July 27, 2005

Thinking Time

We all need more of it. Steve Green told me today about a major CEO he knows who schedules one hour of thinking time every day. I like that.

I'm feeling over-e-mailed. I find that I often let e-mails control my time (it is there...therefore, it must be answered). There's always an e-mail to answer, and - then - rarely enough time to think. But WE can and must control that.

A recent survey found that e-mail distractions have reduced workers' effectiveness by the equivalent of 10 IQ points.

Beware!

Those Vanity Stamps Have Been a Success

Some time ago we were talking about how you can create your own personalized postage stamps. They cost 84 cents for a 37-cent stamp. Would people do it? Well, a 50-day trial generated 2.7 million personalized stamps. Not bad...certainly shows the appetite for personalized communications.

And I always thought that postage stamps were a commodity!

July 26, 2005

Claire, you're right about the attention span. That's why speakers are urged to keep their remarks within that short window of attention span between commercials in prime time television. Next time you go to church, watch the congregation as the sermon reaches the seven-minute mark. They start to fade and they never come back. Count the yawns before and after seven minutes. Watch the wandering eyes, the nodding heads.

On-Site Marketing

Effective marketing begins with communications to customers and prospects and continues through the on-site experience as well. With that in mind, I was thinking of how hospitals communicate with people...because I visited made five visits to two hospitals around the weekend.

On the plus side, I found the people at both hospitals to be wonderfully cheerful and helpful, in a very genuine way. (Not the Ritz "Is there anything else I can do for you" way, which ultimately made me feel creepy in Chicago...although it amused me.)

But the experience of getting through each hospital's physicality left a lot to be desired.

Hospital design must be very challenging. There must be all kinds of technical requirements, making the flow of the building not as easy to follow as it might otherwise be. Then there are inevitably unplanned expansions that make successful hospitals look like rabbit warrens...multiple buildings and additions cobbled together in a maze.

When we go to a hospital, most of us - patients, family members, or visitors - have a certain degree of anxiety. Will I be OK? Will my mother or friend or whatever be OK? My guess is that our anxiety disorients us.

And what contributes greatly to that disorientation is the signage (or lack of it) in hospitals...especially the ones I visited last weekend. The signage is a joke. You suddenly come upon a set of big double doors that say "Do not enter!" Or you come upon a big set of doors that do not open...and then you find you are supposed to go on an intercom, but you can't find it.

On and on it goes. Even the hospital I visited twice that has had no expansion since it was built was a catacomb of deceptions and deadends.

By the time I found the patient's room, I needed more medical attention than they did.

Sometimes finding a rest room in a restaurant can be just as daunting. And the trip there can bring you by piles of dirty dishes or other behind-the-scenes images that you could really do without.

The point is that all of this wandering around can and should be a positive experience, treated with the same care and commitment as an important ad campaign. All too often it is not. And yet it's so easy to remedy.

The positive marketing experience must never end.

And Will We Ever Have Time to Think...to Contemplate??

This, from InternetNews: The few crumbs of spare attention anyone has left over from the barrage of daily media will soon be eaten up by "video snacks," little chunks of content delivered to cell phones to fill those awkward moments when no one is calling, texting, or e-mailing us.

Just shoot me.

July 25, 2005

Killer Stats

The ratio of the projected U.S. ad revenue of Google and Yahoo! this year to that of NBC, CBS, and ABC in primetime: 1:1.

Numbers like that can really rock your media boat. But they shouldn't capsize it.

Interactive media advertising is going to continue to soar, but it should almost always be used as part of a multi-media communications effort that includes mass media, such as broadcast TV.

The doomsayers who are predicting the demise of television networks or daily newspapers are dead wrong. Smart marketers will seek to find the optimum blend of advertising media and inevitably that will include mass media...print and broadcast.

But HOW those mass media are used is already changing. You can give much less information, be much more tantalizing and creative, and do something dramatic to connect with your audience...because, if they want more information - all that information that you used to have to stuff into an ad - they can and should go to your website which should serve as a seamless extension of your mass media advertising.

All that said, it sure is amazing how those portals have taken off, isn't it??

Don't stand still. You're missing something. Something important.

