Over the past week, I’ve had several encounters with cauliflower. I spotted a poster for cauliflower crust pizza on the door to the Italian eatery, ate breaded cauliflower tacos, and leafed through a cauliflower cookbook on display at the market.
Every time I come across a cauliflower reference, I think of Rohit Bhargava. This is one example of why Rohit, author, speaker, and non-obvious trend curator, is a marketing genius.
Rohit used to keep his distaste for cauliflower to himself. But one day, probably as an act of defiance against the vegetable’s growing popularity, he decided to embrace it. He wrote it into his pithy and practical career guide, Always Eat Left-Handed. Ever since he openly declared his cauliflower disdain, it’s become an interesting marketing lesson.
Rohit writes and speaks with memorable humor about his “cauliphobia.” It has become a topic of bonding with perfect strangers and potential clients. Being open and sharing this quirk has made readers of his books and listeners to his speeches feel like they know something intimate and personal about him.
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The current trendiness of cauliflower provides plenty of opportunities for Rohit reminders in daily life. If people remember him, they might buy one of his books or hire him to give a speech on the year’s non-obvious trends. In short, Rohit’s natural aversion for cauliflower helps him build his brand.
So my question to you is, What’s your cauliflower?
What’s an obscure fact about you that you can share with the world to help us remember you and your brand?
Answering this question is sort of like responding to the interview question:
What’s your weakness?
The response shouldn’t cast you in a negative light or be too obscure. It needs to be just funny or different enough to capture people’s attention.
Rohit’s cauliflower contempt is funny, but that’s also his character. Humor is one of his top creative strengths.
My friend Mike always tells his audiences that he loves dark beer. Then he says he’d be happy for someone to buy him one after the session. Dark beer isn’t inherently a funny response. However, the way Mike makes this request lightly lands him a whole lot of free drinks.
So I ask again, What’s your cauliflower?
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