August 3, 2004

What if there were a....

At lunch, we were talking about ideas for inventions. Kind of a "what-if-there-were-a..." moment.

Jamie said that his pregnant wife says it's very difficult to shave her legs. So she thinks there ought to be a razor with an extendable handle for pregnant women. Clever idea...why hasn't anyone done anything about that?

Joe said what if people could get a GPS-driven tour of Charleston. Kind of a 21st Century version of an acoustiguide. You'd get something at the Visitor Center that would download images and text or voice customized to wherever you were walking or driving throughout the city.

"What if" conversations don't need to lead to the laboratory. But they can certainly catalyze new marketing ideas.

I was thinking of Joe's idea when I read about the New York City taxicabs that have cab-top ads that change depending upon the neighborhood they're driving in (thanks to GPS).

That was noted in a great article on "Hot New Advertising Tools" in Inc. magazine.

There's a lot in the article about identifying the behavioral profile of your customers and then identifying where like-minded prospects are...and then marketing directly to them and converting them to customers. This is something we've been doing in partnership with Tom Blazer's e-site business intelligence firm.

The article notes that in a study, website visitors were, on average, 14 times more likely to click on an ad when it matched their profiles.

Furthermore, consumers appear to be willing to share personal information in hopes of getting advertising that is more relevant to them.

Better targeting isn't just limited to the Internet. The Nielsen people are more clearly identifying television audiences, and - of course - cable TV offers some very specific targeting opportunities.

I love the taxi story. And I'm thinking there must be a way to provide drivers with customized travel information (and advertising!) as they drive through our state (and other states, if they can't find everything anyone could ever want right here in South Carolina!).

In three Stop & Shop grocery stores in Massachusetts, customers can swipe their loyalty cards through a reader attached to their grocery carts and get a proposed shopping list (and tips) based upon their previous purchases. Creepy, in a way...but just think about the possibilities.

The possibilities. That's what it's all about. And it often starts with imagining "What if there were a......"

A Night at the Movies

Almost half as many people are going to the movies this summer as went to the movies five years ago.

There's all kinds of speculation about it, centering around the rise in home entertainment.

Me, I think it's simply that the summer movies aren't very appealing.

That said, can you imagine someone saying to you, "There's going to be a big hit movie in the summer of 2005. It will earn twice its cost on its opening weekend. There will not be one single human being in the movie, no fast editing, no special effects, no animation, and no violence."

What would you have said? Something like, "Who are you kidding??!!!"

Well, that movie is "The March of the Penguins." It's beguiling audiences of all ages, and it just shows that if you do something great and special and true and honest and from-your-heart, it's got a great shot at shining. Under those circumstances, trends be damned.