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How Does One Educate a Customer? Part 1 of 3

“Everyone needs our product,” said Bob. “All we need to do is to tell them about it.” He thinks advertising problems in the water supply is an excellent way to attract potential customers to his business.

Fish when the fish are runnin’

Morris was Vice President of Marketing of a $50 million business and his favourite saying was, “We go fishin’ when the fish are runnin’.” But Morris was wrong.

Learning From the Legends: The Ronseal Phrase

Don’t be deceived by the apparently artless, “just tell it like it is” nature of the ad. The slogan even made it into the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms and was repeatedly used by then-Prime Minister David Cameron.

The Long And Short Of Persuasion

The wrong question is “Which sells better? Long copy or short copy?” I’m a long copy proponent. That is, I’m opposed to the “nobody will read more than 300 words” school of advertising.

Shortest distance between two points

Anyone worth their salt can tell you the steps you need to take to get “Where you want to be.” The problem isn’t identifying the steps. The issue is what to do when a mountain gets in your way.

Art is Not Subjective.

If you have the right artist, they make their decisions consciously and objectively for the purpose of drawing attention. And they do it using an invisible ally.

Beachheads

A beachhead is a defended position on a beach taken from an enemy by landing forces from which an attack can be launched. In business, beachheads are found where competitors aren’t willing to go.

Media’s Dirty Little Secret

I’m constantly amazed by all of the media reps from all of the different media outlets that can help your advertising to “reach the right people.” Because they all reach the same people.

Seabiscuits and Monstars

I coach baseball for the same reasons I work as an ad guy. I dream for my kids to understand the underdog doesn’t need to have the most points to be the winner.

Relational Employees

My phone buzzed with a text message that changed my life for the next two years. The assistant manager texted that he quit his job. He followed with a second bomb that everyone quits. No notice, no negotiations. Just quit.

Ad Templates

According to the published research, 89% of award-winning ads could be classified into 6 basic templates. And the use of these templates boosted subjects’ abilities to positively affect audience perception by 55%.

Using Drama To Pull In An Audience

Information only gets attention when you’re relevant to a prospective buyer. Drama gets attention to a larger audience. J. Peterman did it for years in his catalogues and you can too.

Ira Glass Part 4: Ditch Your We-We

If you ask Ira Glass, he’d tell you the two biggest mistakes are: (1) Using an inauthentic, over-hyped “voice” or presentation style, and (2) Keeping the focus on yourself instead of the customer.

Smelling Your Way to Good Vibrations

It is your job to have a strategy to incorporate the five senses for maximum effect on memory and feelings. Your job to build your story is entrusted to, as a 90’s kid would say, “the vibe.”

Ira Glass On Advertising, Part 3

Ira’s third video on storytelling is by far the most popular. He’s describing the positive side of the Dunning-Kruger effect. I think this video speaks to: Linear, no-threshold thinking, Minimum Effective Dose, and Cumulative Effect.

The media is NOT the message.

I remember a Marshall McLuhan quote of “The Media is the Message.” So I asked Roy, what about McLuhan? The skies darkened, the floors parted, and a fiery hell appeared as Roy screamed.

Ira Glass on Great Advertising, Part 2

“The amount of time finding the decent story is more than the amount of time it takes to produce the story… I think that, like, not enough gets said about the importance of abandoning crap.”

The Worth of a Dali

A picture is worth a thousand words. Confucius told us that. Or did he? Actually, Fred Barnard made up the saying to promote the use of images and called it “a Chinese proverb so that people would take it seriously.”

What Matters is What’s Remembered

When you advertise, you typically make bullet points of what you “want customers to know.” Giving a customer an education so he’ll have no choice but to pick you is as fanciful as it is arrogant.

Instant Gratification & Marketing

The chase for instant gratification in marketing often looks like “sales events.” Knowing when to use a sale and when to use other methods to get customers in the door makes all the difference.

Ira Glass on Great Advertising, Part 1

The first video covers Ira’s two basic building blocks of storytelling: the Anecdote and the Moment of Reflection. And in advertising terms, these are roughly analogous to Relevance and Credibility.

Your Competitors Are Bastards

Business is like writing. You have to find your own style and stick to it. Stop worrying about what the competition is doing. They’re all bastards. Get inspired by things they don’t understand.

The Marketing Funnel Cloud

I hate funnels. The thing we call a Marketing Funnel is really just a shorthand to remind us that no customer goes from “I don’t know who you are” to “here, take my money!”

The Subtle Persuasion of Groundhog Day

In many businesses, what most customers are really buying is transformation. Groundhog Day plays to three very powerful psychological dynamics you can use to captivate and convert.

The Asymmetry of Trust

You’re thinking about buying something and an acquaintance says, “Don’t do it; I bought that / hired them and it was a total waste of money. I got screwed.” Generally speaking, we believe them.

How We Decide to Purchase

Amateur ad writers assume everyone makes decisions based upon the same criteria they use. This causes them to unconsciously frame their messages to reach people exactly like themselves.

Serving “Fields of Dreams”.

Simon Sinek writes about this in “Leaders Eat Last.” Before you can get what you want, you must first give them what they want. “They” is everyone but you. Let’s start with your employees.

That’ll Do

Who is the “McDonald’s” in your category? The business you believe is getting an unfair amount of customers… in spite of their quality and competence. A few things are happening that you should find illuminating.

Building a team that wins

There’s no doubt that great businesses have equally great employees. But they also have their share of Bubba’s, Jim-Bob’s, and Tina-Marie’s. We never talk about those guys. If you ever lost sleep over a dumbass thing an employee did, you probably have a Bubba on your team.

Are Your Ads Gossip Worthy?

You probably read this and thought: that’s an unrealistic expectation. Kind of like expecting an ad to “go viral.” Who gossips about ads, of all things? And why would anyone want people gossiping about their brand?

Fat Cats and Happy Cachorros

Too many Shivers leaves a stink in the hearts of the customers. They are inattentive, self-serving, what’s-in-it-for-me type of people. Calypsos make things better – for you and the customer.

Everyone You Know (is a liar)

“NOBODY reads the newspaper.” Beware of anybody who speaks in absolutes. Statisticians look for something called a “representative sample.” And you don’t have one (no offence, I’m sure you’re a lovely person).

A Note to Jewelers Worldwide

I woke up with an astoundingly simple, big idea. The limiting factor in the engagement ring diamond is that it is “one-and-done.” But a woman can have a whole collection of Anniversary Diamonds.

The 7 Trials of an Emerging Empire Builder

There are two types of business owners: (1) Those who just want to run a profitable, stable business that funds a quality lifestyle, and (2) Aspiring empire builders with visions or building something much, much bigger.

Baseball and Advertising

As General Manager of the Oakland A’s, Bill’s payroll costs were one-third of the New York Yankees. He couldn’t compete with them. He hired Paul DePodesta, a Harvard grad in Economics. Together, they changed the game.

Social Media, A Marketing Channel

The truth is that social media allows you to see how each piece of content performs before you ever invest money in it! You don’t get the opportunity to do that with billboards, radio, TV, or print media.

The Anatomy of an Offer

Vagaries and loopholes are the enemy. Specifics and clarity are your best friends. If you’re putting a special offer out there, do the things that make offers work.