Killing competitors with controversy, a.k.a. "Doing a 50 Cent"

[Janiform]

I've always tried to take a technique from one industry and apply it in another. After all, it's one of the easiest ways to create a competitive advantage: while all your competitors are taking part in an evolution (matching & exceeding each other with the same paradigm), you're creating a revolution (a new paradigm).

par·a·digm: a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them.

Being a fan of hiphop, I like to dig into rappers' backgrounds every now and then in search of motivation, lessons to learn and sometimes simply to kill some time. That led me to the story of 50 Cent back in 2010 and his story opened my eyes...

Warning: this technique is NOT for people who value morals over outcompeting rivals. This technique is for people who are willing to compete by any means necessary.

Quick background info:

• At the time, I had a business which heavily relied on a personal brand
• My business was one of the most dominant players in the SEO channel (top 3 for 90% of keywords)
• Overall (looking across all channels), it was maybe a top 100 player worldwide
• In short: I was sort of known, but far from a market leader. A rising star or so to speak.

What 50 Cent did

• As soon as he achieved some notoriety, he started attacking well established rappers. Not only that, he attacked as many as he could.
• He would attack the same person repeatedly, personally, and with a fact-based approach whenever possible: revealing their (lack of) sales, their past professions (hi Rick Ross), etc.
• Result: creating a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation for those he attacked. Don't reply? Look guilty of what he's accusing you of and/or look like a coward. Do reply? Acknowledge his influence and lend him credibility because of it, literally telling your fans about him (= indirectly promoting him).

This was trolling at its best!

And it inspired me to do the following...
I researched competitors, in search of bad/shady products they promoted, personal dirt, you name it. Any and all ammunition. The longer the personal brand existed, the more I could find.

I then started writing 50 Cent-style blog posts about competitors, which included solid arguments why products didn't work as advertised, data showing why they weren't real authorities... but also personal attacks based on looks, stories about them, social media posts, etc.

In essence, every post was high on data but also high on a whole range of emotions: anger, disappointment, humor, surprise. I made sure to do two things, though: keep some ammunition to myself and emphasize that I didn't like Average Joe's to be scammed.

Expected immediate results:

• Create a situation where it becomes impossible for the competitor to ignore you, because doing so equals admitting guilt in the target market's mind (which you then write a post about).
• Create a situation where if the competitor decides to respond, they not only give you influence and credibility but an opportunity to further expose them because you didn't play all your cards yet.
• Bread and spectacle for the people (anyone that knows Roman history knows what I mean)

Expected end results after attacking multiple competitors:

• Placing yourself above all competitors, because you seem to be the only one who knows which products really work, you seem to be the authority on who is really an authority.
• Becoming the "people's champ", because you seem to be the only one with the guts to expose the rotten apples in your industry. You're the "consumer defender", with his best interests at heart.
• Negative branding: promoting your personal brand by negatively reviewing other personal brands.

Did it work?
Hell yeah! The target market started having doubts about competitors who ignored me and generally mocked competitors who replied because most rivals couldn't keep their cool or were further exposed. I never had so much fun reading social media comments/forum posts in my life.

Furthermore, my negative branding had a polarizing effect: some loved it, some hated it, but there was nothing in between. This pushed dozens of customers to become evangelists who defended me from the haters because they felt my products did them a favor so now they had to do me one.

Meanwhile, haters spread my name far and wide... and when people checked me/my business out because haters told them not to (human psychology is funny like that) they couldn't find any dirt. Why? I made sure to do some online reputation management before my "reign of terror" started. As a result, plenty people warned by haters actually became customers.

Were there any lawsuits? Nope, while I was operating in the US market lol!

Last but not least: I actually used this technique as part of my exit strategy. After 3-4 months of controversy creation, I put the business up for sale and sold it within 12 hours to a competitor. Ironic, to say the least!

 

[lion1978]

A lesson to learn for everybody, love your haters as much as they hate you, after all they are/could be a vital part of you marketing/ branding and posistioning strategy.

