You don't persuade people through intellect

Bill Bernback "You don't persuade people through the intellect. You do it through the passions". You'll enjoy this.

Found via Drayton Bird.

Economics explained simply

Thought this was brilliant. Apologies to whoever originally posted it. I truly can't remember what blog I found it on.

Youtube - musicians wanted

Youtube have launched a partner program for musicians. Artists upload original videos to youtube and get a cut of any money from advertising that youtube (Google) make. Good for unsigned bands. Not so good maybe for Myspace. Only available in the US so far.

See article in wired.

More templates for blogger (and other stuff)

Blogger team have come up with new templates and other stuff. So if you use blogger, you might want to play around with it. I changed my template background while checking it out. No doubt I'll get bored of it and change again soon. More info here.

Free ebook on pricing

Pricing gets less attention on this blog. It is fascinating and I read about it a fair bit but clearly am no expert. Todd Slattersten, however is. He has written an ebook on pricing strategies. It is short and well written.

I particularly liked the bit about how pricing is by far the most effective lever that managers have in affecting profit. He refers to how a 1% increase in pricing can translate to 11% increase in profits. (It is also the easiest lever. I wouldn't advocate just upping the price to hit a quarterly target. Customers are not stupid and will eventually vote with their wallets).

Anyway, worth a download and read. Here. I found it via Seth Godin.

And if you like it, you'll probably also like The Art of Profitability too.

Brand recognition v Brand recall

Often both 'brand recognition' and 'brand recall' are needed for brand awareness. But they are different. And you might do different things to boost either. Understanding the customer purchase decision will help.

If customers decide which brand to buy while in store, then brand recognition is pretty important. You want the consumer to make the link between the battery brand they saw on TV and the one on the shelf. Clearly, packaging, logos and cues from the TV campaign are worth sweating over here.

Brand recall is a tougher gig. You want consumers to think of your brand when they are thinking about the category. To recall from memory. If your customers make their decisions outside the store, then recall is the thing to focus on. First anyway.

Online stores and anybody selling a service generally need recall first and foremost. Which is why the advertising for comparison shopping websites focus a lot on their name and website address. They have failed if they expose you to an ad for moneysupermarket.com and you head over to confused.com.

Of course, all the ads for these comparison websites seem a bit the same, with no differentiation - with the exception of comparethemeerkat.com which is proving very popular.

A good book (about digital)

danah boyd and several others wrote this book. If your work involves understanding teenagers, and how they interact with social networks, you could do worse than reading danah's blog, papers or presentations. As the book title suggests, 'Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out' describes different ways teens are interacting with digital. They describe "different levels of investment in new media activities".

'Hanging out' is mostly about friends being together. They just happen to do this online, but the focus is about being with their friends.

'Messing around' is a notch up from this. Teens use online to find information. Using search engines, wikipedia, forums etc. Their experimentation and playing with music, images, videos and photos is also included under 'Messing around'.

'Geeking out' is a step up again on this. And is some of the more intense activities teens get involved with online. This might include media fandom around stuff like Harry Potter or the Japanese Anime comics. And also includes gaming.

'Geeking' should not be confused with 'geeks'. The authors explain that these are not "geeks" as we might know the term - but rather kids very enthusiastic about a particular hobby. For example, they could even be sports nuts. And this is not really about digital for the sake of it. It just happens to be their way to get into their hobby and the online communities around it.

Like I said, if understanding digital and teenagers is important to you or your job, you'll learn stuff in this. It is research-led and allows you to get up close into the homes of the teens and their families. Here at amazon.

I've read the reviews. And I clearly don't need one. But I'm getting one.

Experts say that many purchases have an emotional and rational aspect. We know that our emotions dominate our rational thoughts. But when selling anything, we need to give consumers the rational reasons as well - not because this will persuade them - but it allows them to post-rationalise their purchase.

Which leads to this "my wooden floors did cost a bit more, but re-sale value of the apartment is now better and they are easier to keep".

