Marketing with a puffed-up chest – when volume is supposed to replace competence
In some industries, there seems to be an unspoken rule:
Whoever shouts "Number 1" the loudest hopes that no one looks closer.
So you read sentences like:
„Seit über 13 Jahren unangefochten die Nummer 1“,
„Der größte Spy-Shop Deutschlands“
or straight to the royal discipline:
„Vorsicht vor unseriösen Mitbewerbern!“
The pattern is always the same. First the self-coronation, then the blanket devaluation of all others. Proofs? None. Criteria? Unknown. Source? One's own ego.
The principle of puffing up
Psychologically, it's surprisingly simple:
You make yourself bigger so that the person next to you seems smaller.
Not through performance, but through volume.
Not through arguments, but through repetition.
It's the marketing equivalent of a rooster on the dung heap: a lot of cawing, little substance – but impressively loud.
And yes: That is annoying. Not because it works (it doesn't in the long run), but because it clouds the market. Serious providers suddenly have to justify themselves, while others adorn themselves with superlatives they have awarded themselves.
The thing with the "clean men"
It becomes particularly amusing when those very providers stage themselves as a moral authority. Transparency, seriousness, trust – big words, often used.
A look at the imprint is often enough to then realize:
The company mentioned there either exists only on paper – or not at all.
But the main thing is to loudly warn against the 'untrustworthy others'.
Ironically, that is exactly the moment when true seriousness quietly leaves the room.
Experience cannot be inflated
Time is ruthlessly honest.
You cannot talk it into existence, simulate it, or replace it.
Anyone who has been on the market for one or two decades deserves respect - no question.
But anyone who has been for over four decades continuously working in a demanding, legally sensitive industry needs no superlatives, no scare tactics, and no self-praise.
Consistency is not a marketing trick.
It is the result of staying, while others come and go.
The show-off
Show-offs are people who present their own achievements, abilities, or experiences at every opportunity and unsolicited, to put themselves in the spotlight, gain attention and recognition.
Conclusion: Those who only boast rarely have anything to say.
Customers are not stupid. Perhaps temporarily influenced – but not permanently.
Big words generate attention.
Performance generates trust.
And those who believe they can gain an advantage by artificially puffing themselves up usually achieve only one thing:
They make it visible how little is behind it.
The true number 1 is not recognized by slogans –
but by the fact that it is still there even after decades.