October 17th, 2025
Each day, we are besieged by hundreds of ads, on screen, in print, across highways, all competing for attention. I know this challenge well. Each year, ! spend over $5,000,000 on real estate marketing with a single goal: to create orograms that command attention because they deserve it; programs that are genuinely better for consumers.
Sell in 30 Days - Full Value Guaranteed
My latest example may be the boldest yet. I recently launched a $20,000,000-backed 72SOLD program that enables home sellers to sell in 30 days or less at their price, whatever it is, or we'll buy their home with a 100% full market value guarantee. If we later resell for more, the extra profit is returned to the seller.
That is what one might call a "pattern-interrupt" program: unexpected, different, and designed to make anyone thinking about selling their home stop, think, and take notice.
More Than a Message
Don't depend on the old adage that if you invent a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door. It won't happen unless they know about your better mousetrap... which means you need to know how to market it. If you understand pattern-interrupt advertising, you'll likely get attention.
But great marketing without a great product or program will do more harm than good... by far. So the magic is not just in knowing how to do pattern-interrupt marketing, but also (and this is the heavy lifting) to develop a pattern-interrupt product or program that takes your competitors off guard because it's so much better than anything they offer and it is something your demographic will desperately want. That is what I try to achieve with every 72SOLD home selling program.
Whopper Detour
Who can forget Burger King's mischievous "Whopper Detour"? The offered customers a Whopper for a penny, but only if they ordered it while standing near a McDonald's. It was part prank, part genius, and it delivered over a million app downloads and a 37-to-1 return on ad spend. These campaigns worked because they defied predictability.
So how does one craft this kind of magic
marketing? The answer lies not in luck but in design.
1. Observe the Predictable
Before you can interrupt a pattern, you must first recognize it. Study your competitors. Note their slogans, colors, and promises. Then refuse to mimic them. What blends in can never stand out.
2. Seek the Element of Surprise
The mind craves contrast. Surprise your audience with something they didn't expect; a story, a visual, a truth. If everyone else is shouting, try whispering. If they whisper, you shout.
3. Align with Truth
Shock without meaning is just noise. Your surprise must deliver a truth, something your audience feels deep down. In my industry, that truth is too much friction and cost. Few consumers believe Realtors overdeliver and undercharge.
4. Test in Small Rooms Before the Ballroom
The best magicians test their illusions before the big stage. Use social platforms to experiment and gauge audience reception. I tested my 72SOLD 30-day full value guarantee sale program for nine months before advertising it aggressively.
5. Guard Against Excess
Even wonder loses charm when overused. Keep surprises special. One clever, creative moment will outlast a dozen gimmicks. It's about bold ideas, creatively delivered.
Manners Over Madness
The genius of pattern interruption lies not in madness, but in manners; it is creativity with a conscience. Brands like Magic Spoon made cereal seductive; Who Gives a Crap made toilet paper charming; Up Bank made finance delightful. Each took what was mundane and made it sparkle through wit, color, and a wink at convention.
Startling Sincerity
To be seen, one must be unexpected; to be loved, one must then be genuine. The finest marketing, like the finest conversation, leaves its listener both surprised and smiling. In a world grown weary of noise, let your message be that rare interruption, the whisper so startling in its sincerity that the room falls silent to hear it.
