Improve your marcom by becoming mindful of messages that hit you in the gut!

One of the most powerful pieces of communication I have ever laid my eyes upon was not the brainchild of the hot, new Madison Avenue agency... nor the creative genius of an underground, esoteric Parisian artist. It was the creation of a couple of public school teachers and their students. It sat on display in the entry hall of their school in Harlem.

There in the display case was a can of a Coca Cola and three Chips Ahoy cookies. Right next to the can of coke was a mountain of pure white sugar. The Chips Ahoy cookies were accompanied by a similar-sized mountain of sugar in addition to a large cube of butter.

The sign above the display read, "Ever wonder how much sugar is in that can of coke you're drinking?"

Needless to say, the hills of sugar and the butter represented the exact amounts of sugar and fat in the respective items on display. It was powerful communication. It scored a knockout blow.

The goal behind any communication is quite simple. Get people to notice it. Get people to "give it the time of day". Get people to be moved or motivated by it.

Whenever I come across something or someone that communicates powerfully, I stop and ask myself, "Why? What was it about this that made it past my 'filter' and touched me in some way?" Whatever answers I come up with, I try to boil down to more generalized themes that I can apply in some capacity to my own marketing efforts. As a marketer, this is an important habit to develop, and one that has helped me immeasurably throughout my career.

Going back to the school display in Harlem, the communication was effective with me for two primary reasons, each interrelated:

1. It was unexpected & surprising.
2. It made the abstract concrete.

While I knew a can of coke had 'lots of sugar' in it, the 'lots' remained an abstract concept that was hard for me to interpret - and one that I likely preferred not to think about. Translating this abstract concept into a visually compelling mound of sugar brought it to life, and made it easily comparable. How could I help but notice that the mound of sugar was 1/2 the height of the can of coke! It was a perverse, shocking image, with a powerful, long-lasting impact.

While my example of the coke can highlighted a couple common success drivers of powerful communications - surprise & tangibility - there are several other such drivers that have relative degrees of importance given the context of the communication. While understanding these drivers is helpful, it's even more important to become mindful of those communications that "get to you" - and to ask yourself, "why?" The nuances you will learn through your self reflection about what make communications powerful is where the real insight lies.

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Improve your marcom by becoming mindful of messages that hit you in the gut!

One of the most powerful pieces of communication I have ever laid my eyes upon was not the brainchild of the hot, new Madison Avenue agency... nor the creative genius of an underground, esoteric Parisian artist. It was the creation of a couple of public school teachers and their students. It sat on display in the entry hall of their school in Harlem.

There in the display case was a can of a Coca Cola and three Chips Ahoy cookies. Right next to the can of coke was a mountain of pure white sugar. The Chips Ahoy cookies were accompanied by a similar-sized mountain of sugar in addition to a large cube of butter.

The sign above the display read, "Ever wonder how much sugar is in that can of coke you're drinking?"

Needless to say, the hills of sugar and the butter represented the exact amounts of sugar and fat in the respective items on display. It was powerful communication. It scored a knockout blow.

The goal behind any communication is quite simple. Get people to notice it. Get people to "give it the time of day". Get people to be moved or motivated by it.

Whenever I come across something or someone that communicates powerfully, I stop and ask myself, "Why? What was it about this that made it past my 'filter' and touched me in some way?" Whatever answers I come up with, I try to boil down to more generalized themes that I can apply in some capacity to my own marketing efforts. As a marketer, this is an important habit to develop, and one that has helped me immeasurably throughout my career.

Going back to the school display in Harlem, the communication was effective with me for two primary reasons, each interrelated:

1. It was unexpected & surprising.
2. It made the abstract concrete.

While I knew a can of coke had 'lots of sugar' in it, the 'lots' remained an abstract concept that was hard for me to interpret - and one that I likely preferred not to think about. Translating this abstract concept into a visually compelling mound of sugar brought it to life, and made it easily comparable. How could I help but notice that the mound of sugar was 1/2 the height of the can of coke! It was a perverse, shocking image, with a powerful, long-lasting impact.

While my example of the coke can highlighted a couple common success drivers of powerful communications - surprise & tangibility - there are several other such drivers that have relative degrees of importance given the context of the communication. While understanding these drivers is helpful, it's even more important to become mindful of those communications that "get to you" - and to ask yourself, "why?" The nuances you will learn through your self reflection about what make communications powerful is where the real insight lies.

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Use your customer's language so they can HEAR you

"... all I need is some cigarettes, a little food, and my HBO..."