Emotions that Cause Action

I was looking back at Dr. Dan Hill's Body of Truth: Leveraging What Consumers Can't or Won't Say. I love the way he isolates the key emotions that cause people to take an action.

For positive emotions, he names only two: happiness and pride.

Happiness is probably the dominant emotion communicated in advertising. You know what it looks like...people having fun, smiling at one another, enjoying products or services that have made them happy. Hill uses the example of VW's campaign for the Beetle, evoking - in his words - "feelings of happy nostalgia."

Pride really is about instilling reassurance. And products or services that can do that have a very strong following. So pride is what drives people to the super-luxury products. But it's also applicable to anything that can be communicated in such a way as to promote the enhancement of one's identity. Civic pride is classic. People want so very much to feel proud of where they live. But how few cities and states market to the people who live there, instilling in them a sense of pride that they can communicate to others who live elsewhere.

It has always struck me as an enormous opportunity loss. Who better to build business in a state than the people who already live there.

The negative emotions that best cause people to take an action (according to Hill) are anger, disgust (contempt), sadness, and fear. (For the latter, he uses the example of an investment and insurance company whose ads show a man in a pool with the headline, "Don't let your resources drain away. Pool them.")

OK, that's a little lame. But, when you think about it, most campaigns are grounded in one of those six emotions. And, if they're not, they may not be making an emotional connection with their consumers. It's fun to go through a publication or watch an hour of TV and categorize every ad. Sharpens your skills.

Claire to the Rescue

Claire Gibbons joined our public relations staff today. Among her many skills is the ability to provide very effective media training and presentation training. She has even trained people to testify before Congressional committees. Hey, Judge Roberts...want some help?

Isn't it amazing how many people in positions of real importance are not very articulate in their presentations? And, all too often, the smartest people are the poorest communicators. Now, when they get Rawle Murdy, they get Claire. Help is on the way!

July 24, 2005

I may be the last person in America to check out Stephanie Klein's blog. Having done so, I'm incredibly depressed. The site is enormously popular and chronicles Ms. Klein's life in great detail...with special sections like "100 Things About Me." It's a Carrie Bradshaw wannabee riff that has been picked up by Judith Regan for exploitation in book and movie form. And it really makes you wonder. What does its popularity say about our culture at this time? I'm reeling. Carol looked at it for a moment and said, "I guess some people just didn't get enough attention as a child."

Where Smart Marketing Solutions Begin

I characterized our firm's distinctive competence as Smart Marketing Solutions, and then - coincidentally - at our staff meeting Kathleen Donnelly gave a presentation on her role as Director of Knowledge.

She described her goal: "Helping Rawle Murdy and our clients gather and use information that helps us do smarter, more targeted and productive work than competitors, leading to better results and increased profitablity for our clients."

Smart Marketing Solutions begin with knowledge.

And, under Kathleen's direction, we undertake a wide range of knowledge mining...background/trend information, Pulse Polls, phone surveys, focus groups, online surveys, brand exploration exercises, and other research tools that enable us to develop data driven marketing and communications strategies.

It really works. There are endless examples of it...Kathleen can communicate those very succinctly. But, for me, her presentation reminded me not only of how wonderfully talented she is but also how essential this component of our work is...and how well developed our expertise and experience in this area has become. Thanks, Kathleen!

What Makes YOU So Special?

There have been several articles lately about Lance Armstrong. He has been examined exhaustively. So have many other prominent athletes. Apparently, Armstrong's heart is 20% larger than a normal person. And he delivers oxygen to his legs at a rate higher than all but maybe 100 people on this planet.

At dinner last night, we were discussing this phenomenon and then went around the table...each identifying our unique physical attributes. One woman had lungs twice the normal size. An artist who is dyslexic said he saw layers of images over images that he looks at. And so it went.

It was really like a branding exercise where we're working with a client to identify what attributes are unique to them and how they put those attributes to work. The artist last night, for example, is a sculptor. The dimensionality of what he sees (layers upon layers of any given image) lends itself perfectly to his medium.

There is no future in being a me-too or wannabee business. Identifying one's distinctiveness and then communicating that distinctiveness AND its benefits are the essential ingredients to successful marketing.

