Brevity is the soul of many things besides wit, as we have all learned from the character limitations of Twitter. But it is a good thing to keep in mind in all our writing, including, and perhaps particularly, our blogs.
Today being a holiday, where you and I are busy being lazy, let me make it easy on both of us, with a link to a blog that has Danny Rubin’s interesting input on the power of brevity.
This is such a good idea, I am consumed with envy, jealousy—there is a difference—and awe. And though it is physically difficult to applaud and cheer while eating your heart out, I couldn’t wait to share it.
To quote from Design Taxi’s piece, where I discovered this promotion, to help Land Rover owners stay alive if they ever get stuck in the desert, Land Rover worked with ad agency Young & Rubicam Dubai to create an edible survival guide.
Along with tips on surviving the harshness of the dessert, the survival guide teaches you things how to build shelters, and signal for help.
But as a last survival resort, because it is made out of edible paper and ink, you can eat the book!
O.K. They have raised the bar to wonderful new heights. But, as someone once said, there is no glory in falling off the lowest rung of the ladder. “Go big. Be bold. Don’t settle.” All clichés, and all so true.
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Push Button (Photo credit: drip&ju)
The client: Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Europe. Specifically, Turner Benelux.
The background: ‘To launch the high quality TV channel TNT in Belgium we placed a big red push button on an average Flemish square of an average Flemish town. A sign with the text "Push to add drama" invited people to use the button. And then we waited... “
The video:
The point: Was the promotion worth what was obviously a considerable effort? 30 million views so far, not even counting you. Plus those, like me, who are going to watch it again. So yeah, indeed a good idea.
Well, at least a vending machine hugger thanks to this Coke promotion. In case you missed it, there is a video below. Basically, if you (literally) hug the vending machine, you get a free can of Coke. Of course, you can only get this free can if you live in Singapore, but Coke has garnered free worldwide publicity from the idea.
Is there anything you can do like this with a product or service of yours? It needn’t be high tech. But the idea of giving something away in exchange for a warm, human (viral?) moment is very intriguing.
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Stuart Elliott, the New York Times advertising columnist, wrote a column about various brands that are celebrating their anniversaries. Among them are Life Savers, 100 years; Motel 6, 150 years; Bacardi rum, 150 years; Cartier, 165; Glenfiddich Scotch whisky, 125; GMC trucks, 100; Kraft macaroni and cheese, 75; the New York Mets, 50; and Oreo cookies, 100.
Mr. Elliott says the campaigns are part of what he calls, “comfort marketing,” invoking misty, water-colored memories to woo consumers into buying products in the present. He also talks about “authenticity,” which is suggesting to shoppers that a product is worth buying because its quality has been tested for decades.
The column talks in detail about the anniversary marketing efforts of Motel 6 and Life Savers. I must admit I have a soft spot in my heart for Life Saver. When I was a kid, we used to go into a dark room and snap Wint-O-Green Life Savers in half, which would produce a very visible spark. (Though I think the main purpose was to see if we could lure any girls into a poorly lit room with us.)
I’ve worked on a few “Anniversary” marketing ideas, and to me, the most important element is a message that comes directly out of the brand DNA. Bacardi rum’s communication can’t be a bland and generic announcement of its longevity, one that might also be run by Oreo cookies.
Here are two specific examples of what I mean. When my ad agency did the advertising for Rapid Park garages, we realized it was their 50th anniversary. And since we were running a series of small space black and white ads, we thought we would run some that featured their anniversary. The question is, how does a parking garage announce its anniversary? Well, we created four different ads, the one below being my favorite.
And then came the 70th Anniversary of the Stage Deli, known for its hugely overstuffed sandwiches and hugely grumpy waiters. Certainly the communication must recognize that heritage, which the following two pieces certainly do.
The point is, the marketing of any celebration—birthday, anniversary, new store opening—can’t be crafted in a vacuum, focusing on the event while ignoring the brand. Its impact depends not just on the idea, but the relevance to your heritage.
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Seal of the U.S. government's Small Business Administration. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yes, it’s tough out there, particularly now. Let’s say you are a small business, which you probably are (according to the Small Business Administration, small firms with less than 500 employees represent 99.7 percent of the 23.7 million businesses in America).
According to a Dun & Bradstreet report, "Businesses with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37% chance of surviving four years.”
