Ketchup, chips, and chlorine.
Take any one of them away, and it wouldn't be the same experience.
That was the smell of the local Drexelbrook, PA pool when I was growing up. Technically, that's called a lido, in British English.
Do you remember the kids game Marco-Polo? Usually played in a pool, one kid shuts their eyes and yells "Marco". The rest of the cub-pack yell "Polo".
"Marco"
"Polo""Polo""Polo""Polo"
"Marco"
"Polo""Polo""Polo""Polo"
"Marco"
"Polo""Polo""Polo""Pol-ah you got me"
Based on sound and touch, "Marco" chases a "Polo". Once touched, that "Polo" becomes a "Marco".
Touching anyone who isn't playing doesn't do anything, though.
Named after a 13th century explorer, who bumbled his way in the dark from Europe to China (the center of all civilization at the time), the children's game hooks into something primal. It keeps kids engaged for hours at a time.
Marketer and designer Nathan Barry has previously pointed out that this game also serves as an analogy for call-response.
Direct response, even. You only want to be chasing after the Polos, and avoiding everyone else in the pool.
That's my kind of marketing.
The Marco-Polo analogy holds really well for what it's like to enter a new market. You know there are people interested. You want to catch them, yet avoid everyone else.
You just need to figure out how to reach the "Polos". Speak to them. Hook into what interests them.
