Sunday morning speculations

Everybody is talking about it; few are brave enough to experiment.

Are you using classical media in a classical way to promote classical product or service? If you’re not Procter & Gamble with endless budget, then it means for you driving a car looking in the rear-view mirror. You need to stand out. Be special in what you do. Extraordinary. Otherwise you may be living, but what a life it is, being gray and boring and bringing nobody to think, laugh or cry. If you earn enough to get your mortgage payments in time and are satisfied with it – fine. Your one of those who has a lack of imagination combined with willpower. This is the combination that leads on. Safe is boring. If you do not happen to be a guy with a golden brain - outsource it. Besides that you need to be passionate about your field of activity and smart enough to recognize a good idea.

Although changing marketing mix isn’t the solution anymore. Not today. Very special and extraordinary advertising alone does not give you the long-term results you are longing for. The innovation has to come from the product or service you are offering. Offering a memorable user experience is the key.

In today’s situation consumers are looking for security and many companies are offering secure products and services to survive. No one has the resources, willpower or courage to experiment. It s a perfect ground for creating something outstanding, as the market situation is making it possible. By being outstanding I do not mean outrageous or scandalous. This is already despair. Scandalous redeems itself only if this is the core essence of your brand. But in the longer run intelligent kind of outstanding creates more brand value. The trick is to think small before thinking big. It’s the details that count today.

Second life for killed ideas

How many times my team has created fabulous, crème de la crème ideas that are a knock out. Some at least… How many times my team has been rejected those brilliant ideas. Countless times. Why?
• It’s very interesting, but we are afraid... (does not matter what follows, client is afraid - that’s it).
• It’s out of our budget range.
• Our CEO does not like it. No comments. Just his face was not happy seeing it.
• They take the idea and send it to the big round inside their company and come back with a totally different idea.
• It’s just too crazy.
• Nobody understands it (except the creative team).
• Sometimes you present many fabulous ideas for one brand and only one is to be chosen, others left out.

Well at least now all those killed ideas have a second chance. Killedideas.com is a place to submit all those ideas that have been rejected for one reason or another. They publish them in a book or/and display on a blog. Although there is a deeper financial meaning for this initiative, as it seems to be a campaign for Blurb - bookmaking software and publishing, its a good idea. Targeting those who won’t get recognition naturally, offering them the tools for being a published author.

Submission ends on 31. March 2009, so few days to go, for running through archives.

If you re not having fun, you re not doing it right.

My first days in the advertising business brought me to the cold knowledge: I was told that the fun guys in the industry are the ones that can’t be taken seriously. The most successful and respected are the ones that come and leave unnoticed and do their work perfectly and leave a mark in the longer run.

I thought „yeah right“. I was driven by the passion for advertising and had no idea how to suppress it down and work like a machine, showing no passion at all.

Almost 2 years have passed and now I understand. Those people DO have passion for advertising and are no machines. Instead of living their passion out, they live it in and convert it into their work. This is what gives excellent and impressing results. „Fun guys“ waste all energy for being „so fun“ and leave no reserves for actual nut cracking.

I m not going to classify myself, as obviously I m not the serious type- writing this blog, and no fun either- so says my husband. Which leaves me empty handed.

Right now the moto to live by is: if you’re not having fun, you re not doing it right. By not having fun - you start looking fun from elsewhere. Synergy coming from passion directed right can be mind-blowing. Advertising is fun. Not just outside.

Seriously – inside.

You've got mail

I have a friend who runs a niche business and instead of many suggestions to stop, sends me over totally boring monthly newsletter. I have nothing against receiving this carefully composed newsletter. But I‘m afraid that this newsletter does not serve the purpose he hopes for. I believe his goal is to develop a long-term impact on the readers. It should provide the readers value, which means more than just sales messages. It should contain information, which informs, entertains or otherwise benefits the readers. He invests his time and money on it and value of ROI, I believe, is zero.

So here, dear friend and everybody else, trying to really reach somebody via e-mail, are some soft reminders:

• Do not send your newsletter, so everybody can see the entire cc list. It’s just plain rude.

• Make a decision. Are you sending a direct mail or a newsletter? Direct mail fits into e-mail without having to open it. Newsletter is usually composed into PDF file, so parties interested can browse through it or print it out and it usually contains more than one page. You can’t be both at the same time.

• Avoid plain long text. No one wants to read it. Add a link to your website for further information, if somebody is really interested.

• Bring out reader benefit - BIG AND RED - at the beginning, so highly occupied people would have interest to read further.

• Be focused and understand what's important for your clients.

• It’s very nice that somebody has composed a thorough PDF of your companis summer vacation; two more pitches won and a new improvement on your business. So what? Ditch the information, that is not crucial and put all the emotions into the new product introduction, new skills owned by your staff or innovations in your field of activity.

• If you do not have anything important to say, do not send it, just because you think you should… people do not want to read it. Value the time of your customers.

• Innovation in your field of activity still exists. Please find it and spread the message. If you are in the dead end and think there is no innovation - be a man, and invent it.

• Act like a market leader, not like someone who is trying his best to become one.(Its recommendation just for him , as he is the market leader. Other folks who are not - accept your position and compose your strategies accordingly.)

• I understand it is hard to come up with some illustrations or something else that catches the eye. If you already came to a point sending this newsletter, please be so kind to hire somebody who makes it look more edible.
  

Flogo clouds

Interesting.

A new way for marketers to use a new form of ambient advertising. “Environmentally friendly” clouds that can be produced to resemble advertising logos etc. called Flogos.

It’s made of soap-based formula mixed with helium and vegetable dye. A new Flogo cloud can be produced after every 7 seconds. Each Flogo lasts approximately 30 minutes.

Watch on YouTube how Flogos are made:


Although it can be used for commercial purposes, an artist Stuart Stemple, used smiley faces in London, to promote the value of creativity. Whatever the reason, most of all it made many people smile ☺