All You Need Is A Good Idea!

IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU

It seems as if everyone has decided to talk about the benefit to the user, rather than simply list features. Nothing wrong with that, but there should be more to it than simply saying, “you” in the headline.

Historically there have been many great “you” campaigns. “Have it your way.” “This Bud’s for you.” “You deserve a break today.” “When you care enough to send the very best.” (For some fun, visit Advertising Age's listing of the 100 best ad campaigns, and count the ones that use "you.")

Somehow they seem more solid and less obvious than the ones I am seeing lately. There’s the campaign for Yahoo, “It’s Y!ou.” There’s the ad for Dr. Oz, stating, “The show that’s all about you.” Barclays Bank’s headline is, “We live by one simple measure of success. Yours.” Simply using the word "you" doesn't make it about me.

Certainly, it is a desirable goal to make your communications about the customer and his needs. But remember to put it into the context of a good idea.

What do you think?

THE DUMBNESS OF CROWDS

Lately I have been reading about the amazing insights you can get from the collective wisdom of crowds. "The more the better" seems to be the rationale; thousands of people offering their opinion will lead you to results you could not otherwise get.

Maybe. But I do have to inquire about the respondents, as was asked in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, “Who are those guys?”

Add up your results, and you will, by definition, get an average outcome. For every keen, actionable insight, which you will have to identify, you will gets tons of off-target, obvious, just plain dumb input.

The Zagat Survey uses this technique for their restaurant reviews. Anyone can voice an opinion, results get tabulated and voila, a score is printed for the food, ambiance, etc. But would you rather see what thousands of people think about a menu—people whose opinion on clothing, politics, and football teams you would completely disagree with— than take the word of your favorite restaurant critics? Do the opinions of random strangers mean more to you than the insights of Frank Bruni, Ed Levine, or for that matter, a friend whose opinion you have come to respect?

Further, how many people make a crowd? Do you hire one consultant when needed? Or two, or three or forty?  Should a focus group (a traditional research technique, using a panel of six to ten random participants) with qualitative results mean more than the quantitative responses of thousands? Yes, the Internet does make it easier and quicker to get thousands of opinions. But does this make the results more meaningful? (There are exceptions, there always are. But since this is my blog, I don’t have to talk about them.)

I suggest you use any “mob” research you do as a guide, not as proof that your preconceived concept is the way to go. If you really believe in what you have created, it is a good idea to take the opinions of the crowd with a pound of salt.

What do you think?

TIVO. MODERN, BUT YET AMAZINGLY PRIMITIVE

I recently got a TiVo HD DVR. Lots of great features: HD quality, search for shows by title, actor, category, or keyword, easy to use and program.

Last night, it died. When there is a problem, the initial step that is recommended, and I quote, is “Powercycle the DVR by unplugging the power cord and plugging it back in.”

Let me repeat that. On a modern technological marvel, capable of recording two shows at once, letting you “freeze” a live show, set up recording options with the press of a few buttons, literally make suggestions for recording based on your viewing habits, you are told to unplug and re-plug it when there is a problem.

Have the good folk at TiVo never heard of a devise known as an off/on switch? Especially in a small space, where many DVRs are kept, to have to pull it out from the shelf, turn the TiVo around, unplug it from the rear panel, re-plug it and then put it back is a major inconvenience. Particularly when a simple power off/power on button would eliminate the bother. I assume they think they have a good reason for this. I would love to hear it.

And I would love to hear if there is anything archaic you are doing with your product or marketing. Something you have overlooked improving. Or you do it because you always have done it that way, though you mean to modernize it, “someday.” Perhaps something as obvious as putting your email address on all your communications. Or eliminating the 122-page, three-language instruction brochure you pack with your product, and making it available online instead.  Or adding a LED light to show the product is working. Or...

LET THEM EAT PORK

Merrily We Roll Along is a 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, turned into a 1981musical by Stephen Sondheim. The basic conceit is that it is told in reverse order, beginning with the main character as a cynical 40-year old and ending with him as an idealistic youngster.

Which is how I am doing today’s blog. Backwards.

The ending: “You have to give your customers a reason to come to your place. You have to offer something no one else does.”

Which is a quote by Werner Kuhn, in The New York Times, who has a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, where pork is on the menu.

The name of his restaurant, in Spanish, is El Cerdo, “the pig.”

