FredNotes

Less

« Older

Home

Newer »

U.S.S.A.?

Published at February 4, 2009 in The Economy. 1 Comment

Are we rapidly morphing into the People’s Republic of Amerika? It appears to be the new policy from Washington that if it moves tax it, regulate it or subsidize it. Our Constitution is rapidly becoming a mere outdated list of suggestions, as greed in ‘the private sector’ sells out to increased government control with greater willingness each day. The new president, with more than a few Socialist strings to his bow, joins Senate and House Liberals wielding the power to orchestrate the destruction of anything resembling business as we know it.

The first incursion was a bailout package. Wouldn’t you like a bailout when you make a bad decision? In fact the more bad decisions you make, the more money you get! You see, that way all the risk is removed and business simply becomes a ‘do-over’, like when you were a kid playing Monopoly and one of your dice rolled off the table. It’s a terrific theory — except it has never worked and it lets a mob of know-nothing politicians enter your company right through the front door.

Since the initial bailout attempt, predictably, was a disaster it had to be renamed; it’s now a stimulus package! The only problem is, there’s nothing in it to stimulate anything except the government’s grip on ‘free markets’ — nothing that offers remedy for our immediate economic downturn.

Proponents in the Senate will most likely strip out a few items as bargaining chips but unless they kill the whole thing, it’s simply a bad bill and a major step toward converting America into just another failed, Socialist nation. By any other name, it’s still $1.17 Trillion in pork and paybacks. Let’s see what’s really in there that responsible legislators find objectionable:

$1 billion for Amtrak, which hasn’t earned a profit in four decades.
$2 billion to help subsidize child care.
$400 million for research into global warming.
$2.4 billion for projects to demonstrate how carbon greenhouse gas can be safely removed from the atmosphere.
$650 million for coupons to help consumers convert their TV sets from analog to digital, part of the digital TV conversion.
$600 million to buy a new fleet of cars for federal employees and government departments.
$75 million to fund programs to help people quit smoking.
$21 million to re-sod the National Mall, which suffered heavy use during the Inauguration.
$2.25 billion for national parks. This item has sparked calls for an investigation, because the chief lobbyist of the National Parks Association is the son of Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wisc.
$335 million for treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. $4.19 billion to stave off foreclosures via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which means a substantial amount of it will be captured by ACORN, the controversial activist group currently under federal investigation for vote fraud. Another $750 million would be exclusively reserved for nonprofits such as ACORN – meaning cities and states are barred from receiving that money. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., charges the money appears to be a “payoff” for the partisan political activities of these community groups during the last election cycle.
$44 million to renovate the headquarters building of the Agriculture Department.
$32 billion for a “smart electricity grid to minimize waste.
$87 billion of Medicaid funds, to aid states.
$53.4 billion for science facilities, high speed Internet, and miscellaneous energy and environmental programs.
$13 billion to repair and weatherize public housing.
$20 billion for quicker depreciation and write-offs for equipment.
$10.3 billion for tax credits to help families defray the cost of college tuition.
$20 billion over five years for an expanded food stamp program.

Would someone please explain to me how funding for anti-smoking, T.V. converters, a political action group like Acorn or $44,000,000 for sod is going to get the economy back on track? This is not to say there aren’t some worthwhile projects being addressed but an alleged stimulus bill is not the place to address them.

As House Minority whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., told the media last week and John McCain re-emphasized last night, “This is not a stimulus bill. It is a spending bill.” It is a very expensive mistake that is bad for both generations of taxpayers and the future of American business.

Let you Senator know you find pork hard to swallow!

Dutch Boy Mentality

Published at September 30, 2008 in Commentary. 0 Comments

Have we become afraid of winning?

Remember the story of The Little Dutch Boy who used his finger to plug up the hole in a leaky dike? He held back the sea until help could arrive with a more permanent solution. These days, that little boy might have to hang around until he became The Old Dutch Codger … with a very tired finger and a lot of regrets!

