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That doesn’t sound delicious…
October 6, 2011
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I was in a meeting with copywriter-extraordinaire Mimi yesterday when we found out about this:
Now, when it comes to breakfast cereal, I’m normally a huge fan of Canada. After all, they still carry Alpha-Bits up there, and most packaging is in both English and French, giving it extra flair. But a cereal called “Holy Crap” just doesn’t work for me, and I can’t imagine it working in Canada, either.
There are so many things wrong with this.
In the first place, who wants to put something NAMED AFTER EXCREMENT in their mouth? For BREAKFAST?! Nobody, that’s who. The name itself is a fail.
I could maybe (MAYBE) justify it if they were using crap as an acronym. The cereal does contain dried Cherries, Raisins and Apples … but that’s where it stops. They could have added Prunes (extra fiber!) to complete the acronym, but they didn’t. Not an acronym, just unappetizing.
Next, that “OMG YUM” kid on the home page with the, uh, “crap-eating grin” on his face? Nothing appetizing about that either. No better is their other splash page, featuring an older woman hiding behind a spoon with the words “have you had your holy crap today.” Nope, still don’t want to buy it.
There’s more! Since we’ve ruled out the acronym, they must be using the scatological reference in a misguided attempt at high-fiber humor (or “high-fibre humour” for you Canadiens). They could have played off this unappetizing name by reassuring me that the product at least looks appetizing. But nope! Completely opaque black packaging. I can’t see the product. Maybe this is to show me what color my poop is going to be after digesting all that fiber?
I’m left with this feeling that somewhere, somebody thought they were very clever.
They were wrong.
Less is … less.
September 1, 2011
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Today begins life insurance awareness month (who knew?). And, since much of my family is in the insurance business, I decided to help them out by creating an info graphic about life insurance. The idea was to give people (mostly prospective clients) a number of life insurance-specific things to think about. If you’re curious, you can view the whole thing by clicking on it below.
Now, the idea behind an info graphic is to cram a lot of relevant information into a clear, usable format. But apparently, at least according to the family, the above info graphic has TOO MUCH information. They requested I make a few changes, which I did. The result?
This is certainly “less information.” In fact, there’s no longer enough information for it to qualify (at least in my mind) as an info graphic. By changing the headline and focusing exclusively on one statistic, you’ve changed focus from informational/conversational into sell, Sell, SELL. Their full post (which includes a link to this graphic) can be found here.
Now, I hope this revised graphic works well for them, I really do.
But here’s my concern. Marketing is storytelling. Too often, marketers, advertisers, designers and pundits give people just enough information to elicit an emotional response (usually something primal, like fear, greed, hunger or lust). They then present the recipient with an easy solution that will either eliminate or enhance that emotional response—or so the claim goes.
All too often, however, their solution isn’t the best solution for you—it’s the best solution for them.
Deserve a break today? Go to McDonalds.
Hungry? Grab a Snickers.
Sad? Open happiness (with a Coke).
To be fair, I enjoy McD’s, Snickers and the occasional Coca-Cola. But I rarely feel like any of these have given me a break or made me a happier person. And though I have grabbed both McDonalds and Snickers to sate hunger pains, afterwards I’m more likely to feel sick, not satisfied.
Less may sell more. But it tends to satisfy less.
Pants
August 30, 2011
Went to Old Navy the other day, as I needed some new pants, and picked up a pair of these in “Blue Heron.” When I tried them on this morning, my wife said “let me see those,” which made me feel pretty dashing…
…until she said “My grandfather had a pair of pants almost EXACTLY that color.”
Come to think of it, so did mine.
I’m keenly aware that fashion travels in orbits, and that styles that are out one year (or decade) are in again the next (give or take 20 years).
But still. This makes me feel old.
Though that doesn’t mean I’m not going to wear the pants…
Trying to get back into the swing of things…
August 29, 2011
Hello!
It’s been a while, I know.
I’ve been busy. No excuses for not posting.
Trying to get back into the blogging thing.
If you’re curious as to what’s been eating up more than its fair share of my time, check out www.termtools.com and www.termarketing.com
And get ready to start watching this space again.
Regularly.
It’ll be worth it.
Winning (easy for me to say)
June 7, 2011
To answer the big question, I believe I won. I was ahead by a decent margin (12+%) at the end, which generally means victory. However, as I haven’t received an official “you won!” notice yet, nor are final results up on the Internets, anything is still possible. Once I know the votes are certified and official, there will be an announcement and a ton of “woo-hoos!” Until then, I’m trying (and mostly failing) to stay mellow.
That said, a huge thank you to everyone who voted and to everyone who encouraged other to vote for me as well. The outpouring of support was unbelievably fantastic (I got votes from as far away as Paraguay!), and I can’t even begin to express how much I appreciate it.
I did want to take a moment, however, to say something about the contest. I found a message board post by another finalist (and I genuinely like their design—I would have voted for them were I not involved) who was disappointed that the vote was a popularity contest, rather than, say, awarded by a panel of experts.
To which I respond, you kind of missed the point.
As a designer/marketing guy, I recognize that the goal of the contest isn’t to reward the “best” design (though I think mine is); the goal is to sell shoes. The big winner here isn’t me (assuming I won), though I do look forward to knowing officially that I did win and I so totally want the rewards for doing so. But no matter who won (and this is easy for me to say because it was likely me), the biggest winner is John Fluevog shoes.
