Why Big Cities Make Bad Capitals and What it Teaches Us About the Psychology of Buying

Let us do a quick quiz.

What is the capital of Australia?

- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Brisbane
- Canberra

What is the capital of Canada?

- Toronto
- Vancouver
- Ottawa
- Calgary

What is the capital of USA?

- New York
- Boston
- Washington DC
- Los Angeles

What is the capital of New Zealand?

- Auckland
- Christchurch
- Wellington
- Hamilton

If you answered Sydney, Toronto, New York and Auckland, you are wrong. The correct answers are Canberra, Ottawa, Washington DC and Wellington, respectively.

If you got it wrong, do not beat yourself. Most people get the answer wrong. After all, it is only logical that a big, commercially and culturally important city would be the political hub of nation.

So why is this not the case? Why are these cities not the capitals?

Why These Cities Are Not Capitals

Through bitter experience, the designers of modern democracies have learnt an important lesson – the bigger the city the more political power it can exercise. That is, the needs of the city can place undue pressure on the political system and take precedence over the needs of people from smaller towns and cities.

As the economist, Alan Beattie, puts it, “When it comes to exerting political power, those within rioting distance of the royal palace have a better means of having their grievances known than do equally disgruntled peasantry muttering into their gruel as they go about their miserable rural lives hundreds of miles from the capital.

“So Washington was deliberately created,” Beattie continues, “to be a small and deracinated capital in a ‘federal district’, not a state. This became a familiar tactic in the modern world, as the dullness and remoteness of Canberra, Wellington and Ottawa testify.”

Out of Sight, Out of Mind – The Marketing Lesson Behind The Story

What the story above shows is that we place greater importance on problems and ideas that are on top of our minds over other equally important ideas and problems. Those messages that are fresh in mind, those voices that get heard exert undue influence on our thoughts and decision making. It is for good reason that they say out of sight, out of mind.

As a marketer your job is to keep your idea, product, or service on top of your customer’s mind. The more you get your message in front of your prospects and get your story heard, the more likely your prospects will choose your products and services over equally deserving problems to solve or excitements to be sought.

The Traditional Method for Staying on Top of Mind

There are many ways of doing this. The traditional method is to repeat your message over and over using advertising. The problem is, for small businesses, this is an expensive exercise. It may cost you more to repeat your message than the extra business it brings you.

You need a more cost-effective method, a method where you do not have to constantly reach out to your prospects. Instead they come to you on a regular basis.

How can you achieve this?

Enter Content Marketing

Content marketing in the form of ‘how-to’ articles, podcasts and videos is a powerful and cost effective way to keep your customers coming back for more. That way your customers benefit from quality information that helps explore their problems and interests, while allowing you to keep your brand and solution on top of their minds.

If you have not yet started a blog then its time to think hard about setting one up.

 
  • http://www.wholesalepages.co.uk/ Wholesale Suppliers Directory

    I think that management plays the most important role in this field. If your management is not sincere or governmental policies do not allow you to do what you want then it will be useless to do hard work in this situation. Actually I am saying that your bad governance or miss perception in policies may be put bad effect on your capital.

  • http://www.bayut.com Natalie Johanson

    Well except for Washington DC I got all wrong and the reason behind keeping the capital out of everyone’s eye is really applicable in real life business. The comparison is great and it makes sense why many people think they know the capital of a country but actually they are referring to the city of trade.

  • http://twitter.com/ABasanti Aman Basanti

    At least you’re brave enough to admit it. Most people would feel too proud to admit that they did not know the capitals of other western nations. Glad you enjoyed the article. Thanks for the comment.

  • http://blogs4android.com Sanjeev Mohindra

    I got 2 right and 2 wrong, but a good correlation. It is important to be in front of the customer or on top of their mind to get repeated business. I have tried few how-to articles and has got a good success with them so these are certainly a good way to be in touch.

  • http://www.monazu.com/blog Rishi Patel

    Great article and interesting perspective Aman! 

    Of course you’re right; remaining objective in marketing is certainly difficult, but critical for success. I guess this goes along with your article about how entrepreneurs are like young children :-)

    Thanks again for a great article!

  • Dwight

    Let’s say that you’re in international development, would your analogy of small cities make bad capitals work the same way? Thanks for making us think about this dimension too.  

  • http://twitter.com/ABasanti Aman Basanti

    Hi Sanjeev, its good to know that you are having success with the ‘how-to’ articles. Keep it up. Thanks for the comment.

  • http://twitter.com/ABasanti Aman Basanti

    Hi Rishi, thanks for adding to the conversation.

  • http://twitter.com/ABasanti Aman Basanti

    Hi Dwight I don’t understand your question. My article isn’t about small cities making bad capitals, its about big cities making bad capitals.

  • http://www.writerviews.com Michael Alexis

    The city quiz is a cool way to get people engaged up front. Though maybe overpowered the rest of the message for me, because I kept thinking “well, what about London, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, Bangkok” – I know that’s not the point. 

    This topic has been in my mind quite a bit lately as I consider my own writing. If I write from my heart is it just the forgotten political capital? Do I cater to the masses and become their big city reference point? Or hopefully – find a spot where those two paths intersect.

    Thanks!

    –
    Michael

  • http://www.BloggingTipster.com/ Blogging Tipster

    I got most of the answers wrong too :) Great insight into the psychology of buyers. Whats we see is what we essentially think. 

  • http://Mazzastick.com Justin

    Aman,
    I got all of the answers right, Just kidding. Email marketing to our subscribers is another great way to keep our products and services in the minds of our potential customers.

  • http://twitter.com/ABasanti Aman Basanti

    Haha for a second I was going to say, wow that’s awesome because I haven’t met anyone who has got em all right – not even me the first time I had to answer the question. Thanks for the comment Justin.

    I completely agree with your point about email marketing. Email is still one of the best ways to keep regular contact with prospects. Thanks for adding that in.

  • http://twitter.com/ABasanti Aman Basanti

    Don’t worry, so did most other people. The only reason I got Canberra right was because I live here :)

  • http://twitter.com/ABasanti Aman Basanti

    It seems to have overpowered the message for most people Michael. As for your question, well London and Paris aren’t new cities. They came up organically – unlike Canberra which was purposely created to be the capital.

    As for your second question, I also have thought about that too – its always easy to cater to the masses. I guess it depends on what you want to do and how many readers you need to make your blog work – if a small market can satisfy your needs then nothing wrong with writing from the heart.

  • http://wp.me/p24uCa-3i Mike

    It’s important to not only market but also be able to engage them in memorable ways. If you read ( or even thumb through the book) the book “Creative Advertising” (or something like that), you’ll realize that its important to make the campaigns unique so that the potential readers/customers will have a greater chance of being able to remember your particular brand.