I first noticed the phenomenon while in radio during the early nineties and dismissed it as a characteristic of that particular industry. Then I began comparing notes with friends working in other industries and realized it was, in fact, widespread and getting worse. What I’m referring to is the obsession we have developed with over-protecting existing business rather than being innovative or pursuing more new opportunities. Have we lost our competitive spirit?

It’s a defensive mentality that seems to invade every area of our lives, from the manner in which we market goods and services to the way we conduct our wars. Most companies carefully craft advertising not to offend an audience, at the expense of originality or delivering an actual sales message. Ah, focus groups … of course: ask some loaded questions, call the answers feedback and then address the lowest common denominator. Unfortunately, that tends to leave those with more brain cells than an amoeba sort of twisting in the wind but it does provide a margin of false security for the company.

Stores stock large quantities of goods but without much variety. You can find dozens of colors from ‘peach raspberry’ to ‘Piccadilly purple’ but, if you’re a woman, just try to buy something besides ‘hip-huggers’ whether you want to show off your butterfly tattoo or not! One car looks pretty much the same as another and now every auto maker has to make a lawnmower with seats to keep up with the ‘green’ hoax we’re all being force-fed. If the other guy is doing well, make one like him so you don’t lose any ground (Anyone heard of making one better and gaining ground?). By the way, what was the last military action you remember where the talk was of victory instead of avoiding collateral damage and exit strategies? That’s why even world wars used to last a comparatively few years … everyone knew the exit strategy going in: it was called winning!

I learned to win in business, not to keep looking over my shoulder. Sure your best growth comes from existing customers but there are a few other natural laws that also need to be accepted. They include the fact that you’ll always lose a certain amount of your base through attrition, so you’ve got to get more. You’ve got to get more business to replace natural attrition and you’ve got to get more business in order to grow. By definition growth never occurs through retrenchment, however stagnation does quite nicely.

It sounds pretty simple, right? So where did winning go? “Less is more” is one of the most stupid statements I’ve ever heard. Some people actually build marketing strategies based upon that precious pearl. I’m sorry but MORE is more; it always has been and always will be. In case you don’t believe me, I’ll tell you what. You give me twenty dollars and I’ll give you two fives. Do you have more? If you say “Yes,” then come right over to my house … and bring your wallet.

As long as we keep our fingers in the dike waiting for help, work will continue to be outsourced to more competitive economies, jobs will be lost and foreign investors, focused on winning, will own more of our big companies than ever before. WE are the help we’ve been waiting for! It’s time to stop shuffling in circles, simply because the other guy isn’t picking up his feet, and start sprinting for more by recapturing innovation, fostering creativity and exercising the foresight that have always been the hallmarks of American business.

Combating Ad Burnout

Published at August 12, 2008 in Stuff. 0 Comments

What makes an ad forgettable?

Call it burnout or call it tune-out, the best expression of that phenomenon I’ve ever heard is not some complex verbal dissertation but just a very simple sound. I think Charles Shultz demonstrated it perfectly whenever we heard the familiar “wah wah wah” used to characterize the voice for every adult in a Peanuts cartoon. Kids are notorious for tuning out their parents, who often come across to them as nagging or monotonous.

But why do adults tune out certain voices, perfectly good faces or entire print ads? The answer is similar: over-saturation. Ever think your spouse just isn’t listening to you? That’s because he or she isn’t! A major medical study not long ago revealed that spouses, after only a few years of marriage, actually start to tune each other out. How many times have you sat across from your significant other thinking, “I know your lips where moving but I have no idea what you said”? By any other name, the effect is still tune-out…someone simply ignoring sameness, like not noticing the dining room wallpaper after a while.

This behavior is not limited to the home. Anything that becomes too familiar eventually gets tuned out. As a writer and producer of commercial material, this is something of which I am constantly aware and need to guard against everyday for my clients.