The Thrill of a Life

I touched Melissa's 3.11-pound son Cole (the smallest of her twins born Friday) about two hours after he was born. (He was gently hooked up to equipment in MUSC's Neo-Natal Unit, so I couldn't hold him.) It is impossible to describe the sensation. He seemed so content, breathing quietly, occasionally stretching his legs as though he'd been cooped up too long...not at all wrinkly or weird looking...but cute as could be, with healthy coloring, and a little cap on his head.

Looking at him - touching him - nothing else seemed important. And, I suppose, nothing else is.

July 19, 2005

You're right, Claire, thinkingwithtype is a very cool site. I've learned a lot just cruising around it tonight. I like the way she uses a game format to make a point. We're going to add a game to our website (I hope) when we re-vamp it shortly. Games are such a great way to engage people and impart information in a fun way.

"Three Little Words"

I've been thinking about Al Ries's latest riff on branding...he's writing [again] on the importance of being able to describe your brand in just two or three words.

The classic example is Volvo: "A safe car." Another is BMW: "Fun to Drive." (Although I can dispute that, having tangled with BMW's 'I-Drive' which should have been called 'UDrive ... Because I Can't Figure Out How This Thing Works.')

It's a real challenge to think of only a handful of words that adequately describe a brand.

Thinking of some of our clients..."Feels Like Home" really does describe the experience at Piggly Wiggly, I believe. There's a real hometown feeling at every Piggly Wiggly. Staff members are unusually friendly and helpful. And customers just plain feel comfortable and like being there.

Something like "Unique Luxurious Travel Experiences" captures Orient-Express, because each Orient-Express property (or train) provides an experience as unique as its destination. There's absolutely nothing "cookie cutter" about Orient-Express properties. Travelers choose them because they know they will have a luxurious experience in a property that uniquely reflects the distintive character of its destination.

It's fun to try to identify just three or four words to describe other clients.

Or people.

I remember that there was a game people played in Nora Ephron's book "Heartburn." You had to describe another person - or yourself - using only three adjectives. Try it. For yourself...or your brand. It's a great exercise.

As for Rawle Murdy, I'd like to think that we can be described as Smart Marketing Solutions.

July 18, 2005

Can you imagine someone telling the legendary William S. Paley (who made CBS into a broadcast news powerhouse) that 15 years after his death more people would get their news from something called 'Yahoo!' than from CBS?

Part of the reason is the rise of the Internet, and part is fact that CBS has been slow coming to the Internet news table.

As a result, Yahoo! ranks as the number one Internet news source (with an audience of almost 25 million unique visitors last month), while CBS ranks number 17 (with fewer than 6 million unique visitors).

Sure, CBS News has had other problems. But not recognizing and taking advantage of the multiplicitous ways in which people presently get their news has really cost the formerly-known-as "Tiffany Network."

Multi-dimensional marketing and communications are vital ways to get an adequate share of voice...AND share of mind.

I am stunned by how many good newspapers and television stations still haven't figured this out. They're missing a great opportunity...and, in many ways, putting themselves at great risk.

CBS is doing something about it now. Their website will soon include a wide array of free video material as well as a blog site where people can comment on the news (and its coverage) and communicate directly with CBS news personnel.

Getting Personal

Yesterday I was noting the personal connection that Lucky Magazine creates with its readers. Then last night I read the Times Magazine piece on the new typeface called Bello. With its handmade look (Bello is based on lettering done with a brush), Bello has won instant popularity and garnered the best new "display font" award from the Type Directors Club.

Looks like everyone wants to get personal.

While it's presently very popular, there's certainly nothing new about finding ways to make a personal connection with your audience. Calvin Tomkins has written a great piece for The New Yorker on the story behind the Duccio "Madonna and Child" painting bought by the Met for $50 million. The painting is incredibly important in art history, because it marks a moment at which artists moved from stylistic Byzantine figures to the more human figures of the Renaissance.

Tomkins says that the real "figurehead" of the revolution was Dante: "The fact that Dante chose to write in the vernacular, in Italian rather than Latin, is one of the turning points of the West. And this is precisely what these artists [Duccio and Giotto] were about as well - finding a vernacular as opposed to an intentionally elitist, anti-popular form of painting. This is the real thing; painting is no longer an illustration but something that attenpts to evoke a human response from the viewer."

