Hey unicorns! 👋

We've heard your feedback, and we're shaking things up.

Starting this week, we're pivoting from our usual growth playbooks to bring you weekly growth tips – more actionable, more valuable, and laser-focused on helping you skyrocket your businesses growth.

🦄 Waitlists: Turning FOMO into Growth Fuel

Ever seen startups launch with thousands of users? That's the Waitlist Strategy in action! Discover how this growth strategy turns exclusivity and FOMO into your secret weapons, building buzz before you even go live.

🧠 The Mere Exposure Effect: When Familiarity Breeds Fondness

Ever caught yourself humming a tune you initially couldn't stand? Welcome to the intriguing world of the Mere Exposure Effect! Get ready as we dive in on how simple repetition can turn the unfamiliar into the irresistible.

🍸 Print Ad Spotlight: Absolut Vodka's New York State of Mind

We're taking a closer look at an iconic print ad that turned a city into a bottle. Our focus: Absolut Vodka's ingenious "Absolut New York" campaign.

Let's dive in and discover how to make the familiar fantastic and the mundane magnificent!

Weekly Growth Strategy

The Waitlist Strategy 🦄

Want to turn FOMO into rocket fuel for your startup?

Meet the waitlist strategy – a growth technique that's launching startups into the stratosphere.

What is it:

The waitlist strategy creates demand through exclusivity, offering early access to a limited group.

It leverages scarcity and FOMO to build anticipation and create a ready audience before launch.

Why it works:

It taps into core psychology – scarcity, social proof, and the thrill of exclusivity.

It's like psychological jet fuel for your startup.

Robinhood's Success Story:

Robinhood nailed it, racking up 1 million+ signups pre-launch.

Their secret? A clear value prop (commission-free trading) and a great referral system.

The result?

800,000 before launch.

How to use it:

1. Kick off your waitlist 2-3 months before your product drops to build maximum buzz.

2. Craft a killer landing page that screams value and keeps signups dead simple – just an email will do.

3. Supercharge your growth by implementing a powerful referral system, turning every signup into a growth machine.

4. Keep your waitlisters on the edge of their seats with engaging email sequences that tease features and build anticipation.

Remember, the magic of waitlists isn't just in managing demand – it's in creating a frenzy of excitement that turns your launch into an event.

How this Growth Loop Works:

1. User signs up for waitlist

2. User shares (incentivized)

3. New signups via referrals

4. Waitlist grows, more sharing

Ready to make your launch a blockbuster?

Check out our full article for a deep dive into this game-changing strategy.

Marketing Psychology Playbook

🧠 The Mere Exposure Effect: The More You See, The More You'll Be

What is it? 🤔 

Ever found yourself humming a tune you initially disliked simply because you've heard it repeatedly?

That's the Mere Exposure Effect – the power of familiarity – in action.

How does it work? 🧠 

It affects our cognitive processing and emotional response.

Repeated exposure makes our brain process stimuli more easily, creating comfort and positive associations.

This psychological mechanism can turn the unfamiliar into the preferred, influencing our choices.

How to Use the Mere Exposure Effect in Your Marketing 🚀 

Implement consistent branding, increase ad frequency, utilize retargeting, maintain an active social media presence, and create recurring content series.

Remember, balance is crucial – create familiarity without causing fatigue.

Who's doing it right? 🌟

TikTok 📱 "It Starts on TikTok" campaign reinforces the platform's role as a cultural trendsetter, making it the go-to app for discovering new trends.

Wordle 🟩 Daily puzzles and shareable results turned a simple word game into a global phenomenon, with millions eagerly returning each day.

Calm App 😴 Collaboration with Harry Styles for sleep stories provides consistent, star-powered exposure, boosting the app's profile in the crowded wellness space.

The Mere Exposure Effect Takeaway 💡

When applied wisely, it can boost brand affinity and drive consumer preference.

Make your brand a familiar face in the crowd – and watch as familiarity turns into fondness!

👉 Check out more examples and our full article on the topic! 👈

 Ad Playbook  

✍ Absolut Vodka "Absolut New York"

Absolut Vodka cleverly transforms New York City's bustling streets into their iconic bottle shape in this striking print advertisement.

Let's examine how they use urban imagery and creative composition to make their product an integral part of the cityscape.

What we like 👍

Absolut excels at visual metaphor and brand integration:

1. The ad ingeniously uses the layout of New York City streets to form the shape of the Absolut bottle, seamlessly blending the product with the city's identity.

2. The yellow taxis are strategically placed to create the bottle's distinctive shoulder shape, making the brand instantly recognizable.

The ad effectively uses contrast and detail:

1. The sea of yellow taxis against the grey buildings and other cars creates a visual pop that draws the eye.

2. The high-angle view provides a wealth of detail, rewarding closer inspection and encouraging viewers to spend more time with the ad.

The campaign demonstrates remarkable consistency and adaptability:

1. This ad is part of a 25-year campaign that produced 1,500 unique ads, showing incredible creativity and brand commitment.

2. The ability to adapt the bottle concept to different cities and contexts kept the campaign fresh for decades.

What We Don't Like 👎

1. The Absolut logo and bottle are not directly shown, which might reduce immediate brand recognition for those unfamiliar with the campaign.

2. The ad's complexity might make it less impactful in smaller formats or quick viewings.

What We Would Do Differently 🧑‍⚖️

1. Consider adding a small, subtle Absolut bottle silhouette in one corner to reinforce brand recognition.

2. Experiment with adding a brief tagline that ties the New York theme to the vodka, such as "The Spirit of the City."

3. Develop a series of these ads for different times of day (e.g., night version with lit windows forming the bottle shape) to showcase the city's dynamic nature.

This Absolut ad brilliantly uses the urban landscape to embed their product into the viewer's perception of New York City. By turning the entire cityscape into their bottle, Absolut creates a memorable image that elevates their brand beyond just a vodka, associating it with the energy and prestige of New York itself.

The campaign's longevity and success (growing from 2.5% market share to importing 4.5 million cases annually) prove that creativity and consistency can turn even a simple bottle into an iconic brand symbol.