There is a school of thought that says it isn’t until people are nearly sick of something that they start to remember it. I’m not sure that’s the way I want to be remembered and this philosophy can work against you. There’s a radio ad for donating your car to a charity that I hear all the time. I don’t just mean that they play it all the time…I mean I hear it all the time. It’s stuck in my head when I wake up, while I’m working, during meals, at bedtime, all the time! Through a single, unchanging, mind-numbing spot, they have driven their irritating children’s chant into my head, past the point of burnout, to where the only feeling I have left is that I’d rather drive my car off a cliff than give it to them!

Unless you’re lucky enough to be in a large advertising market, with a fistful of dollars, you probably share in a mere handful of voiceover talent most of whom work at the local radio stations or can be seen on the local cable channel. Most businesses in the community use these same people year after year to promote a variety of products and services. The same holds true for local agencies and producers who develop their repetitive ‘bread and butter’ formulas for both commercials and print ads, all but relegating creativity to second class citizenship. It’s not long before an audience can forget what they’ve seen or heard as easily as they can forget what they ate for breakfast yesterday.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of keeping your advertising material fresh in order to make your product or service stand out. The use of out of market voices, producers or agencies can reinvent your ads virtually overnight, snapping your audience back to consciousness and making your message effective again. Many times, this can be accomplished for the same amount or even less than you are paying now!

Here are some things you can do to assure that your advertising dollar remains an investment and doesn’t become an expense:

Use fresh talent on your radio or T.V. spots, preferably from out of market. Your old spokespersons may have outlived their effectiveness and have become like Shultz’s “wah wah wah” sound.

Try another producer or agency with new ideas and creative designs.

Change your ads frequently, whether you rotate several broadcast spots or update printed specials on a timely basis. You don’t need to alter your image or core message in order to keep your content fresh.

Create advertisements that do not ‘blend in’ with others on the page or in the broadcast stop-set.

Open your mind to different approaches and think with at least one foot outside ‘the box’.

There are hundreds of qualified professionals outside your immediate advertising market and probably some good ones you haven’t tried right in your own backyard. Present day electronics make excellent service viable from almost anywhere so broaden your horizons and see just how effective some new sizzle on your old steak can be.

No Lamp, No Genie

Published at August 5, 2008 in Copy. 0 Comments

Are there any magic words that make ad copy work?

If you Google the phrase Magic Advertising Words you’ll come up with somewhere around 275,000 responses. The frightening thing is that so many of them offer lists of words that are alleged to possess the power of a little green man, in an oversized turban, materializing in a puff of smoke from a mythical lamp . Use these words and your ad is practically guaranteed to be a success. Practically. There are successful strategies and proven techniques that can be used to increase advertising effectiveness but, I’m sorry, no magic words.

Sometimes what you don’t say can be as important as what you do. It may not be as dramatic as discovering a genie but there are any number of words and phrases that are best avoided because they are either too vague, too trite, too offensive or are just plain burned out.

The first bit of reverse magic that occurs to me is the use of superlatives. Avoid them. Everyone is number one, the biggest, the best, the fastest, the most or whatever the claim du jour. In terms of hyping quality or service, people automatically expect to receive a helping of both. These drums have been beaten so loudly for so long, that audiences are mostly deaf and blind to them and have reached the point where such superlatives can actually work against you. Your ad time or space is better invested promoting real customer benefits instead of making common, unsubstantiated claims.

The next offense that stuffs the genie back in the bottle is the radio or T.V. spot that refers to, “Everyone”, “All of you” or “Out there”. The classic abuse of my self image occurs when I hear the announcer reading copy which combines two faux pas thereby referring to, “All of you out there”. Excuse me but, out where? I’m not out anywhere as far as I’m concerned. I’m probably seated comfortably in my easy chair or behind the wheel of my car enjoying the program…until now. Suddenly I’m looking around to see where this guy is or if I’ve strayed off someplace I didn’t mean to go! As if adding insult to injury, I’m not only wandering around aimlessly in some thicket, but now my individuality is completely discarded as I become a member of the masses with, “Every one of you out there”. Communication 101 teaches you to connect one-on-one with your audience; it’s pretty basic. Your advertising will be much more effective if you keep personal communication in mind. It’s just you and me, kid!

