Take #12: It Starts with Exclusion

Not Everyone's Invited. That's the Point.

LinkedIn - Maggie Cadigan - The Many

The Many — The Participation Company™

This curated collection, "Take #12: It Starts with Exclusion," explores the counterintuitive marketing strategy where relevance and stronger brand connection emerge from deliberate choice and exclusion, rather than broad invitation. Marketers, brand strategists, and business leaders seeking to refine their target audience and enhance brand loyalty will benefit from insights on how to foster deeper engagement by strategically defining who a brand *isn't* for. It features perspectives from industry leaders like Maggie Cadigan of The Many, emphasizing active participation and impactful experiences.

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Reach was never the problem. Most brands have plenty of it. What they're missing is a reason for anyone to care.

So here's an uncomfortable idea for an industry raised on reach — the best participatory marketing starts by leaving people out.

## The Take

Maggie said it in one breath:

> "Participatory marketing starts with exclusion, which is a difficult thing. But if you mean everything to everyone, you mean nothing to no one."

Read it twice. Then look at the target audience on your last brief. If it said "adults 18 to 54," we should talk.

## Participation is voluntary. Act like it.

At The Many, we define participation as the voluntary time and effort someone invests in a brand. The key word is voluntary. Nobody participates out of obligation. People show up for things that feel like theirs.

And nothing feels like yours when it's built for everybody. Try to please the whole room and the message flattens until no one in it recognizes themselves. You get impressions. You don't get people.

Maggie put the alternative plainly:

> "Great participatory marketing starts with a deep understanding of who you are for and who you are not for, because when you can have a deep connection with a group of individuals, that is worth far more than massive blast proclamation of what you want to sell."

Who you're for is the easy half. Every deck has a persona slide. Who you're not for is the half most brands skip — it feels like leaving money on the table. We'd argue the opposite: the line you draw is what gives the people inside it something to belong to.

## Every great party has a guest list.

Think about the places where you actually feel part of something. The group chat. The run club. The forum that has been arguing about the same sneaker for a decade. None of them are for everyone — and that's exactly why they work. The border is what makes the inside feel like an inside.

Brands are no different. Belonging needs a border.

## We've tested this one in public.

Back in 2021, we teamed up with Mixwell, an LA-based beverage brand, on its first-ever brand campaign: "Please Don't Buy Mixwell." The idea was a mixer for those who mix well, and not for those who don't. Wild postings near Venice Beach read, "Unisex bathrooms got your panties in a bunch? Please don't buy Mixwell." A billboard in Inglewood paired its line with a 15-foot-tall pink gorilla in a rainbow-colored singlet.

Was it for everyone? Absolutely not. That was the whole brief. By telling one group to leave the product on the shelf, Mixwell told everyone else exactly who it was standing with.

## How to draw your line

Exclusion isn't about being mean. It's about being specific. Three questions worth asking before you invite anyone in:

1. **Who would you be fine losing?** If the answer is "no one," you don't have a position yet.
2. **What would your biggest fans defend you for?** That's your point of view. Say it louder.
3. **What would you stop saying if you only talked to them?** Cut it. Your fans will notice. That's the point.

*Key takeaway:* Velvet ropes aren't rude. They're how people know they made it in.

## So, who's not on your list?

Before a brand can build real participation, it has to decide who it isn't for. Or, as Maggie puts it, "it starts with exclusion."

Now we want to hear from you. Where have you seen a brand get stronger by deciding who it wasn't for? Tell us. You're invited.

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Not Everyone's Invited. That's the Point.

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