It is in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country where devout Muslims do not eat pork.

The marketing question is: How do you attract attention in a country where your product is off-limits to about 60 percent of the population?

If you think you have a difficult marketing job ahead of you, think about this guy’s situation.

He certainly understands the importance of a good idea.

 

I WOULD CHANGE ONE WORD

The article was about Black Friday. The main point was that, after an unfortunate death of a shopper last Black Friday (which as you know is the big shopping day after Thanksgiving, when most retailers are supposed to start being in the black for the year), retailers are planning new safety measures.

What caught my eye was the last paragraph, a quote by Ellen Davis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation. “No matter how seamless and airtight you think this is, the unexpected can happen.”

I thought about the statement in regard to all our marketing plans, and so would change her thought to “will” happen, rather than “can” happen. It is part of the inevitable Law of Unintended Consequences.

I guess by definition you can’t plan for the unexpected, the Black Swan. But expecting the unexpected certainly gives you a leg up for the surprising, out of the blue — why not a different color? — event. You know what I mean. The ad you have prepared, the coupon ready to drop, the new slogan…until fate and timing say, oh look, someone else just did the same thing, or, hmmm, a snowstorm in April.

I learned this as a copywriter at William Esty, a large, conservative, ad agency that was celebrating its fiftieth year in business. My headline for their anniversary ad was chosen in spite of, or, more likely, because it was out of keeping for their usual staid approach to marketing: Once Every 50 Years, Even Esty Likes To Blow Its Own Horn. The ad was scheduled for a Tuesday, but on Monday they lost their largest, oldest, piece of business. So while they scrambled to kill the ad (and at the same time maim my career there), I realized you can’t think of every possibility.

What you can do is be resilient, be honest, laugh and do whatever damage control is necessary. What you can’t do is let inertia dictate that you move ahead as if nothing had changed.

What do you think?

WHAT’S A NICE PRODUCT LIKE YOU DOING IN A PLACE LIKE THIS?

It was a long ago copy exploratory for Anacin. (A copy exploratory is where the ad agency is in crisis mode and the entire creative department pitches in to come up with new ideas. It is more panicky than a new business pitch, because here the business is yours to lose.)

You can read the exciting details about my good idea for the TV campaign in my book, pages 134-138. But it is the print executions I want to discuss. My plan was to put my tag line, with no other copy, in places no aspirin ads had gone before. Sections of a newspaper, for example, that were inherently headache provoking, such as the real estate pages. There, among all the listings for homes and apartments—filled with prices and decisions guaranteed to be nerve racking—was the simple message, “What would you give for some Anacin right now?” and an image of an Anacin bottle. Or picture the same graphic and slogan in the midst of the help wanted section. Or the stock market pages. Or the financial section.

What brought this all to mind was a recent blog of Drew McMellan’s that had a graphic of a product with very unexpected, but brilliant shelf placement. Head to his page to see for yourself, and maybe print the picture and paste it on your computer for inspiration.

My question for you, as usual, is to how you can adapt this thinking for your Phufkel. Is there a media buy or product placement or any other kind of creative twist that you can use for yourself? Is there a blog you can link to that seemingly has nothing in common with yours, till you get the light bulb moment? How about an ad for a stain remover in the restaurant section?

How about you think of some for yourself?

BE A WINNER

In the old days—less than 1,000 days ago— you would run a promotion that required a customer to scratch a card to reveal the prize they had won, redeemable at a retail location or by mailing the card or bottle cap to you.

How black-and-white-television that seems today. As the above card from Subway demonstrates, now the rubbing reveals a code that forces customers to go to the sponsor’s web site to find out what they might have won.

As we know, the real reason for the use of promotions like this is that the customer is required to fill in personal information to access the contest site. And you now have harvested their e-mails so you can offer them additional promotions, coupons, etc. in the future.

Except…you have no idea how many people have gone to the website, saw they had to fill in all the “required” fields and left, perhaps with a sour taste in their mouths, because they knew exactly what you were doing.

So what would happen if instead, you did this: When someone clicks on the “Find out if you have won a prize” page, give them a choice. They can fill in whatever information you request, or just go directly to the next page even if they have left all fields blank.

I can hear the left-brainers now. The whole point, they will say, is to accumulate addresses, they will not use the information to spam anyone, and they will offer additional contests, and special offers to the entrants.