Good Lord! Am I comparing a popular type face - Bello - to Duccio, Giotto, and Dante! Get a grip, David!!! Well.....

July 17, 2005

Nothing 'Mickey Mouse' About It

Today's the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland. The Disney group was a pioneer in customer relationship management. Years ago, I went to 'Walt Disney U,' or whatever they call the program in which they teach people how they manage the place...particularly, how they manage the people. What they're really managing is expectations. And - in marketing - there's nothing more important.

In the Disney lines, for example, you'll see a sign that tells you that you've got a 40-minute wait. In fact, the wait at that point is closer to 30 minutes. You spend half an hour getting to the front of the line, and you're delighted...because you waited only 30 minutes, not 40.

That's managing expectations.

They greet people differently in the morning than they do in the afternoon. That's because folks are "rarin' to go" in the morning, and exhausted in the evening. And they've studied people's habits so they can anticipate their needs and be one step ahead of them. For example, they figured out that people are comfortable holding on to a piece of trash (like an empty soft-drink cup) for about 26 paces....so, Disney trash cans are spaced about 24 paces apart.

For me, the creepiest thing is the 7/8ths scale. Everything at Disney properties is 7/8's of normal size in order to make people feel in control of their environment.

But, that apart, the Disney gang is teaching us all a great lesson on the importance of managing expectations: Always underpromise just a little bit. Tough to do in this hyperbolic world we live in.

On-Line Customer Satisfaction

I was surprised to see these April numbers ranking leading online retailers for customer satisfaction. All closely bunched toward the top (with scores of 80-85), the leaders - in this order - were...Netflix, Amazon, QVC, Newegg, L.L. Bean, Old Navy, TigerDirect, and Apple.

Why was I surprised? Because I think Netflix is impossible to deal with. They write me and tell me not to respond to the address from which they are writing me. I've been trying to cancel my membership for nine months but can't get through to anyone. I'm a Netflix prisoner. Help!

The Power of Personalization

I just seen the August issue of Lucky, the incredibly successful Conde Nast magazine all about shopping (geared to younger women, would be my guess). It's really well done, and what strikes me most is the way it communicates in such a personal way to its readers.

There are several spreads showing real people who tell you what they like and what they buy and do so in their own words.

But even the spreads that are not keyed on any one identified person have copy and captions written in the first person singular: (i.e., "Paired with a flowy skirt, this nipped-in jacket gives me a great shape.") Lots of the type looks casually hand-written. And there's even a feeling that you're looking at a woman friend's cork-board wall of clipped out photos, accompanied by personal commentary.

The take-away from all of this is that Lucky has carefully calculated how to make a very powerful personal connection with its readers. And I'll bet that as a result, Lucky readers are uncommonly loyal.

July 12, 2005

Steve Gavel: Genius

My friend Steve Gavel wrote his PhD dissertation on "continuous narratives" principally in classical art. "Continuous narratives" are when the central character is repeated several times. Steve is an extraordinary combination of archeologist, teacher, inveterate collector, and foundation leader. And, boy, does he have a good eye!

Forgive the edu-speak, but here's a great sentence from the forward in Steve's dissertation:

"I argue that 'continuous narratives' reveal a desire by people to participate in the phenomenal world by experiencing visual stories rather than by analyzing the phenomenal world into the linguistically structured units of narrative representation which are privileged in current art historical discourse."

What Steve is saying is that classical art (and so much of the art we see, inspired by either classical art or the Renaissance) typically portrays a moment in time. In essence, the artist is saying to us, "This is the most important moment in the story, and this is what is looked like." The artist is in control. We are passive viewers.

On the other hand, argues Steve, in continuous narratives, we get a whole story, and WE decide what's important...WE decide how to view it...WE derive our own view of it and therefore WE participate in it to a much greater extent.

..."a desire by people to participate in the phenomenal world by experiencing visual stories"....

That's a very palpable desire, and it's one that marketers need to continuously tap in to. Rather than seeking to control messages, we need to enable and encourage consumers to participate in the process and become a part of the story themselves.