 

[Guidos]

Sounds harsh and risky. I would suggest this may have a different effect in different markets but it's really interesting to see how that worked well for your business Janiform.
Certainly something to consider, with maybe some lighter methods for other markets. With my business I question things like where a business tries to sell a service with hardware included and raise fud about how that locks customers in. Also risky technology used for business when it's only consumer level quality. I don't name names though... Except when they do something immoral or go into chapter 11.

Question; by selling your business, which had a lot of personal branding included, did the buyer not risk losing a lot of the accounts when they found out your business was being purchased by a business you had previously been negative about?

 

[Janiform]

Sounds harsh and risky.

You're right, it is! I think the only way to make any progress is by taking (calculated) risks. After all, a zero risk situation = a situation where you stay inside your comfort zone = getting the same results you've always gotten. Now, if you're not happy with the results you're currently getting, you have to start taking risks (= go outside your comfort zone).

Certainly something to consider, with maybe some lighter methods for other markets.

Of course. This version of the strategy worked in that particular market. Every market is different, though. Copy pasting from market A to market B never works. Some adjustments are required.

Except when they do something immoral

Just a thought: morality is a matter of perception. You can make anyone look immoral by adding/leaving out certain details, connecting dots between unrelated decisions/statements, and putting question marks where there were dots or commas. Ask any politician lol.

Furthermore, if you don't stand for something you fall for anything. By displaying polarizing behavior you're attracting more of the kind of people you want and scaring away more of the kind you don't want.

Question; by selling your business, which had a lot of personal branding included, did the buyer not risk losing a lot of the accounts when they found out your business was being purchased by a business you had previously been negative about?

Great question. I didn't target every single competitor I had, but about a dozen who had a bigger reach + who made it easy for me to create an immoral perception. I left everyone else alone.

As a result, I didn't come across as an attention whore/hater who hates for the sake of hating. I came across as the guy who called "bad" people out on their BS.

I sold the business to one of the competitors I left alone and who I had commended for being one of the most upstanding dudes in that market multiple times. So, the sale made a lot of sense for my customers at the time.

 

[Guidos]

Cool Janiform. I've always heard it said that businesses and brands need attitude and emotion rather than just looking un-opinionated and boring. Sounds like you've certainly nailed it :-)

 

[NeverFrugal]

If you haven't already, you should consider reading The 50th Law. The audiobook version actually has 50 cent narrating some of his personal stories which were very interesting. I found it builds upon the 48 Laws Of Power with some more relatable references.

I have a question - I am about to tackle a very controversial niche with some polarising articles. Almost to the point of satire. The opposition are going to lose their minds and I will be adding fuel to the fire throughout. They have a history of death threats, mob violence etc which I would rather avoid as it could damage my other ventures.

With that in mind, the site is built around a persona and hides my real identity. My question is did you take any steps to protect your real identity aside from the obvious WHOIS protection etc?

Does anyone have any advice for ensuring complete anonymity when building sites?

 

[Janiform]

If you haven't already, you should consider reading The 50th Law.

Read it and liked it a lot! At first I was skeptical, but it actually contained plenty of solid advice which I still put into practice today.

With that in mind, the site is built around a persona and hides my real identity. My question is did you take any steps to protect your real identity aside from the obvious WHOIS protection etc?

Actually, in the market I was in many, many people hid behind pen names and so I made the decision to not use one from the get go and used it as a unique selling point: my products are real, my advice is real because I don't use a fake name. I'm authentic, the real deal.

It IS a risk-reward situation, though: if you feel like threats hold water in your industry and you could physically get hurt badly, then using a pen name is a must. If a punch in the face is as real as it gets then I'd say it's worth it, but if you have proof of people being put in the hospital and what not then you obviously would want to be more careful.

Does anyone have any advice for ensuring complete anonymity when building sites?

WHOIS protection, when using audio for marketing change the pitch of your voice and some other attributes to be more unrecognizable, when using video for marketing always use an actor, NEVER turn on location sharing for any social media update (even the sons of drug lords fall for this), never share a location or address with anyone, if you must have face-to-face meetings use a representative, don't make any business related phonecalls from the comfort of your own home, don't use a phone with a subscription but a burner or public one, etc.

Basically, watch Netflix's Narcos and as many documentaries on drugsdealers as you can. If anyone's a master at hiding their identity and location, it's a heavyweight narco lol.