While you want to be personal on one hand, you don’t want to seem unprofessional on the other. It’s a delicate balance which I have heard best described as, “Polite conversation”. A few years ago, a graphic example of imbalance was pitched to me like a slow, hanging curve ball. My client wanted to advertise his new women’s product for a rash-like condition which can occur when shaving extra close to look well groomed in a bikini. He had already tried his hand at some radio copy which began, “Do you have jock itch?” I strongly suggested a softer approach for the ladies, which used other phrases like “painful irritation” and “uncomfortable little bumps” instead. Once the copy was removed from the men’s locker room, our commercials worked perfectly and his feminine cream began to fly off the shelves! In spite of that, my client lobbied [unsuccessfully], no less than twice more, to inject his old phrase into the new spots which followed. I guess “pride goeth before the sale”!

Another fly in the soup for most people I’ll call “the world of acronyms“. Buzz words and initials may be fine for insiders but potential customers may not yet have the benefit of knowing the intricacies of your product or service. Avoid industry-specific terms and abbreviations or the average ‘Joe Consumer’ may have no idea what you’re talking about. It took me weeks to figure out what an ‘I.T. guy’ is and I’m still not sure exactly what he or she does! ‘M.I.S.’ drove me a little N-U-T-S, T-O-O.

Somewhere, you have probably either read or heard that you should create a sense of urgency in the mind of the reader or listener. This is true and, even better, it works. However, be subtle and weave the feeling into the fabric of your copy. I never fail to break into a broad grin when I hear someone in a commercial ad tell me to, “Hurry in!” or “Rush right over!” or even worse, “Drop everything right now!” Imagine the poor, conflicted housewife in the middle of removing a roast from the oven.

Actually, I could make a long list but I think you get the idea. Common sense rules. Be believable, be direct and remember: the audience you are targeting is not going to be sitting there with pen-in-hand waiting to take notes, as the little pearls you’ve committed to paper unfold before their eyes and ears. In fact, if you’re writing for radio, you may just be one of those unpleasant interruptions the D.J.s like to point out!

Is Radio Washed Up?

Published at July 12, 2008 in Broadcast. 1 Comment

Are newer media sounding radio’s death knell?

There are entire generations of people who grew up watching radio long before something called television sailed into the picture. Yes, I said watching radio. It was a strange phenomenon; the family would gather around and stare at the speaker as if something were going to pop out of there any minute. Actually it did. Rainbows of sound projected spectacular images on your mind’s motion picture screen that, to this day, can’t be equaled by all the C.G. and special effects in Hollywood!

Of course there was music just as we have now, except most of it was live! You could experience the whole entertainment spectrum, including sit-coms, mysteries, dramas, action adventures, soap operas, game shows and variety shows, also frequently performed in front of a studio audience. There were even reality shows…they were called the news. Those were the days when news was simply reported and if someone was expressing opinion, it was labeled as commentary so you knew the difference. Just name it and you could find it on the radio.

When T.V. appeared on the scene and people’s lives began to center around the new medium, everyone just knew it would be the end of radio. It wasn’t. Owners were flexible and the nature of radio evolved; it took advantage of new recording technologies, became more music intensive and survived. However, as if setting the stage for its current difficulties, honest-to-goodness personalities disappeared and the now pictureless magic box became a music machine playing ten more in a row “with no unpleasant interruptions”. It has seen its Golden Age and its Music Age but now radio, as we’ve known it, may be in its final death roll before the waves of change swamp it completely. Ironically, the threat to its continued survival comes as much from within as from outside forces which have already begun to pull it under.

