Personality Matters

Traditional business has taught people to mask their personalities under the blanket known as ‘professionalism’. Jarvis argues against this notion, as expertise and skills can be replicated, while style and personality are nearly impossible to replicate. It is apparent that Jarvis is following his own advice in his company of one, as many of his clients have noted they his caring nature. This is expression of personality and quirkiness is even apparent through his writing, as he pokes fun at himself after called the app Snapchat ‘young and fresh’ by saying that him referring to it as that likely means he is neither.

Something that I found extremely interesting in this chapter was the amount of backlash and hatred that surmounted when Hampton Creek released it “Just Mayo” product, which is mayonnaise without eggs. The makers of Hellmann’s Mayo are one of the parties that filed a lawsuit against the company, as they deemed eggs were a “required” ingredient for mayonnaise. The hated towards this idea went as far as the CEO received death threats and fraudulent letters sent to major retailers that carried “Just Mayo” alleging that it contained salmonella and listeria, forcing it off many shelves (p. 101). This whole scenario and the level of outrage seems wild to me. What makes this whole thing even more ironic is that Hellmann’s now has an eggless mayo. I believe this comes with an avocado oil substitute (unless there is another option; however, I know my roommate purchases Hellmann’s mayo that used an avocado oil base). Hellmann’s released their vegan mayo option in 2016, after filing against Hampton Creek in 2014 (Axworthy, 2021 & Strom, 2014).

In addition, Jarvis argues that companies should not what to be neutral. Instead, they should aim to become polarizing, find your niche; people either love it or hate it! To do so a company can implement three strategies. The first is placation, which involves trying to change the minds of those who don’t like your offerings. The second is prodding, which refers to intentionally antagonizing haters. This strategy can also aid in swaying neutral customers, who agree with your polarizing stance, into becoming supporters. The third strategy is amplification, which is singling out a characteristic and leaning heavily on it (p. 102). A strategy I have noticed in practice is prodding. Many companies poke fun at haters or competitors. This is seen in very simple forms, such as through commenting comebacks on social media. This has to potential to reach many people, and oftentimes they are viewed as funny or entertaining, which can aid in swaying neutral parties. One company that has made a very noteworthy appearance with polarizing social media comments is Wendy’s. Here are just a few and many more can be seen here.

(Iveta, 2017).

This polarizing content definitely connects to the first point if displaying personality, not just professionalism!

Jarvis concludes this chapter with the following thought-provoking messages. The following has been retrieved directly from his book.

BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT

• How you could infuse your own distinct and unique personality into your products and company image
• Where you could lean on what makes your business r product quirky or different to garner attention in the market (p. 104).

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