Nothing wrong with that. But I'm going on record to say that I have no rational reason to buy the iPad. I can post-rationalise my iPod, my MacBook and my iPhone. They all serve real needs (in my mind anyway). And I don't think the iPad can do anything new or much better than my other Apple stuff.

The other thing we know is consumers often need permission to buy or own something. For example, in the 1990's lots of men liked Porsche cars but didn't like the image Porsche drivers had.

Anyway, at the digital festival yesterday, digital guru Russell Davies said he was going to get himself an iPad.

And that's all I needed to hear - I've pre-registered for mine.

And some people think it's just an advertising campaign

I remember this Nike ad 'tag'. And remember liking it. But it wasn't until I read Grant McCracken's lastest book 'Chief Culture Officer' did I really understand perhaps why I liked it.

Wieden + Kennedy made this ad in 2001. At its most basic level, the ad is playful and enjoyable. Who wouldn't want to make their daily city commute less dull or mundane?

Grant points out more subtle culture trends - "Americans were giving up the northern European idea that public behaviour ought to be guarded and expressionless". Street theatre was becoming more popular. Cities were becoming the place for spontaneous expressive events. Grant points towards the influence of Mork & Mindy on TV, with Robin Williams bringing the idea of improv to american living rooms.

Another trend at the time that 'tag' picks up on is the value of simplicity. Physicists were interested in the idea that "complex order could issue from simple rules". Because 'tag' is a very simple game with easy-to-understand rules which bring pattern to the disorder of city life. To quote Grant directly - "At this time, culture that was 'emergent' was more interesting than culture that was organised."

Another trend at work here is what Grant called the 'generous stranger' - the concept of doing random acts of kindness for complete strangers. This was picked up in Hollywood with films like 'Pay it forward' and 'Serendipity'. This was acted out in real life with examples of 'phototagging' - disposable cameras left in a public place where the finder is asked to take one photo and pass the camera on. Grant points out that Howard Rheingold was also on trend at exactly the same time with his 'Smart Mobs' book about groups freezing together in public city places.

This is why 'tag' is genius. Dan Wieden understood these trends and tapped into them early. As a consumer, I loved the ad without really understanding or articulating why. I do now.

To quote Grant again - "And some people think it's just an advertising campaign".

Pick up his book here. Let me know your thoughts if you do.

YouTube page takeover

YouTube video where character comes out of video to read a comment. Worth a watch. Here. Found via bannerblog.

Whispurr - a new Irish social network

I got an email about a new Irish social network called Whispurr. I haven't looked into it in any real detail but wanted to give it a small push (to all my 12 readers), given it is based out of Ireland. If you join, let me know your thoughts.

More tv ads

I haven't been posting many TV ads recently. But will share some over next few weeks. Found this via adpunch.

Embrace Life

Embrace life. Found this engaging enough to watch. It is different to the usual way that these messages are demonstrated.

via Adpunch

What do you do when valentine's day falls on game day?

What do you do when valentine's day falls on game day? Puma Hardchoras. Funny stuff.

Found via Paul K.

Nice bit of digital advertising

I generally stay clear from writing about O2 here (nobody likes when folk that talk about themselves all the time). But I really like this little piece of digital advertising and felt it was worth sharing.

We have an ad on the recently-launched RTE News iPhone app.

The ad is part of our 'Be the difference' rugby campaign. The campaign is a lovely little idea with a nice fit for the O2 brand. Based on the insight that supporters can actually influence the action and result on the pitch - O2 are making it possible for rugby supporters to get their signatures literally on the back of the players' jerseys.

Well done to Kevin Dunne and our digital agency Brando for their integration of this for the iPhone - so we can sign up directly from our iPhones. As you'd expect I know - but still nice to see it working smoothly.

As there are only so many jerseys, I'm assuming it is a first-come-first-served set up. So if you'd like to show your support - pop over to the bethedifference site sooner rather than later. There is another nice feature there too - you can upload a team talk. The best ones are played to the team. (I'm thinking Any Given Sunday as featured on Piaras' blog this week.)

The RTE app itself is pretty good. I dip into it most days for a moment or two. It's free too.