They may be more correct than I am. But somehow I feel that you can more readily build a community by not forcing anyone to join. By offering a choice of filling in the info, rather than forcing them, people might be more likely to offer up the information you want anyway. They certainly will have a more upbeat opinion about your company. And they will definitely give better word of mouth.

Of course, that is just my opinion. What do you think?

STOP WINEING

When Rodney Dangerfield, of “I don’t’ get no respect” fame, was asked what he thought the future might bring, his response was something to the effect of, “The best I can look forward to is someday getting sick and dying.”

Now that I’ve cheered us all up, let me point out something else you can be sure of. Whatever good marketing idea you develop, someone else will use it someday. Ideas are simply out there, often popping into several heads at once, since we are all exposed to the same movies, TV, news, headlines and other stimuli. And, of course, they may also just steal it.

For example, the Wall Street Journal has had a wine club for a while. Hard to miss their full page introductory offers; buy a case of wine at a reduced price, and also get a free fancy corkscrew set. Now I see the New York Times is doing the same thing. Sure, different wines, different incentive, but basically identical.

Now, I am not taking sides. For all I know, Popular Science magazine has had a wine club for ten years. My point is that later, or sooner, your good idea will appear elsewhere. And there is probably nothing practical you can do to protect it.

But there is one useful thing you can do: Don’t worry about it. Just keep developing new creative answers. The better you get at creating good ideas, the less you have to worry about any one in particular being ripped off. Because you will have moved on, becoming as enamored of your latest creative progeny as you were of its elder siblings who may have been adopted by your competition.

What do you think?

UPDATE: Just found out that USA Today is joining the wine club frenzy.

THE WOOLF IS SO RIGHT

“Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.” Virginia Woolf

 

I know that the marketing messages we devise are in no sense literature. But Ms. Woolf’s thought is important for all us who pound the keys, particularly if your goal is the art of persuasion.

Since many of us are big on audacity but weak on creative confidence, we often bounce our ideas off others. (The truth is that we are not seeking constructive criticism; we are aiming for applause.) Yet we tend to value the comments very highly; we defer to observations from those with whom we otherwise share absolutely no common interests or attitudes. Why should we care about the insight—to glorify the input—of someone, regarding a headline or turn of phrase, when we would not care a fig for the opinion of that same person when he is providing a movie or restaurant recommendation?

The truth is that we do. And to a certain point, it is reasonable. The problem occurs when you place more importance on the opinions of others than the convictions of yourself.

“Marketing communications are sprinkled with the debris of those who have heeded beyond common sense the judgment of others.” (Sorry Virginia.)

What do you think?

YOUR BACK TO THE WALL

Your goal is a good one. You want to open a store and feature one product, rather than a wide range of goods. That way, you figure, you will more quickly get a brand identity built. And that way you can create a marketing message that is single minded, banging home one simple, powerful persuasive message, based on one key attribute. You will sell other items of course, but they will be related in some way, and not the focus.

Let’s say you’re going with muffins. You will offer a wide range of flavors, and ingredients, and hope to soon become the go-to place for those who crave muffins. And you will devote all your energy, physical and creative, to getting the word out.

But then you say, well, I do have to pay the rent, and my employees, and my suppliers. So you broaden your appeal, in hopes of broadening your audience. Coffee seems a natural offering. Then maybe add other items like bagels, and cupcakes and croissants. After all, our customer has to get them somewhere. Then fruit and cheese and as long as you have your oven going, pizza, soups, hot dogs. And how much space can a Gelato machine take up?

Here’s today’s thought. Soon you are another food place, offering everything to everyone. And because you are now expanding your offerings, you are no longer forced to focus on your muffins. You no longer have to create ideas that will produce a unique identity, because you no longer have a unique identity. When you leave yourself wriggle room, seems to me the odds are that you are gonna wriggle. If muffin sales dip, you are not forced to create good ideas to publicize your muffins, because your back is not to the wall; you have other items to feature and push.

Starbucks is coffee. Crumbs, a New York institution, is the cupcake place. Tropicana is orange juice. So when people want coffee, cupcakes or orange juice they come to the top of mind immediately. Yes, they all offer other things, but in a word association test, they would each be the one-word association.

How many words would it take to describe who you are?