Very scary. And let’s say, more specifically, that you are a family-owned business. Well, according to the Family Business Institute, quoted in the New York Times in an article written b y Adriana Gardena, only about 30 percent survive beyond the founder’s generation.
But, I ask rhetorically, what can we do to increase our chances of survival? Since I don’t have a lot of arrows in my quiver, I will suggest, as usual, that perhaps a good idea can make a difference in your marketing, and therefore your business prospects.
I do not say this without any supporting evidence. Quoting from the same New York Times article, which talked to several small-business owners who have beaten the survival odds, the trait they listed first was a willingness to reinvent. The article quotes the third-generation chief executive of a printing firm as saying, “If you do the same thing for more than five years in a row, you’re going to fall behind.”
Sure, he was talking technology, where his company came up with some good ideas. But you and I know that this also applies to your marketing. No, not changing your creative direction constantly to avoid doing the same thing. That’s not marketing reinvention; that’s confusing.
But coming up with new strategically targeted ideas, refining your marketing messages, checking out all the new social media, taking risks…that’s the kind of reinvention that pays off.
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Image via Wikipedia
There is a lot to be said for following the rules. Certainly you should obey rules such as: Red lights mean you should stop. Creative strategies help keep you focused. Do unto others... These are rules that it makes sense to abide by.
But when it comes time to generate your good ideas, "The first rule of creating is that there are no rules." This thought is a quote from Lisa Lutz, in the Wall Street Journal. Well, I actually substituted one word, using "creating" for her word "writing."
Ms. Lutz (yep, that's her picture) was a screenwriter, and she says by nature screenplays are drowning in rules. So she switched to writing novels, and decided to abandon the conventional rules. After all, "Every writer is shackled by his or her own limitations. Why chain yourself down any more than is necessary?"
All of this applies so perfectly to creating your good ideas that I won't take any more space to make the obvious points.
But I will make my point as current as possible, with a quote in yesterday's New York Times. "I play with rules," the choreographer Chad Naharin said. "I make up rules. I break those rules."
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Image by John Kratz via Flickr
For longer than I can believe, in my book, my blog, and my presentations, I have been telling you how important good ideas are. How creativity and innovation and the unexpected will help you build your brand, stand out from your competition, and even probably be fun.
But for those of you who have read the above paragraph as “blah, blah, blah,” after hearing my message so often, let me add the input of three disparate business people, whom you might be more apt to listen to. The quotees(?) have nothing in common, except their shared high opinion of the necessity of not boring people with your marketing.
One is from Bill Kling, founder and president emeritus of the American Public Media Group. Another is a quote from Anna Lingeris, a spokeswoman for Reese’s Minis. And finally there is In-Soo Cho, president at the StarKist Company. (Read the links to the full articles to see who said what.)
If these three biggies all are telling you the same thing, maybe it is time you listened.
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The Los Angeles Times, among other publications and blogs, talks about Wimpy, a South African 500-restaurant chain.
To promote its new Braille menu, it created burgers with words in Braille spelled out on the buns with sesame seeds. Each bun had a description such as “100% pure beef.”
Diners at three Braille organizations were given 15 of the burgers. And in case you are curious how much impact 15 burgers can have, Wimpy claims 800,000 people have heard about their menu through Braille publications and organizations. In addition, the YouTube video below has been viewed so far by over 250,000 people.
Talk about thinking outside the bun.
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Image via Wikipedia
Our favorite take-out Chinese restaurant suddenly closed. No warning, no notice. The metal gate was down, and when you peered inside, the refrigerator and other equipment was gone.
Since it was our go to take-out, we felt bad for the owners. But we also had to select a replacement. Granted, since we are talking Manhattan, there are many choices. But which one would it be?
The replacement decision was made easier when I passed by the closed store this morning. Very simply—and cleverly—a nearby competitor had put a bunch of their menus on the chain that locked the door. And I couldn’t think of a single reason not to try them.
Now I am not suggesting you should be cold and calloused when one of your competitor’s is going through a rough patch. But if there is a simple, clever, not mean-spirited way to demonstrate that you are available as an alternative, then go for it.
(Have you noticed I have been focusing on things Chinese ever since my book was translated into Chinese, available at amazon.cn? Just saying, it might make a wonderful Chinese New Year gift. January 23, Year of the Dragon.)
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