Archive for January, 2006
If I am a raving lunatic, just tell me.
by Jared on January 31st, 2006
Ever feel like your co-workers are looking at you as if you had two heads? Welcome to my world at 9 AM in the morning.
Unfortunately, I am a morning person meaning that I walk into the office with a major coffee buzz and I like it. I harness that insanely perky feeling to tear into that pile of to-do’s on my desk and get as much done as I can before it wears off.
The only side effect of this is that I feel as if my co-workers want to knock me upside the head with a tire iron just to get me to stay at my desk for five minutes. I can stand being the “Phibi” of the office but for gosh sakes don’t just stare at me - if I am annoying the crap out of you - SAY SOMETHING!!!
Ok, with all fairness, it’s a very select bunch that can cut through the polite tension of traditional social office etiquette. I have had this addressed multiple times from many different bosses. They love the drive but they have to reconcile the occasional comments they receive over my perceived inability to sit still.
This is another one of those moments when you feel like the smart kid in the classroom that everyone wants to kill. (I reference the second segment of my last podcast)
As much as I love my co-workers and want to get along with them – all I have to say is that if you think I am a raving lunatic in the mornings just tell me. Otherwise, get some earplugs and wait till my buzz dies around 11:30…
New Feature: Ask Jared - Free Marketing Advice
by Jared on January 27th, 2006
Ok marketing fans, ready for your chance to shine?
Starting today, I am hanging a great big sign on my Lucy-inspired roadside stand reading “THE MARKETER IS IN!”
If you want free marketing advice (yes, I did drop the “f” word folks so you know I am serious), I want to be the source you turn to. If you have your own business, are working for someone else, or are just kicking an idea around the 20-Something Marketing Forum is here to serve you!
Our new feature, Ask Jared, will allow you to promote your own marketing efforts and get marketing advice…all for free! Visit http://20somethingmarketing.com/askjared/ and send me an e-mail today.
And if you’re wondering, yeah - you will probably be able to end yourself up on the show in the process…;)
20SMF Episode #24 – OHTHEHumanity
by Jared on January 26th, 2006
Essentially, an extended rant on what makes us human, and completely neurotic. From every “smart kid” in the class to a gaggle of gays - focus on how humanity effects marketing and ways we are changing with the times.
Show Notes:
I) Deconstructing Humanity
II) Professional, Personal, and Physical Humanity
III) Game Plan: A Note On Ford’s Layoffs
Click Here To Listen To The Podcast
Bonus Vidcast - Insanity: American History Style
by Jared on January 22nd, 2006
Romp around the national mall and the Smithsonian Museum of American History for another trivia and scavenger hunt. Featured excerpts include dancing with buffalo, spinning orbs of death, and festive meat hooks.
The Chorus Factor
by Jared on January 20th, 2006
You can chalk it up to the ’show tune gene’ or whatever you want to call it, but I have to admit that I am a sucker for musicals.
Particularly, I love ones with strong female vocalists with powerful closing numbers about triumph and rising above adversity (i.e. Defying Gravity from Wicked). Same goes for soulful presentations with incredible back up choruses. You know the ones; the numbers that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck want to make you just jump up and sing with them?
I call this the chorus effect because what you are responding to is not the vocalist alone, but also the surge and excitement of what can be described as the secondary adaptors as well. This one-two punch creates a surge of positive feelings that make you want to take action in one way or another.
Now, apply this concept to marketing…
I always hearken back marketing and design to great pieces of artwork. Specifically, the craft and design of marketing collateral (web sites, direct mail letters, brochures, banners, etc.) and how it draws your eye around on the page. The same can be said of the chorus effect and your “voice” in marketing.
A great example of this is speechwriting. Writing a speech is just like writing a song for a musical. In a good, persuasive speech, there are multiple tracks (lines of reasoning the audience can connect with), cadence (patters of speech serving as a drumbeat that draws the audience along) as well as a resounding chorus that leaves the audience applauding at the crescendo of your point.
As Robe Lowe as Sam Seaborn on the West Wing says:
The difference between a good speech and a great speech is the energy with which the audience comes to their feet at the end. Is it polite? Is it a chore? Are they standing up because their boss just stood up? No. We want it to come from their socks.
This demonstrates the chorus effect in writing copy. Its easy enough to see the application of the chorus effect in speechwriting but what about in regular copy? What if you tried to make even the 3-sentance product blurb something that your reader wants to get up and applaud at? Or even better - take action because of…
In every piece of written copy, try for the chorus effect. Let’s dissect a three sentence blurb I used earlier this week…edited, of course for your consternation on where I work….