The current crop of owners, managers and consultants just don’t seem to get it. They stubbornly continue to employ outdated programming methods as if the answer to dwindling audiences and falling profits will be found with yet more music or refurbished formats. It won’t. For the moment Talk remains one of the few viable radio venues…but with the alleged Fairness Doctrine looming on the horizon, along with other recent political attacks upon the First Amendment, alternative media will develop an even stronger appeal. The struggle to stay afloat reaches beyond terrestrial stations, as Satellite Radio finds itself treading water for many of the same reasons. With the ability of listeners to now hear all their musical favorites instead of merely more of them and to enjoy a very personal level of portable programming, all with no interruptions of any kind, the future of broadcasting lies, not with the big “powerhouse sticks”, but with delivery of local information and community services.

As traditional listening habits give way to Internet streaming, podcasts and downloads, narrowcasting will be the vehicle for tomorrow’s radio and with it the opportunity to truly focus and direct advertising toward specific customers and clients. In some ways, it’s a sort of return to old time radio but with even greater variety and more to choose from. Need convincing? Check out your cell phone; I’ll bet you can access the World Wide Web, listen to music and send eMails with it. Oh…and next year Chrysler is offering Internet capability as an option in their ‘09 cars!

Does all this mean you shouldn’t be advertising on the radio? Absolutely not. There are going to be some really good broadcast buys coming down the pike and radio still sells if you choose the right stations. It does mean you should start including alternative media in your marketing plans and, if you don’t already have it, some computer savvy plus at least a nodding acquaintance with the Internet won’t hurt you a bit either!

Is radio washed up? Probably only in its present form if, once again, it can evolve. The sooner radio execs wake up and accept the fact of a redefined role, the sooner they’ll savor their own slice of the new media pie…it will simply be a smaller piece of a bigger pie.

Storytellers

Published at June 28, 2008 in Copy. 0 Comments

What makes effective ad copy?

This will probably be the area where I depart farthest from the mainstream Madison Avenue crowd whose ‘pap’ invades our ears and assaults our eyes on a daily basis. I parted company with most film makers years ago, so what’s one more gold star I won’t be getting at the top of my conformity exam?

I come from a generation of storytellers. Besides a shiny silver quarter if you’re young enough, or a platinum credit card once you’ve outgrown hard cash, there is very little in this world that will hold someone’s attention better than a good story. A truly effective commercial is often nothing more than a miniature story, usually lasting anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds, whose purpose is to sell something or motivate people to take an action. There are certain rules that govern a story…among them: there should be a beginning, a middle and an ending. A story should also deliver a message. Sound like some commercials you remember? If a spot doesn’t deliver a message, and deliver it clearly, it probably won’t do the advertiser much good. The ‘in your face’ concept, that includes repeating your name and phone number as many times as possible, simply has you playing in the same league as everyone else; it may even get you noticed but won’t get you remembered.

How many times have you found yourself scratching you head, trying to figure out exactly what the sponsor is selling or even who the sponsor is? Just when you decide they’re pushing the cheese, it turns out to be the wrinkle-free jeans. About the time you get comfortable with the exotic new car, the commercial ends and you don’t know who makes it or how you’re going to get it down off that peak in the Himalayas. So you get into your trusty old clunker, back carefully out of the driveway, and go buy some cheese. All you took away for the millions the advertisers spent to reach you was a hunger for Gouda…because they gave you nothing clear to remember, didn’t tell you what they wanted and never ‘closed’ the deal with you! It’s pretty basic stuff. Especially when you’re asking for something don’t expect people to think, right down to letting them know when your spot is over [that's right, it needs an ending]. Be clear in your message and, by the way, don’t forget to ask for the business! It doesn’t get more basic than that, yet it’s probably the most forgotten rule in all of advertising.

The spots that fry my fish are the ones where the advertisers assume you already know who they are. I wonder how much money circles in the swirling water until the ceramic bowl sucks it under, because somebody’s corporate ego got the best of him. Nike can get away with just showing you a ‘check-mark’ since they’ve already invested bazillions of bucks to establish that symbol as their ‘brand’. You probably aren’t Nike and need to leave more than just a calling card for identification with your target audience. Let’s see what happens if we divide the word assume in just the right places: ass / u / me. Enough said?

