Category Archives: Original Content

Rearranging Neurons

Neuron It’s a real thrill watching 76 people re-arrange their neurons. They were under the misguided impression that they were attending another "advertising seminar." I could tell as they filed in that they were guarding pre-conceived notions about copy and schedules mapped into their neural network by years of media reps dripping slow commerce poison into their brains.

The real show is only visible from the platform. Watching the "aha" moments as those preconceived notions get zapped by some Wizard mojo and the neurons reconnect in their proper places. It was a mass chiropractic adjustment of the brain.

The procedure went extremely well. The prognosis is much improved.

Big thanks to Jay and Eileen Austin at Coyote Country 105.3 in McCook for setting up the "seminar". It was a first class affair. Everyone got a free lunch, a personal copy of Craig Arthur’s "Making Ads Work" along with a binder of other useful information, and of course 6 hours of the best material the Wizards have to offer.

We had clergy, teachers, bankers, poets, geeks, and all manner of business owners in the room. It was a perfect audience, a perfect setup and a perfect day. I’ve never experienced a smoother and more professional sound setup. Thank you Jesse and Derek!

Two Big Levers

In the Advertising Performance Equation, there are two giant factors that will make the difference between a poor-to-middlin’ ad campaign and a campaign that will amaze you with its effectiveness.

Unfortunately, you cannot neccesarily count on your advertising reps or your agency for either of these.

First, is the Personal Experience Factor. Others call it the delight factor, or the wow factor or the f’in amazing things you do for your customers. In short, if the ACTUAL customer experience exceeds the expectation created by the campaign, you can likely expect repeat business and referrals. HOWEVER, if the experience delivered by you and your staff fall short of expectations, expect us to tune out your subsequent advertising and tell everyone we know that you’re "not all that."

Second, once you get your customer experience tuned up, the Impact Quotient of your message is what will cause us to perk up and pay attention. I’m not talking about the kind of schtick usually spouted by the average car dealer. You can yell to get my attention, but once I figure out it’s an ad (and a poorly written and executed ad at that) my B.S. filter kicks in and you never even get to whisper to my pre-frontal cortex where buying decisions are made. It’s not as simple as just getting my attention. You must keep it. Ah, now that’s the hard part.

If you can wrap your arms around both of these principles, your advertising will exceed your expectations. If you ignore one or the other (or both) the only way to compensate is to spend more money. Lots more. And be prepared to keep spending more, because over time your campaign will diminish in effectiveness as more consumers tune out your ads or figure out your poor experience.

Are persistent sales events symptomatic of corporate greed?

My Wizard of Ads (WOA) Partners and I have a presentation that shows with amazing clarity the profitability of “relational” customers versus “transactional” shoppers. Most retailers believe that traffic is the magic. “Get me enough people and I’ll be fine,” they tell their ad reps.

So then, are SALE events simply traffic-builders? I don’t think so, but I’d sure welcome your opinion as well.

You see, it starts with a focus on profits, not customers. Shareholders scream to the board and CEO that profits shall be forthcoming. The CEO starts screaming down the chain because his bonus is dependent upon the actions of everyone else. The VPs and directors of the different marketing channels scream at the buyers. The buyers scream on down the line until it reaches the sales staff on the retail floor and the operators on the phone banks. Suddenly, there’s no one left to scream at…except the customer. Call in the ad agency…better yet, let’s go direct to the media. “We need screaming SALE ADS! Let’s create some traffic!”

Ah, now we’re talking! TRAFFIC. Lots of folks start coming in because you’ve just told them how willing you are to stab your best customers in the back to cover the greed of those screaming lunatics in the glass towers.

The buyers bought too much because of the screaming. The sales staff didn’t sell enough because all the best showroom space was taken up by the discounted stuff. The loyal relational customer comes in and finds that the merchandise she paid top dollar for last month is now 65% off. She’s fuming. Next time, she’ll wait for the sale.

If the motivation of the company is greed, the result will be persistent sales events.

If a genuine interest in helping the customer is the motivation of the company, there will be no giant sales events (with the possible exception of an annual inventory reduction event to actually get rid of the honest mistakes of the buyers).

The focus will be on enriching the customer experience in all marketing channels and through every contact with the company. Profits will surely follow in the trail of happy customers.

What do you think?