“The new widget from Acme Co. creates the next generation of accounts by liberating funds trapped in traditional widgets and turns them into valuable core deposits. This online widget platform goes further than any single technology solution by spanning multiple areas of doodle operations. Not only does the platform help to improve profitability and better leverage cross-sell opportunities, but is also provides customers with single sign-on access to their doodles, widget accounts , and more. Let us help you liberate those core deposits by calling (555)-4-PROFIT for a consultation, today.”
In all fairness, this doesn’t sound like much without specifics but to a customer you know is in dire need of those core deposits, this is literally an uplifting proposition.
The idea behind this is that you attempt to utilize key elements of an emotional appeal (in this instance the use of the words “liberate” and “trapped”). These words elicit an emotional response that can help to compel the reader to act. {I imagine my clients crying as if they were at the pound going “Please, please let the deposits go! They deserve to be free!”}
Finally, its not enough to put one emotional tie-in…that’s why I call it the chorus effect. By layering your dialogue or copy, you can effectively bring the reader to their feet then give them the second punch to go out and do something. In this particular instance, its the call to action. The call to action in my given snippet presents a serious emotional appeal and a direct action.
Compelling emotion and marketing effectively are two identical processes. Next time you are writing copy, pop in your iPod to your favorite uplifting song and ask yourself how you can make that copy read like the song makes you feel. Don’t be afraid to use emotion, don’t be afraid to use stronger language - just make it work by remembering that the copy will read as you want the reader to feel it.
20SMF Episode #23 – Direct Mail My Ass
by Jared on January 20th, 2006
Take another look at the pile of junk mail and unlock the unbridled power of the O.V.A.. (no, its not as spooky as the acronym suggests)
I) What The Heck Is Everyone Doing Back Here?
II) Political Communications Mania
III) Get O.V.A. Direct Mail
IV) Game Plan: Just Be
Click Here To Listen To The Podcast
Referenced Links:
20SMF MySpace Group
Delay on Today’s Show
by Jared on January 19th, 2006
Due to several copy-eating muskrats, the 20-something marketing forum podcast, usually posted on Thursdays, will be delayed 24 hours.
Trust me, you don’t want to make the muskrats mad, they hate impatience….
Not A-Mused
by Jared on January 17th, 2006
Does it really take that long to get a cup of coffee? Seriously! I am convinced my office is conveniently located across the street from the slowest Cosi in all of North America.
Like some bad cliché that you just can’t stop using in your copy, I still return there though because of my incredible addiction to their dark, rich, aromatic coffee. I step up to the register, wait the 2 minutes it takes for them to acknowledge my existence, then proceed to list off my order, modifying it at least twice, until I find something they actually have in stock (today they were out of cranberry scones and large coffee cups, go figure).
Point being, I started out in a place like this. It’s not so bad, and I understand that there are going to be terrible customers that you can’t appease no matter how much you try. However, it occurs to me that this is the perfect muse for creating effective direct marketing communications, the topic of this week’s podcast.
Here’s the set up: Cosi builds a brand and a marketing style around an image of a classy, euro-centric café that is perfect for any occasion. The food, the cafes, and the outreach all meld to create a marketing experience that makes you want to return to Cosi for everything from a quick cup of coffee in the morning to late night drinks with a date. In this situation, a disconnect appears in the marketing experience right there at the point of product access.
When you are constructing a direct marketing communication (pronounced ‘direct mail’), you aren’t just writing a letter. You are literally beginning a marketing experience.
Bare in mind that if you’re lucky enough to get your stuff read, you still have to use a call to action to create pull-through to a sale or other marketing result. That call to action is going to send your target to a website, a phone number or another marketing touch point. You better believe that it’s important for the letter (or postcard, or whatever) to match whatever verbiage or tone the touch point has.
Cosi - or rather the local management of this café - is really not in this for the marketing experience but their actions aren’t helping anything.
Do yourself a favor…each of us have a muse, whether situational or personified. If you take the time to create something, share that muse with your touch points. Explain to them why you’re doing what you’re doing and why it’s important for them to give a hoot to as well.
Believe me, the situation I encountered this morning is the best example that a muse, like an idea, is only as good as your ability to materialize your concept throughout the entire product experience.
Put that in your tip jar and percolate it!