You’ve probably heard references made to the theater of the mind. Whether broadcast or print media, engage it. People can be made to see the word picture you’re painting with very little extra effort. If I tell you, “Don’t think of a purple elephant” what happens? She sneaks in there, doesn’t she? Now, whatever you do, don’t imagine her performing pirouettes in a tutu. Oops! I’ll bet it happened again! See what I mean?

It’s fine to be entertaining. Entertainment can help draw attention to your spot but be careful not to out gimmick yourself by getting in your own way. I frequently hear the statement, “People don’t have time to listen to a story anymore”. To me that’s just an excuse for writing bad copy or not giving it your full creative attention. A minute is still a minute, no matter how you fill it. Why not fill it with something meaningful? Receiving your message is one thing, remembering it is another…and there is nothing easier to remember than a story. Whether you’re approving copy or writing it, keep it clear, be direct and be a storyteller!

Business Out Of Site

Published at June 17, 2008 in Internet. 0 Comments

Why do I need a web site?

You don’t…but you might like to have one. Even if you won’t be conducting business over the internet, without a web presence you’ll be missed.

Remember when your mom used to tell you not to do things just because other kids were doing them? Because “Everybody has one!” never got you much of anything besides a lecture on being an individual. In today’s business world mom might have to rethink some of her advice. That doesn’t mean you do everything the other guy does and there’s nothing wrong with marching to a different tune; heck, I’ve spent most of my life marching to my own tune and writing new lyrics, besides! But there are certain ‘touch stones’ that consumers expect from a business just like everyone seems to naturally assume you have an eMail address. They expect to conveniently find information about you and your products or services right on their computers whenever they want it.

A web site essentially means that you’re open 24/7/365 and people who may not be ready to talk with a sales person are free to browse at their leisure without feeling unwanted pressure. Speaking of such people, with a presence on the web, you’ll open your door wide enough to include about a billion and a half people in every country of the world…a few more than normally shop on your block, even if you’re located in New Jersey!

At the least, it’s a very affordable way to hand out your business cards or ‘mail’ millions of brochures, making information about your business available ‘on-demand’. What’s more, you can release this information on a timely basis and keep it current. At most, if you have a product or service that can be sold on-line, you now have a direct pipeline to a huge audience you would most likely never have reached by any other means. You can service existing as well as prospective customers better by making items like loan applications or discount coupons readily available for either download or on-line completion at the click of a button. You can also collect customer comments and reply to them without the extra cost and lack of response often associated with business reply mail.

You say you’re only a local business and don’t need a world audience? Then take advantage of the networking advantages offered by the internet. A web presence provides you with international exposure but that doesn’t prevent you from taking better care of your own neighborhood. From taking lunch orders to flower orders; making reservations for a bed and breakfast to dinner reservations at your favorite restaurant; checking tickets for the local playhouse to checking times for your local church service…it’s all being done through web sites on the world wide web.

Large business or small, no matter who or where you are, if you have competition you’d like to outpace, consider making the internet an active part of your sales team. You may not need a web site but you might like to have one, just so you’re not the one being missed.

Think Campaign

Published at June 5, 2008 in Broadcast and Print Media. 1 Comment

Want to get the most from your advertising dollar?

Whenever you meet a sales type he or she is usually trying to sell you more, bigger, better, faster or whatever feature is on display this week. I know; I used to be one of them. Whether or not they’re actually aware of it, and despite the way they massage many of the numbers, media reps are some of the few people selling you the truth because repetition in most kinds of advertising is important. Even a billboard, although it’s simply sitting there staring back at you, promotes constant awareness and after seeing it enough times the entire message is received. Since my background is in radio and direct mail advertising, many of my comments will come from those viewpoints.

