Talkin’ ‘Bout Those G-g-g-generations
BBH Labs, the R&D arm of BBH Advertising in London, developed a “Group Cohesion Score;” a way to determine what groups of people have in common with each other. Their findings are surprising.
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.”
Tipping Point of Retail and the S-Curve
A dozen years from now 50% to 60% of transactions will be occurring online. And a surprising advantage will go to stores who sell online but advertise locally.
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.
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.
History rhymes with the ebbs and flows of time
Just like unions of the 1940s, there is a societal shift toward worker empowerment. If you’re first in your category to embrace this shift, you win. Resist, and you lose.
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.
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.
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.