There were a number of people who emailed me (or emailed those who were helping get out the vote) and said something like “I’d never heard of Fluevogs before you asked me to vote, but I went and voted and then looked at their shoes…there are some cool shoes there!” That’s the point. The design (or the designer) that brings the most eyeballs to the Fluevog site (that’s the most “popular”) wins, because more eyeballs means more Fluevog exposure to more people.
I think it’s a brilliant idea, frankly. So does the Globe and Mail. And, as an added bonus, they published my art (click to enlarge).
Yay!
The for/with question
May 5, 2011
Who do you work for?
The answer to that question isn’t as simple as it used to be. Once, I could name my employer, or my immediate supervisor. My boss, if you will. But when you run your own business, the answer becomes more complex.
From an business standpoint, I work for myself. The only boss that supervises my comings and goings, who determines whether I’m working hard or hardly working, is me.
From a personal standpoint, I find that I derive great satisfaction from a job well done. I like doing the work. And I keep working because I enjoy that feeling of satisfaction. I work for it, in fact.
Then there’s my family. Most of the money that comes into the business (after expenses) goes to support myself, my wife and our children. In a very real sense, I’m working for my family—for their direct benefit.
And there are my clients, and the work I do for them on a daily basis. Whether that work takes the form of designing a logo, an ad, a brochure or a marketing strategy, the work I’m doing benefits them and their companies. They may not be my bosses, exactly, but I’m certainly working for them.
That said, working for someone typically implies a hierarchy, with one party placed in a position of power or authority over another. Master/Servant. Management/Labor. Employer/Employee. Whether the sentence is “I work for you” or “you work for me,” the verb work only applies to one party.
But what if we change the preposition from for to with?
Working with someone, well, that makes us equals. Yes, we may bring different things to the table, different strengths and weaknesses. We each contribute something unique. But when everyone works together—when we work with each other—great things are accomplished.
My best work, the work I’m the most proud of, the work I show off to others, has come about working with people. Writers. Illustrators. Photographers. Font designers. And, yes, clients.
I believe that we work best when we work together. So, while I’m always willing to do work for you, I’d rather work with you to create something extraordinary.
Who do you work with?
“Believe it or not, human beings can tell when human beings are behaving inauthentically.”
As usual, John Allison is spot on.
May 2, 2011
Cover songs are music’s way of taking an existing idea and looking at it in a fresh new way. I would never have thought of Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” as a punkabilly song, but it works. More than that, it’s a new thing—the familiarity of the old reinvented and reinvigorated for a totally new audience.
Cover Songs: Tainted Love
April 27, 2011
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Two kinds of sticky
April 22, 2011
My wife commented that my last two posts seemed to contradict each other. In Toddler Marketing, I say sticky is bad; in Elementary Marketing, sticky is good.
Not exactly.
The point I’m trying to make is that sticky ideas are good (Elementary Marketing), while sticky execution is not (Toddler Marketing).
For an idea to stick, it has to stick with you. Cellular phones are a prime example. 20 years ago they were rare. Now, not having one — and more specifically, not having one with you at all times, often attached (literally) at the hip — is the exception. The idea of always being available, of always being able to contact someone, no matter where you or they are was a sticky idea, and cellular phones a sticky product to match it. Good sticky.
Bad sticky has less to do with the idea and more to do with the presentation. Or, more specifically, the aftermath of the presentation. The residue. A specific example is Verizon’s FiOS Internet marketing campaign. Two-plus years ago when I first heard about it, I called to order — the idea is good sticky. The sales rep took my information, then informed me that FiOS wasn’t available for my home address yet, but I would be informed as soon as it was available. So far, so good. Except for the next two years, every bill I received had an “order FiOS now!” flyer in it; I got an “order FiOS now” postcard in my mailbox at least twice a month, and over 100 pieces of marketing later, it’s still not available, and I resent the constant tease for a product I can’t get. The anger and frustration have turned to apathy toward FiOS, which is why I switched to cable internet. Bad sticky.
I probably erred in using similar words to describe different concepts, and in using a negative (lice) to describe a positive (ideas that stick and spread). My metaphors should have been better. Or at least farther apart.
Elementary marketing: Learning from the louse
April 20, 2011
Every year, the notes get sent home from elementary schools across the country, notes that every parent dreads.
“There has been a lice outbreak in your child’s classroom.”
Now, lice are no fun. But they do two things incredibly well. They spread like crazy, and they stick. Biologically speaking, they’re an incredibly well-designed parasite.
So let’s look at how lice infect a classroom to see if we can’t find some parallels in the marketing world.
First, the spreading of lice requires personal contact. In elementary schools, this typically by head-to-head contact (such as hugging) with another person who has lice. It can also spread by wearing another person’s hat or clothing, or by using someone else’s comb, brush or bedding.
Similarly, ideas require personal contact (communication) in order to spread. That’s how marketing (and advertising) works, by making a connection—by making contact—with individuals on a personal level. Even if the message is delivered en masse, via television, radio, magazines or the internet, the idea is being sent to and received by individuals on a personal level. Personal contact is the key to transmitting ideas.
Second, once lice make it onto a new carrier, they stick. Adult lice stay close to the ol’ noggin, laying eggs (nits) on the hair as close to the scalp as possible. Nits which are dislodged from the hair will not hatch in the environment.
Ideas also need to stick or they will die. And sticky is tricky. Hundreds of businesses, products, TV shows, CDs—hundreds of ideas—die every week, every month, every year. So how do you make your ideas stick?
That’s the real question, isn’t it?
The answer, in my mind, isn’t revolutionary so much as evolutionary. The fittest ideas evolve and survive, the rest don’t. And the only way to check the survivability of your idea is to put it out there.
Throw it at the wall and see what sticks.
