Back when I was around 12 years old, I was quite active in the Boy Scouts. We had a big luncheon that a bunch of Troops were going to, and the special guest was going to be Mr. Wizard! At the time, Don Herbert was “Mr. Wizard“, host of a fairly popular TV show on Nickelodeon. We were pretty excited about it!
The day came, and “Mr. Wizard” showed up, but it wasn’t him — it was a local guy that did similar experiments. He might have done a great job, but I don’t really remember. We were all bummed that we had seemingly been tricked, and what he did from there didn’t matter.
It’s a tough thing to do with marketing; you want enough excitement to get people interested in your event or product, but being misleading can have awful consequences. This event was more than 30 years ago, and I still remember it today. Gaining trust with others is hugely important, and so easy to break. The phrase “under-promise and over-deliver” can be tough to do, but if done right it will help you gain fans for life.
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