-Anonymous gentleman on downtown #1 train, NYC

Well you certainly have to respect a guy who knows exactly what he wants. I wish I had his level of clarity...

I heard the above quote on the 2 train this morning during my work commute down to the World Financial Center, and it really slammed home a point that Sam Horn makes in her wonderful book, Pop! The key insight is to use your own customer's language in your marketing communications. Rather than playing around with formal-sounding or hip-sounding terminology, listen to the actual words that come out of your customers' mouths.

What do your customers say or think to themselves when they're in a situation in which they would benefit from your product (or service)? What do they say or think when they're enjoying the benefits of your product? What words do they use to describe the product to their friends?

Why pay an expensive copywriter or worse, try to write the copy yourself when you have thousands or millions of customers doing the writing for you already? And remember, perhaps the easiest way to gain access to the language of your customers is via the web - blogs, discussion boards, etc.

If you want your copy to sound real and resonate with your prospects & customers, what better way to accomplish this than to take the words straight from the horses' mouths?

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Wilton Stentz, the Yoda of online marketing...

All marketers know how important successful communication is - whether you're trying to build brand awareness, maintain the loyalty of an existing customer base, or influence key decision makers at work.

The Law of Association
While there are several core 'laws' that underlie successful communications, few are as crucial and as powerful as the law of association.

The law of association is based on the solid yet simple notion that in order to communicate effectively with anyone, you need to work with the material that already exists inside of their heads. Al Ries & Jack Trout underscored this premise in their classic book, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind.

The law of association is particularly powerful when you are introducing something new to people, especially when it is complex, hard to "size up" or hard to visualize. Through using what is already in people's heads, you can instantly communicate in a manner that is both clear & compelling.

Who the heck is Wilton Stentz?
Let's use the title of this article as an example of the law in action. Now you probably don't know who Wilton Stentz is, but you most certainly know our friend, Yoda. Let's imagine that Mr. Stentz is a wise & experienced online marketing consultant who lives in Zurich. Now I could simply say these very words to you and you would be able to comprehend them; whether you would really hear them & remember them is a different matter. But when I look into your mind to identify something that represents wisdom & experience in a rich & visually compelling way, I come up with an association that immediately brings Mr. Stentz's attributes to life. When Wilton is compared to Yoda - in an instant - you "get it".

"It's the Rolls Royce of..."
To touch upon a few additional examples, you've probably heard the law of association used with respect to a a famous luxury automobile brand. Ever had someone tell you, "It's the Rolls Royce of... so-and-so"? Or, how about the brilliant use of the law by baby toy manufacturer, Baby Einstein? What parents don't want their children to become as brilliant as Albert Einstein?

Looking at current events you can see the law of association playing out in the presidential primaries on the Republican side. Just have a look at what Fred Thompson has tried to do, attempting to associate himself with former President Reagan. Perhaps it was a clever idea; however, one requirement that Fred seems to have overlooked is that the law requires there to be real integrity behind the association that is made. There is no substitute for this requirement, nor will there ever be.

The law of association has a rich and varied set of applications within communications, and I look forward to exploring them in future posts.

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Just ask your mom!.. and save all those marketing research dollars

I'm convinced that some marketers have gone out and spent $250,000 on marketing research when all they really needed to do was pick up the phone and "call mom".

It's not that spending lots of money to watch what people say & do behind 1-way mirrors isn't interesting, it's just that the entire process of conducting research can take forever - and is often overkill given your business objective.

This is where your mother comes into play. Or your father for that matter. Or your friends. Second cousins. Your garage attendant. And the guy who you buy flowers from at the corner.

The truth is that you're surrounded by people who can provide you with a wealth of input regarding the products & services that you manage, market and develop. Not utilizing these incredibly valuable resources would be a profound & deeply limiting oversight.

Now I'm hardly suggesting that you bank the global commercialization of a new product on a five-minute conversation you had with your dog walker. But I am suggesting you utilize the people around you to gather quick, "real", no-cost feedback & insights about consumer needs, your products, your company, competitors, etc.

You can also gain great insights by simply paying attention to what people around you are talking about. Take your mom, for example. What's top of mind for her these days? What appear to be her biggest 'stressors'? Are there any themes you can tease out? How about your neighbor with the newborn? How have the tone and content of your conversations changed since he became a dad?

When the need arises, I want you to turn your day-to-day interactions into one giant marketing research lab. Put on your research goggles and engage the folks within your world. They have so much to give and are often more than happy to provide you easy access to their thoughts & opinions.

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