Too many executives think in terms of creating an ad, a spot or a mailing. It may be because of budgetary limitations, time constraints or just short-sightedness…but I’ve run into it more often than not. The “big guys” think campaign and it works. That’s one way they got to be “big guys”! It doesn’t cost anything to think ahead and it may cost you both time and money if you don’t. The only thing worse than an ad that falls flat is one that succeeds mightily and you don’t know what to do next. While you hesitate figuring out your follow-up, the competition is gobbling up your share of the business along with their own piece of the pie!

Here’s a basic 3 step process that I’ve discovered works just fine:

Produce your first commercial for immediate use
Know exactly what the next 2 to 3 spots will be
Remain flexible enough to make adjustments if conditions change

It sounds simple but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t get past ‘step one’. That causes every step to be a ‘step one’.

Establish a presence so you would be conspicuous in your absence and consumers begin to look or listen for you. Especially with broadcast media, such as radio or television, repetition is especially important because people only receive a small portion of your message each time your spot plays…and they retain an even smaller portion of it! When I refer to producing a spot, you might ideally think in terms of more than one and rotate play to keep your material fresh. While you want to keep the focus of your message the same, if the packaging varies a bit, it will be more effective longer before it becomes wallpaper. There is a recent school of thought that advocates keeping the same commercial on, past burnout, to the point of annoyance. The theory is that people will remember you even if it’s through irritation. I’m not so sure I’d want to be remembered that way. Usually a studio will give you a break on the cost of a second or third spot, especially if the variations you ask for are minimal and easily produced at the same time as the first ad.

Many of these same elements apply to mailings and print ads. How many envelopes have you thrown away unopened before you got curious and cracked the seal? After you opened the first one, how much easier was it to open the next and the next? Often persistence pays off, the timing is right and you finally respond, don’t you? I know I have. But the envelope never makes it past the ‘round file’ if it’s dull, boring and always looks the same…especially if it arrives only occasionally! A highly successful mailing only yields a result of around 2% so up your odds by keeping your campaign fresh and regular. How many print ads don’t you even notice after a while and just turn the page? They’re usually ones that always look the same because nobody thought ahead and moved to step 2.

I’ve often been asked how much should be spent for production vs. media time or advertising space. As a producer I’d say, “As much as possible!” As a reasonably honest individual I think about 10% of the media cost is realistic. The greatest buy on the media, at the expense of creative, is no bargain if your message is poorly presented. You need a balance of both. It’s also a good idea to find which medium works best for you and anchor with it…but supplement with another. Cross-reference and develop interplay between the two [or three] for maximum effect.

Be dynamic and Think campaign for your over-all advertising, then for your media and finally for each medium. It’s infinitely more effective than plodding along playing onezies-twozies!

Is The Economy Beeping?

Published at May 23, 2008 in Commentary. 0 Comments

Are you reacting to fear or condition?

It has always amazed me that when a business perceives an economic downturn the first thing to get cut or thrown overboard is the advertising budget. How are you supposed to attract customers if they don’t know you exist or they’ve been allowed to forget about you? Conventional ‘wisdom’ tells us, push hard when business is good and pull back when it’s slow. To me, this is first cousin to the ludicrous statement I hear all too often, “Less is more”. Sorry Kemo Sabe but less is less…always has been, always will be. More is more and the two should never be confused!

I can’t count the number of times I ‘pushed’ when others ‘pulled’ and was greeted with open arms by the client because “no one else seemed to care”. If you must cut, trim fingernails but don’t sever a major artery to consumers. It’s even harder to re-establish effective communication than to develop it in the first place.

This has never been truer than in today’s highly competitive economy where, despite every evidence to the contrary, for the past six or seven years certain groups have told us that things are terrible and we’re in trouble. You know what? Say it often enough, long enough and somebody’s going to start believing it! You know that you’re okay so you start looking out the window at your neighbor, figuring it must be him. Pretty soon, people begin reacting to their fear instead of the condition! Let me say that again: people begin reacting to their fear instead of the condition. Once apprehension takes over, the whole fable starts to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s like stomping the brakes on your car because the radar detector began beeping…even though it’s only Mickey D’s across the street microwaving a Happy Meal.

