All You Need Is A Good Idea!

RAISE YOUR MUG TO THIS CARLSBERG COMMERCIAL

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I must admit, I am not a fan of most beer advertising. Granted, I am probably not their target audience. (Heck. I am probably the father of their intended demographic.) But, as is pointed out at simplyzesty, where I found this genre-busting advertising, beer commercials "Usually follow the same storyline about who has the coldest chilling system, the best sports offers or the hottest models." To which I add the ones that glorify the grains and hops, which I am sure is the main appeal for the average beer drinker.

Anyway, here is a new campaign from Carslberg beer that is, well, as simplyzesty puts it: "A guerrilla campaign that is secretly filmed and features a cinema full of burly scary looking men with the only 2 seats in the place being sold to unsuspecting couples... it is sure to put a huge smile on your face. The video already has 800,000 views in the couple of days since it has launched."

The question they ask at the end of their review is, "Why can’t all beer companies be this original?" Let me amend that and ask if you are going to be this original with your marketing, no matter what your product or service? There's no guarantee your idea will go viral, but it is certain that dull and ordinary never will.

Got the idea?

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SESAME: OPEN SOON

Image by arcticbears via Flickr

I still remember, and think I have mentioned before, a turn of phrase I heard at a motivational seminar years ago: “No single snowflake blames itself for the blizzard.” While I will need professional help to determine why the thought resonates so deeply with me, let me propose a reverse metaphor: “Without many individual trees, it wouldn’t be a forest.”

So what could be more fundamental, and so unimportant, as a sign announcing your store opening? It’s so basic you probably wouldn’t even consider it part of your marketing arsenal. But if you consider everything as part of your marketing message, isn’t this little announcement an unexpected opportunity to promote your brand image? I don’t mean by plastering your slogan/logo on every currently boarded up window. I mean the “Open Soon” sign itself.

How are some local stores handling this? Most just give the news: Opening Soon. Some try to add a little personality, like the Potbelly sandwich stores which recently entered Manhattan did with “Opening Soonish.”

Some shoot themselves in the foot with a sign like this on a clothing store, which as of today still has it posted (if you can’t read the date, it says "Coming Spring 2011"):

And my favorite, which goes right to the character of the brand—the confidence, precision and meticulousness:

What you say and how you say it, every (large or small) chance you get, can be ordinary and invisible. Or you can create opportunities to stand out. Not just in your ads or website. But your office décor, your business cards, your automated phone greeting, the sign on the wall behind the receptionist. Heck, the holder for the key to the bathroom.

Got the idea?

WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

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If we are driven by self-interest, then trying to attract readers, viewers and customers by telling them how good you are probably is not the best approach. Which is why so many emails fail to get read. They are based on what you offer, why your product or service is better, rather than why I should care; what problem are you going to solve for me?

Ah, but offer me news I might use, information that will help me, suggestions to make something easier...then I will pay attention to your message. I still may not take your bait, but you have a better chance of eventually catching my interest and getting me to find out more. Heck, someday I might even become a customer. Or even blog about you, as I am about to do with Skyline, manufacturers of trade show exhibits and portable displays. (Full disclosure: I do not know anyone at the company, I have never used their services, and have no idea about their pricing or reliability. But I do know about their good idea.)

I first noticed them when I received an email newsletter, part of which was this:

Wow. No hard sell about the company, no "limited time, act now" nonsense. Just bright, witty, "Hey, I want to read this," information. Starting with "19 Chuck Norris Exhibitor Jokes."

Here's the table of contents from their latest newsletter. I don't know when I will next need a trade show exhibit for a client. But I do know who will be on the short list.

Are you thinking about what you customers might want to know, rather than what you feel you must be telling them? What tips and information can you offer to help them solve a problem that doesn't depend on making an immediate purchase.

Got the idea?

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A BROADWAY THEATER REVIEW

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As the headline says, this is not a review of a Broadway show. Rather, it is a critique of a Broadway theater. The specific theater does not matter, they all do business the same way.

Which brings me to customer service, or rather the lack of it. I recently got an offer for a show that sounded very worthwhile. Sufficient to say that Woody Allen wrote one of the acts. Now remember, even with a discount I am still paying almost eighty dollars per orchestra seat. I am taking a chance and supporting a show that has not yet opened, let alone been reviewed. So you would think I am the kind of theatergoer that theaters would really go out of their way to accommodate.

But here’s what actually happens. You wait in line in the lobby. If it is during a heat wave, as my experience was, there are no fans, let alone air conditioning. There is no place to sit, or even lean while you stand in line. And, two of the patrons in front of me, after receiving their tickets had to go back to the booth, since the tickets each had been given were for different dates than they had requested. And since the only one who actually knows which seats are available is the person inside the booth with the computer, you have to play whatever version of the “Cajoling game” you are most comfortable with.