Website for finding vintage ads

Anybody pursuing a career in marketing should know their advertising history, so you know what worked in the past, why it worked and if it could work now. If this is your thing, you'll like this - a search engine dedicated to vintage ads. Lot of VW ads from Bill Bernbach's time. And beer ads, coke ads etc.

Found via Drayton Bird's site.

Is this dark and twisted humour?

Is this dark and twisted humour? Ad is for a funeral home apparently. Found via here. Am I missing something?

Internet on phone better than other (original?) internet

There was a time (not too long ago) when the internet on our phones wasn't really the internet. It was the "watered down version" as an Apple ad once alluded to. When bebo first became available on our mobiles, it was a big deal. It wasn't as good as the bebo you'd get sitting in front of a laptop - but it did the trick. And beboers used it.

The iPhone changed all this. And put everything on par. It really was the same internet - just on a smaller screen. Grand.

Recently I've found that I'm actually choosing to use the internet on my phone over the internet on my laptop - even when I'm at home and the laptop is within arm's reach.

Not for everything. But certainly for apps like facebook or LinkedIn.

I rarely visit facebook on my computer. It is easier and quicker to dip into the app, have a quick look at what friends are up to and close out of it again. It is a different kind of internet usage. "Snacking" I believe they call it. But it is not just a passive mobile viewing. Even adding comments is possibly easier than doing so on my laptop.

I mentioned the amazon app the other week. Same story there. I'm buying at least as many books through this app I do through their original website.

Again, nothing new here but (I find it) interesting that mobile has gone from poor cousin to preferred option in just a few years. Given how hooked teenagers are on social networks even when they have to use computers, you can only imagine how this is going to change mobile behaviour when all teenagers have iPhones or similar touchscreen phones.

(Disclaimer: Given my job, it is in my interest for everybody and their mother to start using internet on their phones.)

Only 3 reasons why advertising is not working.

Often when sales are not coming as planned, the first impulse is to advertise more. While this may be the correct action, it may not always be.

As a rule of thumb - there are generally only three reasons (in my mind anyway) why advertising is not driving demand. The action required is different for each.

1. Your consumers don't know about your product / offer / solution. This is an awareness play. The action here is actually to advertise more.
2. They may be aware but don't understand your advertising. This is not about doing more advertising. In fact more of the same will do little for you. You need to tweak or change your advertising, as they don't get it. The benefit (rational or emotional) may be hidden or badly explained.
3. They don't care. In this situation, they are aware and they understand, but couldn't care less. There can be lots of reasons here - wrong audience, wrong insight, wrong product, wrong timing, no clear reason to buy, no differentiation. Your job here is to find out what will make them care. Whatever the problem is, one thing you know is that doing more advertising here won't help you much.
   

If you don't know the problem, you can't really fix it.

Digital Breakfast session this Tuesday @ Burlington hotel.

Just a quick note to say there is a breakfast seminar on, this Tuesday, in the Burlington hotel, Dublin 4.

"Using the internet for profit and political gain" is the name of the session. The organisers tell me they are going for an 'x-factor' type gig - so won't be stuffy or formal.

There will be a panel and some discussion on Search as well as a review of how Obama used digital in his campaign. I won't be there myself but do let me know how it goes if you are there.

The event is free but you must register beforehand. More info on how to register and on the presentations and speakers here.

P.S. They are serving up a free breakfast too. How generous. Kick off is 8am.

Job - media account director

Dublin based digital agency - Cybercom - are looking to fill a new role. To manage a team of four in their media department. More info and a job spec at their site.

Seth Godin's free ebook - what matters now

Just downloaded this (for free) the other day. From here. Lots of contributors. Found via Brendan Hughes. Also listened to The Big Moo over the xmas holidays. Also worth a read/listen.

Digital Festival this Feb. Line-up is good.

I don't make it to many conferences to be honest. I'm lazy and happy to read the book/blog instead. But I'm going to this one. The line-up is good. Very good....Russell Davies, Peter Kim and Shel Israel (co author of Naked Conversations) among others.