One element in play, and I’ve heard no one else mention it, is the normal uncertainty that takes place during any presidential election cycle. My observation has been that it happens to one degree or another every four years. This year with all the candidates promising sweeping change, the ‘play it close to the vest’ effect is probably greater than usual and will continue until people know what to expect. Financial resources are not gone as much as they are being closely guarded.

I refuse to accept the notion of a recession or depression. To be sure, many of the corrections we’re seeing are frightening but it’s important to recognize that the bubble bursting on an overinflated stock market or some bad mortgage decisions by a relatively small percentage of people is not the same as the most robust economy in history going under for the third time.

Some will experience difficulty. Others, will discover a market of opportunity for, with low interest rates and a dip in housing prices, they can finally afford the home that has been out of reach for so long. The stock market seems to be slowly inching back. In fact, the whole squirrelly economy will self-correct if the ‘regulators’ in Washington just keep their hands to themselves. Tinkering will only prolong an otherwise natural correction by the free market.

Who in business runs into trouble and who comes out on top largely depends upon how we react to that beeping sound and whether or not we recognize the new opportunities created by changes around us. When fear is allowed to subside and the reality of conditions becomes clearer, the economy will normalize. When the dust clears, those who have maintained themselves top-of-mind with consumers will be the ones to reap the rewards both first and most.

A Game To Call Your Own

Published at May 16, 2008 in Stuff. 0 Comments

Want to be your own boss?

There are three kinds of people who will be reading this: those who work for someone else, those who want their own business and those who have their own business. While I’ll always try to offer something of value for everyone, this discussion is mostly for the benefit of that group in the middle. If you work for an employer and plan to continue walking that road, some of my comments may seem surprising and others like some kind of foreign lingo. The group already working for themselves will not only understand everything but probably have plenty of their own thoughts to add.

If taking your entrepreneurial spirit out for a sprint is giving you itchy feet, make sure you scratch for the right reasons. If you’re looking to ‘get a life’ this won’t do it…take up carpentry. At least the house you build will make some small bird happy. If you think you’ll get rid of your boss, think again. You’ll gain several more in the process because, as you’ll quickly learn, every customer or client is a boss and most of them want full participation in whatever you’re doing. It often makes me wonder why they don’t just do the work themselves in the first place. No, you won’t have the luxury of being able to tell the pains-in-the-patude to get lost because the one thing you will get is an irregular paycheck, at least in the beginning. If you have employees, they get theirs first.

To me, starting your own business is swapping one set of problems for another set of equal or greater value. It’s simply a matter of which set you’d rather have keeping you awake at night. Since your reach will always exceed your grasp, expect to be underfunded no matter how big your bankroll becomes. But that’s not altogether bad, because dreaming just a little beyond your fingertips is what keeps you growing…and steady growth leads to success!

One of the important differences I have come to appreciate is the ability to ‘take the credit’ when you’re entitled to it and not have to share or take a bullet because someone else peered into the wrong end of his gun barrel. Working for myself has also provided validation that I really did know more than most of my previous employers.

However, all the perks in the world don’t make up for a steady paycheck when you’re downing the same reheated casserole for the third time in the same week. To keep variety in your menu, you work more hours, take fewer vacations and larger risks. Is it worth it just to join that third group? You bet! At least, that’s true for most of us with super-inflated egos and heads to match. Being your own boss is not for everyone, so think long and hard about what you really want…and if there’s just a bit of the gambler in you, don’t wait until you’re too old to give it a try.

Remember that business is a game; only you can determine how strong your desire is to play. Actually, making this decision may well be your first experience with taking professional responsibility for yourself. Let me know how you do!

Search

Latest

Blogroll

Search

Latest

Blogroll