This applies to message. And it applies to media.

It's already happening. The Wall Street Journal reports that P&G has created a site for its Old Spice Endurance deodorant that allows users to remix a TV spot with unused footage to create their own commercials.

The fun is just beginning.

Watch the Watchers...Spot the Trend

PaidContent.org reports that more people watched AOL's streaming footage of Live8 online (5 million unique visitors) than watched the highlights show on ABC (2.9 million).

And Another Lick on Wal-Mart

According to American Demographics, the poorer, less educated, and older consumers are, the more likely they believe in the goodness of Wal-Mart.

July 11, 2005

Took a few day break. Not sure why. Maybe the weather. What's going on out there? There have been major stories documenting global warming. (Does anyone in the Administration believe in ANY science?) Hurricanes have already begun. The dogs are in a constant state of anxiety. I happen to be someone who is very affected by the weather. I'm surprised that more marketers don't make the emotional connection between people and weather. They tell you it's warm - or even that it's cold - but they only brush by the feelings associated with those climates. They do a kiss-on-the-cheek. They're missing the point. They should read Tennessee Williams. Who's his equivalent in the snowy environs?

Trends in African-American Buying Power

We hear so much these days about marketing to Hispanics, so I was wondering what's up with the African-American market. Fact is...it's booming. Updated numbers will come out in a couple of months. But the latest data I have show African-American households now earning more than $656 billion.

Among the products that showed the largest one-year increases last year were refrigerators (+24%), computer hardware (+23%) and software (+75%), satellite dishes (+112%), cable TV service (+15%) and video games (+86%). Sports and recreational equipment purchases rose 130%, while purchases of new cars and trucks increased 10%.

Top five expenditure categories were housing ($145.2 billion), food ($56.5 billion), cars/trucks ($32.6 billion), clothing ($23.0 billion), and health care ($18.0 billion).

The US African-American population presently exceeds 38 million.

Time Was....

Is anyone else disturbed by Norman Pearlstine's decision to give up sources at Time last week?

I know the issue is incredibly complicated, but it seems to me that Pearlstine decided to protect his company instead of protecting the right of journalists NOT to disclose their sources. And doesn't a compromise in integrity run a lot deeper than a compromise in profitability?

The Time magazine empire has flourished over the past several years. The company now churns out more than 140 magazines, up from 24 when Pearlstine took over. During the same period, annual revenues jumped from $2 billion to $5.6 billion. That's a big success.

And, I suppose, if your lifeblood is magazines like People and InStyle, what's a little compromise in journalistic integrity?

Well, just ask CBS. They caved to the tobacco companies years ago, and have never recovered.

Time used to be a magazine that great journalists wanted to write for and thoughtful people wanted to read. Those days are now pretty much over, thanks to Mr. Pearlstine. So that magazine is likely to become as sycophantic as its sister publications. And that's a shame.

Meanwhile, Judy Miller is in jail for not revealing sources on a story she didn't write.

Sometimes truth IS stranger than fiction.

Women and Marketing Automobiles

Comments to my last posting were so great. Thank you! I'm thinking more about women and automobile advertising and remembering the deal Chrysler had with Martha Stewart. As I recall, it was a comprehensive deal cutting across several of her enterprises. I'm not sure it was very successful, although I don't know why. Maybe timing. After all, this past year or so hasn't been so good for her, and I think Chrysler bailed early in the game.

Don't leave town to buy a Toyota, Nikki. Just run down Highway 17 and see Pat Fogerty at West Ashley Toyota. They've got comfy chairs and refreshing beverages (even though this Pat is a guy!).

July 6, 2005

Copy Cats

Now Ford has joined the party. They've announced they're going to offer "employee prices" on their cars. DaimlerChrysler was scheduled to announce a plan of their own today. All this because GM reported that their sales increased by 41% in June over the same month last year.

I wouldn't have picked that promotion as a winner, so I'm eating some crow. And I certainly would have hoped that the competition would have thought of their OWN promotion. Perhaps that was hoping for too much.

Locally, I heard a car dealer radio ad on Friday urging listeners to rush to the dealership by 9pm that night because that would be the final deadline of their employee pricing promotion.