The Digital Festival - Wed 24th Feb. In Berkeley Court Hotel, Dublin 4.

More info here.

Creativity in the banner

I think we all agree that an online strategy is more than a suite of banners, some adwords, a facebook page and a preview session with some bloggers. But banners still have a role.

Banners get a hard time. Perhaps rightly so. But they have a value beyond the click-through-rate. I've written before that nobody clicks on outdoor ads - but their value is not disputed. The problem is a lot of the banners are not particularly creative. Then again, most advertising, regardless of medium used, is only average.

But banners can be creative. Click here or on the image to see this Bernardo's ad.

Amazon Remembers

I've been buying books from amazon on my phone for a decent length of time now. But only just downloaded the amazon iPhone app. As my previous amazon experiences on my phone have been seamless, I expected as much from the app. I was not disappointed.

But they have a nice extra. Called Amazon Remembers. You take a photo (of anything) with your iPhone and click submit on your phone screen. Then the nice folk in Amazon scurry off and see if they can find it for you in their store. When they do, they'll send you an email - so you can buy it from them. They'll also post your photo with a link to the product on your amazon.co.uk homepage. Nice eh.

I tried it with a book cover. And it worked fine. As you'd expect with a book I guess. I also took a snap of the front of a Samsung netbook. And they found this too. I'm impressed.

It's a wonderful example of making an app that thinks intelligently about the customer circumstances - and not just a replication of the internet for your phone. No doubt they'll get a higher share of my wallet.

Wired's 20 favourite iPhone Apps

Wired's 20 favourite iPhone Apps here (staff picks). Dropbox sounds good if you haven't heard of it.

Aim for the heart, not head...like Mr Tayto

I was asked to present on some brand and marketing stuff earlier this month. I spoke about brands needing to be interesting if they want us to be interested in them.

Nothing new here. But still not a whole lot of interesting stuff going on. It might be a bit of the 'rational' versus 'emotional' appeal debate. Most ads lead with the rational reasons to buy stuff - the benefits, features and unique selling proposition.

While my marketing origins are in direct marketing, influenced by likes of Claude Hopkins, I side with the folk that believe emotional advertising is more effective than ads that lead solely with rational, logical benefits. I'd encourage you to pop over here to read what the highly respected Paul Feldwick has to say about this.

The recent Mr Tayto autobiography is a lovely example of this. Very charming. Made me smile. I'm sure it has ignited a few conversations.

I'm still the mayor.

Image courtesy of foursquare

It's true. I've been the mayor of the coffee dock in O2's offices for the past week or two.

Uncontested.

Well, Kevin has tried to steal my spot on occasion, but he gets distracted by the authentic Il Valentino coffees every morning - of which he claims he is mayor of. And you can only have so many coffees in one day.

Geo-tagging itself is interesting. But foursquare is more - it is also playful. It will be interesting when shops, pubs, restaurants and other venues here start using it. Yes to reward customers and their buying behaviour - as both Damien Mulley and Kevin Dunne talked about recently.

But also for a bit of fun.

One of the funniest things I saw in the US was employees of a fast food outlet playing paper-rock-scissors with customers. They played double or quits for an extra burger or chips. Funny stuff - that gets talked about. I stole the idea and did something similar for call credit in our stores a couple of years ago.

This playfulness works beautifully with foursquare. And will help companies show their personal side. And bringing together the real humans working for the brand with the real humans buying the brand is one of the things I think digital is perfect for.

Dave Trott's book - Creative Mischief

Kevin gave me the heads up that Dave Trott had a book out. Really don't know how I missed that. Don't even think Mr Trott mentioned it on his blog. Such modesty.

It is a collection of some of his blog posts. A small book - about 190 pages. I bought a couple of copies for the office. And suspect I'll buy a few more, once they go missing. Anyway, if you're a fan, do buy this.

Any grads out there trying to get their first job in marketing?