Now, I realize that most theater tickets are sold through ticket services, or group sales. But I get the feeling that nothing has changed in the retail ticket buying process since Emile De Becque proposed to Nellie Forbush. Nothing is done to make the procedure easier, or allow the customer to feel that anyone actually cares if he purchases a ticket or not. Because no one is actually thinking about the transaction from the customer’s point of view.

I realize this is turning into more of a rant than a blog. But the point is that it would be a good idea for you to think about whether you are taking your customers for granted, or treating them as you always have, because you always have.

Or you are giving them an experience that makes them feel that they are actually valued, as this example from Phil’s toy forum blog talks about.

所有你需要的是个好主意！

 

 

 

My book, “All You Need Is A Good Idea!” has been translated into Chinese. With a population of over one billion people, not that many have to purchase a copy to ensure I will be facing early retirement.

If you are seeking the perfect Chinese New Year gift, you are now all set. Or, for any time of the year, use the link below.

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LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE

OK, perhaps that is a little strong. But the headline does say, “Guaranteed to have your size in stock or your next pair is free.”

Oh, wait, there is a little icon after “free.” Let’s see where it takes us. Well, first off, the fine print says, “Guaranteed to have shoes shown in sizes 8 - 12.” Hmmm, a small qualification from what the headline clearly promised, but OK, we’ll let that go for now.

On to the next part of the disclaimer: “If we are out of these styles at the store, we will ship it to you within 7 business days. If you do not receive the purchased shoes within 10 business days, we will mail you a certificate for a free pair…etc.”

So basically, even though they have guaranteed to have my size in stock (well, at least in sizes 8 – 12), what they really mean is that they will guarantee to have my size sent to me if the store inventory is not sufficient.

Wait, it gets better (or worse, depending if you are a customer or the store). After some further fine tuning, the copy concludes, “Advertised merchandise may not be carried at your local (store name) and selection may vary by store.”

So the shoes shown in the ad, and, once again, “guaranteed to be in stock in your size,” might not even be carried by my local branch.

Which leads me to my two questions, one relevant, one just idle curiosity.

•    Why in the world—especially today’s world of customer service being a key differentiator—would any store run an ad like this, loaded with more hemming and hawing than a lawyer with a bad cold and guilty client?

•    Why, when you go from telling a “lie,” to calling someone a “liar,” do you change the “e” in “lie” to an “a”?

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A JOBS REPORT

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Like you, I read many business and technology articles and blogs, which naturally are focusing on the tragic passing of Steve Jobs, and the future of Apple. As an iPod, iPad, iMac owner and devotee, whose Mac experience goes back to the Apple Performa, I have read them all, and seen the story covered from every angle. (In fact, the only one I have not yet become aware of is a tie-in with the current dismal "jobs" market.)

So even if the last thing you need is another blog about Jobs, I wanted to share the article that resonated most with me. It was from a piece in the New York Times, whose headline was "How Steve Jobs Infused Passion Into a Commodity." And the paragraph that got to me was this one, from an interview in Fortune magazine, back in 2000:

“We don’t have good language to talk about this kind of thing,” Mr. Jobs replied. “In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service. The iMac is not just the color or translucence or the shape of the shell. The essence of the iMac is to be the finest possible consumer computer in which each element plays together. ... That is the furthest thing from veneer. It was at the core of the product the day we started. This is what customers pay us for — to sweat all these details so it’s easy and pleasant for them to use our computers. We’re supposed to be really good at this. That doesn’t mean we don’t listen to customers, but it’s hard for them to tell you what they want when they’ve never seen anything remotely like it.”

None of us can ever be Steve jobs. But each of us can learn so much from him.

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PARIS IN THE THE SPRING

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Take a second look at the title of today’s post. If you still read it as, “Paris in the spring,” you are still reading it incorrectly.

And as long as you are now in your proofreading mode, look over the following till you spot the errors. This may be simply nitpicking to you, and it happens to the best of us. But it is pledge time once again. No, not a monetary pledge, but the promise to really proofread your work. It makes a difference in perception and can really harm an otherwise good idea.

When does it make sense to outsource a telemarketing campaign verses running it yourself?

Hello All....I am looking to connect with insurance agents and attorney's who can refer there clients to my defensive driving online course or in person seminar.

The congressman added that he has heard colleagues through around the phrase “stimulus two” in reference to the American Jobs Act.

Discussed considering a combination gas and oil burner; agreed that the flu will be inspected.

Add the egg yolks and give it a buzz with the hand blender (if you’re blade doesn’t reach the yolk, use the whisk attachment).

(And, finally, because one picture is worth many words...)

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HAVE FUN

 

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Go to this link.

Do what it says.

And take the message to heart.

(Boy, I love it when someone else does all the work.)