Innovation & Creativity Archives - Page 12 of 18

Want to kick off your week with a burst of creativity?

August 13, 2007

Let's start the week with the idea that we can be incredibly creative and attention-getting with a little effort. Here are some very clever visual marketing messages that probably didn't cost too much more than the usual hum drum executions.

Want to see a few more and learn about the 5 rules for being clever/funny in ads?

Related posts:

Creativity tip — ask and ask again!

More packaging game candy

Put on a different hat

The envelope please…

August 2, 2007

Believe it or not…there are books written about the variety of envelopes. And they have huge glossaries of envelope terms. As I flipped through them, I realized that some were new to me, so I thought you might like to bone up on your envelope knowledge.

B.R.E. (I started with an easy one): Business Reply Envelope. This usually has a first class permit, indicia and return address pre-printed on envelope.

Flush cut: to cut flush means to cut the top flap off the envelope.

Point: A unit of thickness equal to 1/1000 of an inch.

Blank: Paper stock that is die cut into appropriate envelope shape. When folded and glued, it becomes an envelope.

McIntyre Corners: Predominantly found in booklet style envelopes. Notches are made at the top of the two side seam shoulders to facilitate automatic insertion.

Thumb cut: A notched opening to allow easy access to contents.

Think about it….if you are sending a direct mail piece…why not improve the odds of your piece getting opened by doing something interesting with the envelope?

What have you done with the packaging of a direct mail piece to get your audience's attention?

Tag…I’ve been tagged with the tagline meme!

July 31, 2007

Ahh, personal branding with a whole new twist. Leave it up to that creative rapscallion Cam Beck from ChaosScenario. He has started a new meme and we get to play along.

Here's how it works:

You select five bloggers and give them a fitting tagline. What's the path that led here? Cam got Lewis Green, who got me. So here are my tags, complete with my take on their tag.

(I'm pretty sure if you've already been tagged, you're on a safe base and don't have to be "it" again!)

CK (CK's blog): Queen of Hearts
David Armano (Logic + Emotion): User Friendly
Gavin Heaton (Servant of Chaos): Idea Poet
Todd And (Todd Add): Make it Measurable
David Reich (My 2 cents): A Bargain at Twice the Price

Feel free to join in and play along. What would you want your tagline to reflect?

No one has ever asked us that

July 12, 2007

That's one of the sentences I love to hear in a new business conversation.

And we hear it pretty often. Why? Do we know some secret about their business? No. Are we experts in their category? Maybe, but that's not where the questions come from.

The questions come from not worrying about the sale. And not already having the next sentence lying in wait in our brains, to drive home a point about us.

They come from listening like a detective, trying to solve a case. Following leads in the conversation and tugging at every loose end, until we unravel whole story. It comes from wanting to understand and help them grow their business, not win the account.

We ask a lot of why questions. "Why are you in a hurry to build sales all of a sudden?"

We ask a lot of what if questions. "What if we increase inquiries by 25%? How will you handle that volume increase?"

We ask a lot of questions which frankly are none of a marketing agency's business. But we do believe they are our business. We believe agencies who stop at creating solid marketing tools are missing the boat. We have to help the client anticipate what's coming next. And often that comes from understanding what has come before.

We probably don't always ask them as delicately as we should. Instead, we ask with intense curiosity and enthusiasm. It's a way we demonstrate how we're different. It's a way we add more value.

I've always believed that one characteristic early adopters have is curiosity. Most people reading blogs today are early adopters. So…how do you use your curiosity to help grow your clients business? What are one or two questions you could ask that would inspire a prospect to say "no one's ever asked us that before."

100% support for subliminal advertising

July 10, 2007

We should all become subminal advertising artists. Every single one of us.

I don't care that in 1974 the FCC issued an order saying that anyone knowingly carry subliminal ads was operating "contrary to the public interest."

I don't care that they've proven that the infamous 1957 "drink Coke" movie theater story is a urban legend.

I don't care that some people allege that the Disney animation classic The Lion King has a seen where the word SEX is written in the clouds. (Not sure who that's advertising for!)

I don't care that some people have seen the word RATS in a commercial George W. Bush ran during his campaign for President against Gore.

When a store owner makes a customer feel like they're the most important person in the room, that's subliminal advertising. When an on-line help desk staffer takes an extra three minutes to write a personal comment in a "we've fixed your problem" e-mail, when a customer service rep hops in the car to hand deliver a part that a client desperately needs…that's subliminal advertising.

When a Disney cast member whose job is sweeping up popcorn stops to give a little boy a sticker…that's subliminal advertising. When a lube drive through shop checks a worried woman's car, makes a minor repair and then refuses to charge her anything…that is subliminal advertising.

We can consciously deliver our brand through marketing messages, signage, and consistency. But all of that pales in comparison to creating a customer experience that delights and surprises someone.

That kind of subliminal advertising gets people to not only buy what you sell but to talk about their buying experience. That kind of subliminal advertising transcends loyalty and moves to love.

We should all be that kind of advertiser.

Would you recognize if your product shifted categories?

June 27, 2007

Remember the first desktop computers (shut up if you are too young!). We were amazed at their capacity. Their speed. And their ability to change the way we work.

I can still remember saying "who needs a 1 gig hard drive…that’s crazy!" Now, I wouldn’t buy one that has less than 120. And that was just a couple years ago.

When was the last time you marveled at your computer? Or picked out a new one because it could make a spreadsheet or design a brochure or reach out to people across the globe?

Those functional aspects of the product no longer thrill us. They’ve become a given.

It seems to me that computers have shifted categories a little. Sure, they are still a business tool. But all brands, makes and models are business tools and the reality is, any one of them can probably meet and exceed most people’s needs.

