work. Our target market didn't know if that was true or not. At the start, our best ads had messages like 'Are you ready to graduate from Victoria's Secret?' That attracted curiosity."

Notice what happened there. The ultimate value proposition has nothing to do with Victoria's Secret. But what captured attention? The enemy.

Can you really build a brand around opposing someone else?

Salesforce did exactly this with their "No Software" campaign.

Here's the hilarious part: Salesforce IS software. It's literally software as a service. But back when they launched, they positioned themselves against desktop software that you had to install via CD-ROM onto your local machine.

They had people walking around in "No Software" costumes at conferences. They positioned themselves as anti-establishment, anti-old-way-of-doing-things. Markets today are saturated, and customers are overwhelmed with options. Salesforce cut through by being definitively NOT something their target customers were frustrated with.

The enemy was desktop software. The positioning was we are the exact opposite of that painful experience you've been dealing with.

Does this only work for inclusive versus exclusive positioning?

No. You can go either direction.

Third Love went inclusive: "We're for everyone, unlike Victoria's Secret who excludes people."

But Rolex goes exclusive, and it works just as well.

Look at their ads: "We invented the Submariner to work perfectly 660 feet under the sea. It seems to work pretty well at any level." And then: "When a man has a world in his hands, you can expect to find a Rolex on his wrist."

They're not trying to sell watches to everyone. They're explicitly saying that this is for people with high taste. This is for men who have the world in their hands. This is not Casio. This is not for the masses.

They're picking an enemy. That enemy is accessibility. That enemy is "for everyone."

And you know what? For the target customer who believes they belong in that exclusive club, this positioning is magnetic.

How does Hustle Fund use this strategy?

We do this too. Maybe you've noticed.

We make fun of VCs. We say we don't like things that VCs do. We position ourselves as different from traditional venture capital.

The funny part is: WE ARE A VC. It's almost as ridiculous as Salesforce saying they're anti-software.

But the message resonates. Traditional VCs have targeted certain kinds of founders. We believe everybody who hustles should get access to resources. We want people who think of themselves as hustlers and maybe even underdogs to come to us.

We picked an enemy. That enemy is the traditional VC establishment that overlooks scrappy founders.

What if your product is genuinely better on technical merits?

Doesn't matter if nobody pays attention long enough to learn about it.

Your unique value proposition should clearly define what makes your product or service unique and why it's better than the competition. But people need a reason to care about your UVP in the first place.

The enemy creates the hook. The curiosity. The reason to keep reading.

Once you have their attention, then you can explain why your product is technically superior. But you need the attention first.

How do you identify your enemy?

Start with this question: What gap in the market are you filling?

If you're pursuing an opportunity, it's probably because someone else is doing something and missing another area. That's your opening.

Almost by definition, if you're seeking an opportunity, you've already inherently picked an enemy. You just need to make it explicit.

Ask yourself:

• What is the market leader doing that frustrates your target customer?

• What messaging are competitors using that you can flip?

• What does your target customer complain about regarding existing solutions?

Whatever the market leader is doing, can you do the exact opposite?

What about newer technology or business models?

Same principle applies.

Cloud versus desktop. Subscription versus one-time purchase. AI-powered versus manual. Remote-first versus office-required.

If there's an old way of doing things and you're doing it differently, that difference IS your enemy positioning.

You're not just offering a new product. You're offering liberation from the old, painful way.

Can you pick multiple enemies?

You can, but don't.

Clarity is power. Effective differentiation creates a distinct competitive position in the market by focusing on one clear opposition.

If you try to be against everything, you're against nothing. Pick one enemy. Own that position. Make it crystal clear what you stand for by making it crystal clear what you stand against.

Should you actually name your enemy publicly?

Third Love did. They called out Victoria's Secret by name.

But you don't have to be that aggressive. Sometimes the enemy is implied.

"Ready to graduate from [competitor]" works. "Unlike [old way], we [new way]" works. "We're not [thing people hate], we're [thing people want]" works.

The enemy can be subtle or explicit. Both approaches work. Choose based on your brand personality and risk tolerance.

What's the biggest mistake founders make with this strategy?

They pick the wrong enemy.

Your enemy needs to be something your target customers actually care about. If you position yourself against something nobody dislikes, the strategy falls flat.

Do your research. What are your potential customers complaining about? What do they wish was different? That complaint is your enemy.

How do you know if your enemy positioning is working?

Your copy starts getting reactions.

Not just clicks, but comments. Shares. People saying "yes, exactly!" or even people arguing with you.

If your marketing generates strong reactions both positive and negative, you're doing it right. Bland agreement means nobody cares.

Competitive positioning is your brand's battle plan—it's how you stand out, stay memorable, and avoid becoming just another name lost in the noise.

Can this backfire?

Only if you pick an enemy your target customers love.

If you position yourself against something your ideal customer identifies with, obviously that's a problem. But if you've done your research and you're solving a real problem, your enemy is probably also their enemy.

One warning though, don't pick an enemy just to be edgy. Pick an enemy because it helps clarify what makes you different and better for a specific group of people.

What should you do right now?

Open a document. Write down:

1. Who is the market leader in your space?

2. What do they stand for?

3. What's the exact opposite of that?

4. Do your target customers want that opposite thing?

If the answer to question four is yes, you've found your enemy.

Now go write some copy that makes that opposition crystal clear. Be bold. Call them out if appropriate for your brand.

Or at minimum, make it obvious that you are NOT them. That you represent something different.

The easiest way to create interesting copy that people actually read is to pick an enemy and go after them.

Whether it's an inclusive versus exclusive angle, new technology versus old, or simply a different philosophy about how to serve customers, position yourself clearly in opposition to something.

Your market will thank you for the clarity. And your conversion rates will thank you for the attention.

Until next time,

Dunky, the "enemy-picking" hippocorn

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