Any grads out there trying to get their first job in marketing? I don't have any jobs going. But if you are ambitious, ready to work extremely hard to get a job and willing to take a long-term view of a marketing career - I'm offering to help you find one. For free of course.

If you're interested, drop me an email.

(If on the off chance I get swamped with emails, I'll work a first-come-first-served system or work out something fair.)

The last refuge of the unimaginative

Saw this and thought about the many brand guardianship conversations you have. Don't get me wrong. I'm actually all up for brand guardianship. But I like Absolut's approach to it.

Innovative outdoor ad

Saw this while in Madrid last month. The message is about women trapped in domestic violence. Very innovative use of the back-lit format. Simple but striking

Any brands doing good radio ads?

Can anybody think of any brands that consistently do good advertising on the radio?

Just wondering.

Can you see this?

A friend suggested I change this blog's name to "Random thoughts on Outdoor ads". Point taken.

But there still seems to be a huge number of outdoor ads that get it wrong (that don't follow the basic principles). The 6-sheet poster in this photo is facing out onto the road, so is targeting folks in cars and buses. But is it not very difficult to see?

Dave Trott inspires creativity on a shoestring.

Fine video of advertising legend, Dave Trott, talking (teaching) about creativity on a shoestring. He demonstrates with some low-budget, yet effective, TV ads.

The video is ten minutes long. A must see. Here.

Flashmob in Cork

Saw this on Piaras Kelly's blog. Flashmob in Cork. While flashmobs might be a bit overkill these days, it is a nice bit of film. And worth watching. Some wonderful moments captured.

The social Media Guru

I'm sure there are some truths here. A bit long but funny at times. Found via Marc Sirkin

Aer Lingus know how to do outdoor ads

Garret Byrne, an ex-colleague of mine, works for Aer Lingus.

When chatting about advertising the other week, he sent me a few pics of the outdoor they do in the UK market. Looking at these, it's clear they (good man Garret) know how to do effective outdoor. Sounds easy, but it's not. [See earlier article on this.]

That aside, I must ask him out how cost-effective he finds outdoor compared to other media. Outdoor is good for impact, but love to know if it outperforms press, radio or online for them. Or does a combination of these bring in best results? If so, which ones?

Up your Viva

Saw this the other week and loved it.

I know some will hate it and think it is stupid. But I'm guessing the brief was to embed the name of the new station in our heads. And also suggest they are a bit of fun. This is not easy. If this was the brief, then job done. No messing about there. Not stupid at all.

P.S. Great casting.

The manager and employee "dance of lies"

Image courtesy of formfaktor

Once or twice a year, managers and their direct reports get together to tango - in their "employee performance dance of lies". Each dance is different, but we try to follow the basic moves.

The manager knows he can't give rave reviews to all his team. He would look weak in the eyes of his own manager. And everybody can't be 'above average'. That is not physically possible. Pity, he thinks, as he has been driving them pretty hard all year and they've been doing decent work.

While plotting how to dispatch a 'good' but not 'above average' score, he does some soul searching.

If he's honest, he'd wish they make decisions themselves more often without asking him all the time. They should know this, right? And maybe they could be more creative in problem solving too. Yep, he's pretty sure he asked them to be more creative earlier in the year.

With no time left to practice his moves, he takes the lead with an energetic "you're doing a good job". In the absence of written objectives, he manages to recall some last minute good stuff the employee has done in the past month. The employee joins in, chuffed and they tango for a bit. He reckoned he had done a pretty good job. He's glad his manager appreciates his hard work.

But as the 3-minute dance is coming to an end, the manager pulls out his winning move. "Although I think you could have been more creative".

This is looking more like a dance-off than a tango. Every man for himself. The employee is a bit confused. They are still dancing but not in sync. Unsure of what to say next, the manager decides to follow up with the decision-making bit..."and you could be more decisive".

This, the employees understands. Yes, in hindsight he probably could have been more decisive. But, he wonders, why is it just coming up now? But he finds out quickly enough..."you're doing a good job. Yes, good, but not - above average. Keep it up. And work on your decision making. Chat in six months."

And the music stops.