Then Saturday, the same dealer ran a radio ad saying that the employee pricing promotion was continued just through the July 4th weekend.

And then yesterday, they ran a new ad...announcing - you guessed it - an employee pricing promotion!

Not the way to build consumer confidence in the word of the dealer....and yet one wonders why so many dealers don't "get it."

Another dealer here has a billboard that reads something like, "If anyone else tells you they're Number One, they're lying." That is exactly the kind of boast that women hate...and, yes, women make more than 80% of the automobile buying decisions. Some marketers simply won't face the facts and respond appropriately to them.

Women's Reading Habits

I was told today that studies show that women's self-esteem drops 30% by the time they're read through the typical "women's" or "fashion" magazine. The theory is that they are constantly measuring themselves against the women they see in the magazines...and feeling that they come up short.

So I guess that's why the tabloids are so popular...because they show bad things happening to people whom women might otherwise feel were better (richer, prettier, thinner, happier, whatever) than them. Case in point...I noticed the latest "National Enquirer" today shows a bunch of cellulite-loaded celebs on the beach.

Smart Mag Marketing Move

The folks at Inc. Magazine came up with a smart idea that engages and involves their readers. In his Editor's Letter, John Koten notes that the publication has been put up for sale. He goes on to say that they are putting together a special advisory board of readers who will be asked to fill out occasional brief questionnaires and kept up-to-date on what's going on at the magazine. Readers are invited to apply to become members of this advisory board. Smart move. Helps readers feel involved. Helps the magazine get valuable feedback and input from its readers.

July 5, 2005

On Holidays

Everyone seems happily refreshed today after the holiday weekend. There's a reason for holidays...the change of pace enables us to relax, see things differently, and - even - create.

Years ago, we worked for a company that makes wound care hospital beds...that is, their beds significantly relieve the pressure of the human body on the bed surface, thereby reducing pain (among burn victims, for example) and reducing problems such as bed sores.

The idea for the technology came to the founder as he lay on the beach one holiday weekend. He focused on the sand, recognizing how it conformed to the shape of his body. His imagination went to work. He imagined a product that conform to a patient's body while significantly reducing the weight of the body on the surface.

Ultimately, his product used airblown ground glass (ground so finely as to resemble sand). The ground glass is held within a "sleep surface" that conforms to the shape of the patient's body. It is suspended by the air pressure, so the result is much less weight on the surface.

That multi-million-dollar idea was holiday produced.

Another example was a creation of a great marketing genius (who happens also to have been from Charleston). His name was Bill Backer, and he was the lead McCann-Erickson creative on the Coke account for many, many years.

On a vacation flight back from Europe, Backer's flight stopped in Shannon Ireland with some technical difficulties. The flight attendants placated the anxious passengers by serving soft drinks. Backer was so impressed by the power of the product that he immediately wrote a Coke song that has become a legend: "I'd Like to Sing the World a Song."

Starbucks Keeps Singing

Starbucks sold more than 750,000 copies of the Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company" CD. And now they've got an exclusive to sell the previously bootlegged Bob Dylan "Live at the Gaslight 1962" album.

More smart marketing from the Starbucks people. Their average check is $4, but the addition of hot music sellers will help push that up. And - with music, wi-fi, and comfy chairs - they're turning Starbucks into a destination...which is exactly what they want.

I remember that Chock full of Nuts used to boast that their counter stools became uncomfortable after about 10 minutes...so they could get a good turnover in customers. Starbucks takes a different approach. They WANT their customers to stay. They want the stickiness of a customer who likes to hang out and ends up spending not just more time, but more money.

Funny...you don't see so many Chock full of Nuts places any more.

July 1, 2005

Some people stand out from all the rest...even if they aren't "high profile." I'm talking about the people of unshakable integrity and intelligence who are steady as rocks, loyal, caring, and enormously capable. They get things done. No flash, no dash, no grandstanding. Just substance driven by intellect, integrity, an extraordinary work ethic, and heart. And humor...never forget humor.

Such a person is Mary Ann Sullivan, who had open heart surgery today. And she is all I am thinking about tonight.