There’s no getting away from this story. Whether you watch X Factor or not, you would have to live on another planet not to have heard their names over the past couple of weeks.
John & Edward, the 18 year old twins who have made it in to the final 12 of the X Factor, are taking the country by storm and have defied everyone by getting enough votes to stay in the competition.
But if it is apparent to everyone that they can’t sing, why is it that they got in to the top 12 in the first place – never mind winning votes to stay in?
It’s because John & Edward have the buzz!
It was a shrewd marketing move from the X Factor team to have them in the top 12. They will have known that the media would be writing about them, DJs would be moaning about them, chat show hosts would be tearing them in to little strips.
They knew that the whole country would end up having a view point about them – which would get the X Factor being noticed.
Just check out the trending topics on Twitter when X Factor is on and you’ll see for yourself how much buzz is created from the show.
As business owners it is easy to focus on being the “best” coach, the most “proficient” trainer or produce the “highest quality” photographs. But is being the “best” really going to get you noticed?
Now, I’m not for one moment suggesting you turn out below standard work or try to short-change your clients! Just because John & Edward can’t sing, they can sure deliver the entertainment value that the audiences of XFactor want.
So, give yourself a break. As long as you are delivering to your clients’ expectations, stop trying to being the “best” and focus on getting talked about.
What do you think? Leave a comment 
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I agree, Karen. In a way they are being used to promote the show during the early weeks of the main contest, which boosts the ratings. Morally, I find myself wanting to turn off, not wanting to take part in this manipulative game, yet I SO want to watch to the end of the show to see if they get voted out!
I understand what you’re saying about having a buzz, but I wonder what will happen to these boys when they do finally get voted out. OK, there’ll be chat show interviews, maybe a cheesy Christmas realease, but how will they deal with the aftermath when they wake up one morning to find that their 5 minutes of fame has gone and everyone has been laughing at them?
Hopefully they’re shrewd enough to have already realised they don’t have “the X factor” and will cash in on the comedy of their act (Panto, Children in Need, Comic Relief) etc. and spend their income on some singing lessons. But what if this really is their dream and they believe that everyone loves them and that they can win the competition? Because of the hype that surrounds them, their fall will be far harder than that of the other contestants.
Penny
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Penny, I totally agree. I do hope they find themselves a good manager as you are so right – they will do brilliantly at the pantos.
It will just prove that you don’t have to have talent to be successful!!
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Another inspired article Karen! I have been 100 per cent sucked into this year’s xfactor and am loving every moment (even J and E!) And desperately want them to stay..and isn’t that the point with our businesses – we want our customers to want us to stay around! J and E are ENGAGING, and that’s what we need to be!
Wendy
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An interesting thought but I disagree with the final comment. The moment you stop doing your best is when complacency creeps in. If you only aim to meet your existing clients’ expectations rather than your own (or perspective clients’) how will you get new clients, or aside form that, job satisfaction?
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John and Edward should definitely be on TV talent show …. just not this one!
I’d rather think that Louis Walsh was bonkers than that the whole thing was a manipulative and cynical ploy. Ultimately, Simon Cowell has to ensure the integrity of the show, and that it doesn’t descend into sensationalism and idiotic publicity stunts for the sake of them. BECAUSE he has to prove that this show does find genuinely talented stars in the making – AND he has to prove it both sides of the atlantic – because a lot of people across the pond are watching.
I’m not sure I agree with the pretext of the post. Did J&E really have the “buzz” factor B4 they got into the top 12, or BECAUSE they got into the top 12? I agreed (as ever) with his royal Cowellness – they were awful and not even that likeable, frankly.
I’m not entirely sure how this translates into a workable idea for small businesses. At its most literal, you could go and do an illegal skydive off your local town centre multi-storey carpark to see if you could get yourself on the news. But what does that say about your services, or the results you deliver? Does it even reach your target market, and if so, does it do it in a meaningful way?
I think we have to get some proportion about “being noticed”. It seems to me that traditional thinking on the subject is that it’s good, at any price, to be “noticed” in the general public, or even in the general business world. But so what and does that achieve anything much that contributes to the bottom line? I would suggest not in most cases, unless you’re market is the general public and you’re selling parachutes!
For those of us in niches, would it not be more to the point to maintain a sense of decorum and to build relationships with the people who would buy our services, rather than create sensationalist publicity for the sake of it? Which probably doesn’t reach the target market and sends no useful message about what we do whatsoever.
But I’m willing to be proved wrong! Let’s get out thinking caps on – how can a consultant do a publicity stunt in front it their target market that not only gets them noticed, but gets them noticed in a “good” way – like dramatically demonstrates how what they do produces results for their clients. Any other message would probably be a bit trite and pointless.
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John & Edward – They’re great marketing material and as they rightly pointed out in the beginning that ‘we’re different and we see a gap in the market right now for someone like us’. Talented or not, they’re great entertainers and I can see them being great chat show hosts in future too.
As for stop trying to be the best and focus on getting noticed – I totally agree. Often we spend our time trying to be the best because it’s a form of ‘I’m not good enough’ and when we feel we haven’t achieved that or someone comes across as being ‘better’ than us then we beat ourselves up about it. The important thing is to recognise that personally ‘you’ve done everything to the best of your ability for the skills and talents you have right now, and that’s good enough’. Seconldy, never stop learning and growing.
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