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.
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 Tale of Ted the Radio Tortoise and Harry the Anxious Hare
I spent a day with two HVAC company owners. Harry the Anxious Hare is closing barely 10% of his online leads. Ted the Radio Tortoise’s telephone team is closing more than 60%.
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.
Your First Year In Mass Media Branding: 12 Milestones and a Timeline
A roadmap for TV and Radio that works. If your ad campaign is conceived to get real traction, you’ll see these first four milestones within the first three to five months...
Putting Funny Ads To Work For Your Boring-Ass Business – Parody
If the humor isn’t tied to the message; if you can’t talk about one without talking about the other, then any attempts at persuasion will be short-lived and not very memorable.
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?
How to Advertise “Caring” and “Craftsmanship”
The Coors campaign took market share from Bud and Miller while spending one-third as much money. They used a half-dozen smaller differentiators to build up “quality” and “caring” as what set their beer apart.
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.
Rainbow-Washing, How To Avoid It!
Producing and promoting rainbow products during June, Pride month, has become more common over the years, with many large companies leading the trend.