Apple was the first to recognize that computers also say something about us as people and that design matters. Remember the first iMacs with their crazy colors? People were taken aback. The color of the computer does not change its functionality at all.

But it does change what your computer says about you. A hot pink computer? That connotes something about the owner, eh?

Dell has announced that they’re jumping on that boat. Today, they launch their new Inspiron notebook series in 8 vibrant colors, including midnight blue, spring green and jet black.

In a very Apple-like move, the product launch will occur in the Macy’s department store in Manhattan’s Herald Square.

What makes this fascinating isn’t the colored computers. What makes this discussion-worthy is the recognition that companies, brands and products shift over time. Think about your business. What used to make people ohhh and ahhh but now has become a given?

What’s your new ohhh and ahhh? Or are you still hyping the given as though it gives your customers the same tingles it used to?

A bag full of ideas: 06/25/07

June 25, 2007

From time to time, I’m going to share a mixed bag of ideas, marketing tips, brilliant writing and sometimes — something that just made me laugh out loud. Here’s today’s offering:

This one had me smiling and nodding: Jay hit the nail on the head when he responded to the age old question "But does all that blogging get your clients?" Right on Jay! My favorite message — if you blog just to get clients, you won’t.

This one had me bookmarking this blog: Cody McKibben shares some explores the recent attempt by Congress to extend the Freedom of Information Act to bloggers. A very well-thought out post from a young man who is clearly going to be a voice to be reckoned with.

This one was an excellent reminder: Chris Punke reminds us of the many ways video can enhance our marketing. The new distribution and ease of use that video enjoys today makes this traditional marketing technique a very viable one for most businesses.

This one scared me a little: Brett Trout at IowaBiz.com suggests that many of us who think we own our websites couldn’t be more wrong. Is that a conversation you had with your web developer? Should you?

Want a 24/7 employee?

June 23, 2007

One of the more interesting of viral marketing tools is the idea of using avatars in place of live employees. Let’s face it, an avatar is never going to be sick, have to take their son to the dentist or want vacation time!

According to a study conducted by the Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University, "characters (avatars) can express social roles, emotions, and organized personalities that match learning goals, company brands, and transaction needs. Characters can increase the trust that users place in online experiences, in part because they make online experiences easier."

Avatars are also being used for in-house training and many other applications. And your avatar doesn’t have to be human. Remember CareerBuilders.com’s monkeys? Odds are you received one of their Monk-e-Mails. This is one of the ones I created.

A new viral campaign they’re running is Age-O-Matic — what will your job do to you. And before you dismiss these are just fun and games, the Monk-e-Mail campaign increased traffic to CareerBuilders.com by 25%.

Certainly one of the most "famous" avatar driven marketing efforts is Second Life, the 3-D virtual world those boasts participants like Dell, the American Cancer Society and one crazy agency who announced their beginnings there.

Again, in case you think it’s all cute cartoons, according the the economic stats on Second Life’s home page, in the past 24 hours, $1,895,494 (U.S. dollars) was spent in world.

Want to check it out for yourself? You can create an avatar of your own, on SitePal’s free trial.

So, I’m curious. Is this technology beyond your clients or your business? Does it feel like this is only the territory of the big, retail businesses?

Is this one of those "cool, but not for me" things or have you used this sort of technology already?

Is your neighbor a marketing whiz?

June 22, 2007

Stop for a minute and picture one of your neighbors. Not the whole neighborhood. Pick an actual neighbor. Now, suppose a pharmaceutical company wanted to hire someone to create a product name and tagline for a new over the counter drug.

Who would they hire? You the marketing pro (or at least someone with some marketing background) or that neighbor?

You might just be surprised. Come over the Marketing Profs Daily Fix and jump into my most recent post, Should the Average Joe Name your Product?

UPDATE: I was contacted by one of the creators of this challenge. He asked that I clarify a couple points. The sponsoring company is not a pharmaceutical company and they are not working on an over the counter drug but instead it is technically a life science company developing dietary supplements. Their official press release was incorrect and he responsibly wanted public information to be accurate.

Blogs that make you go hmmm…

June 21, 2007

It’s pretty cool when one of the smartest bloggers you know points to your blog as one that makes HIM think. So I was really tickled when David Reich included Drew’s Marketing Minute in his list of five blogs that make him think.

Feeling good about David’s nod was the easy part. Then, I kept reading and realized that I now had the difficult task of narrowing down a long list of blogs that make me go hmmm every day down to a measly five. Cripes.

So…here goes. I checked as best I could and it looks like these blogs have not already been nominated. If I’m wrong…enjoy the double dose of love. And check out my blog roll to see how many other blogs could have been on this list.

Servant of Chaos — Gavin Heaton is a marketing poet, pure and simple. And my partner in publishing with the Age of Conversation. Wickedly smart. His posts dig way past strategy to purpose.

Steve Farber — Author of two of my all-time favorite business books (Radical Leap and Radical Edge), Steve Farber is about life’s purpose, joy, leadership to the extreme and changing the world.

Logic + Emotion — David Armano’s blog is probably most associated with his graphics. But what puts it on this list for me are the questions David asks as he explores connectivity, conversation and consumer communities.

The Copywriting Maven — Roberta Rosenberg has a way with words. Her posts are never wasteful — every word has a job to do. She teaches, offers tips and asks questions that make me want to be a better writer. Update: And is snort your milk through your nose funny!

Success from the Nest — Tony Clark writes with conviction, experience and cartoons. Tony puts his readers’ through their paces. By going through them himself first. He’s a human guinea pig — and he invites us along on his explorations.

What do these blogs have in common? They ask questions and invite me to think. Thanks to all of you for making me go hmm.

And…here’s the rest of the prize package, according to the originator of this meme:

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to Drew’s post which says such nice things about you so that people can follow the meme’s trail,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).

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