February 4, 2012

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BrandingBlog Radio: Craig Arthur and Big Plans for 2012

January 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:52 — 40.9MB) | Embed

After a busy holiday season, it was nice to have a leisurely chat with my good friend, Craig Arthur.

Since this is the first episode for 2012, we mostly talked about his plans for the new year and his renewed commitment to blogging. He is using the free outlining process that I produced for Shortcut Blogging. If you’d like to try it, just go to www.shortcutblogging.com/outline.

It may not sound like it in the podcast, but I got pretty excited when he talked about doing more free workshops this year in Australia. I may have to weasel my way onto his stage somehow. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been down under and I’m missing it.

Read more about Craig’s activities by following him on his Wizard Chronicles blog, on Facebook and on Twitter.

Thanks for coming along in our podcast journey!

The photo is Craig peeking out his room’s speakeasy window at Engelbrecht House on the Wizard Academy Campus.

Filed Under: Craig Arthur, Podcasts, Uncategorized, Wizard of Ads

BrandingBlog Radio: The Art Of The Offer with Craig Arthur

October 4, 2011 By 3 Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:50 — 27.3MB) | Embed

The terms of a sales offer and how you position it in the minds of customers is paramount to determining success. Craig Arthur, our Australian marketing expert, joins me this week for a look at a few examples where tweaking the offer has made a big difference in sales…sometimes in the very existence of the company.

We talk about the solar industry, auto sales, cell phones and give the example of how changing the offer in the early days made a difference in how Cabela’s grew from a kitchen table home-based biz to a multi-billion dollar retailer.

I didn’t get all the details of that very first Cabela’s offer exactly right because I was going from local folklore. I found an article that will give you even more depth if you’d like to read about it. It’s a great story.

I hope you enjoy this podcast. If you have any questions or would like to recommend guests, please do so in the comments.

Filed Under: Cabela's, Craig Arthur, Making Ads Work, Podcasts Tagged With: ,

BrandingBlog Radio: Using Rituals to Generate Word of Mouth

July 26, 2011 By 3 Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:24 — 44.9MB) | Embed

In this episode, Craig Arthur and I discuss how businesses can use ritual to make their customers feel like “insiders” which will make them more apt to talk about the business to others. This is a form of kinetic Word of Mouth.

At the beginning of the podcast, we discuss Sarah Ripley’s article “Where DIDN’T you hear about us?” from the Wizard Chronicles.

I love riffing with Craig. This conversation is a great example of why I’m podcasting. I’ve had many dozens of calls like this over the years with Craig. We finally got smart enough to record them. Enjoy.

Filed Under: Advertising, Craig Arthur, Podcasts, Share of Mind, Word of Mouth

Word of Mouth: A Strategy and a Society

April 16, 2008 By 1 Comment

First, the strategy: Anna Gerard wrote up a nice story about a fish market near her home in Australia.

"People here have this deep belief that the closer the seafood shop is to the water, the fresher the seafood."


Read how her favorite seafood shop has closed the loop and made the customers feel like the water has come to the shop.

Swombanner2 Now, the Society: I joined the Society for Word of Mouth last week. SWOM (members are Swommies) was started about a month ago by Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell of Church of the Customer fame. It’s free and it’s a fun group of people. The SWOM website uses the Ning platform so it’s full of social niceties. You get to build your own page and contribute to forums and a group blog. Come on in, the water’s warm!

Filed Under: Craig Arthur, Word of Mouth

Business Productivity Update

August 3, 2005 By Leave a Comment

Bridget_birth_2805_8pm_cropped_012Our Wizard of Ads Partners from DownUnder have posted some happy news!

Link: Making Ads Work : Baby Bridget.

Filed Under: Craig Arthur

Words of Wizardom

February 12, 2005 By Leave a Comment

One of the nicest thing about Craig Arthur’s site is that he makes pdf files of all his posts available.

By Craig Arthur

“One man, scorned and covered with scars, still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world was better for this."
- Don Quixote

"Every man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

When it comes to marketing and advertising, everyone is an expert, everyone has an opinion.

However…

“Half my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half.”- John Wanamaker (1838-1922) retailer, Philadelphia

“Only 25% of advertising campaigns produced a positive result.”- Professor John Phillip Jones, Syracuse University
(Speaking at the 2002 European Advertising Symposium)

“40% of ad campaigns resulted in a negative impact on sales.”- Professor Flemming Hansen (Copenhagen Business School)
(Speaking at the 2002 European Advertising Symposium)

Leonardo Da Vinci once said…

“Many will think that they can with reason blame me, alleging that my proofs are contrary to the authority of certain men held in great reverence by their inexperienced judgements, not considering that my works are the issue of simple and plain experience which is the true mistress.”

Ok, so what am I trying to say?

When it comes to marketing and advertising form your own opinions, come to your own conclusions don’t follow popular opinion or traditional wisdom.

In marketing and advertising the grassy road less travelled is your best choice for success.

Download 2505_the_advertising_road_less_travelled.pdf

© Copyright 2005 Wizard Academy® – All Rights Reserved
Reprints are happily granted IF each page is duplicated in its entirety, including headers and footers.

Filed Under: Advertising, Craig Arthur