Have you ever asked yourself that question? I did. In fact, many years ago I spent countless hours trying to figure it out.
The answer turned out to be quite simple: word of mouth marketing. Or as I call it: the art of cultivating recommendations.
Surprised? Probably not. With recommendations, there is no sales pressure and no credibility issues. When your friends, family members or trusted co-workers recommend something or someone to you, they are genuinely trying to help you. That means a lot, which is why you usually remember it for a long time. But here is the catch: recommendations must be earned. How do you do that? Where do you start? How do you give people a reason to talk about your products/services? How do you nudge your story into every day conversations? I launched sneezr.ca to help you answer those questions.
In his timeless book titled Design as Art, Bruno Munari notes that a “Designer is a planner with an aesthetic sense.”
Case in point: Ettore Sottsass. Here’s what he said about the Valentine—the famous typewriter he designed: “The Valentine was designed to keep lonely poets company on weekends in the country.
My 2¢:
You can probably call yourself a designer if you can finish this sentence in the Ettore Sottsass‘ manner: ‘My widget’ is designed to …….
Caspar David Friedrich – The dreamer
My 2¢: All those who eventually become successful first do a fair bit of dreaming. It’s easy to forget that.
Sometimes a remarkable opportunity arrives with no story.
But for the most part in life, all great things start with a story.
Case in point: Mi6. Yes, you read it right—Britain’s famed Mi6 (aka Secret Intelligence Service).
Just recently, it did something very unique: it placed a want ad in the newspaper.
(Click here or on the image to enlarge it.)
Suggestion #1:
Be like Mi6—Know your target audience.
Communicate with those who volunteer their attention.
As Kris Kristofferson sang in his To Beat the Devil:
“If you waste your time a-talkin’ to the people who don’t listen,
“To the things that you are sayin’, who do you think’s gonna hear?”
Suggestion #2:
Have a niche. Taste Younique.
Why? Without a niche, you spend all your time pursuing clients, while there’s little or nothing that brings them to you.
Suggestion #3:
Did you notice how the above Mi6 ad was copy ‘heavy’?
Why was copywriting one of the most essential ingredients of this marketing project?
The answer is simple: The dominant activity in today’s digitally powered world is reading. (Offline, online… what line?)
One of my passions is copywriting.
Copywriting sits at the intersection where business meets real people.
Copywriting is not a flashy tactic.
Copywriting is about articulating and sharing a purpose compellingly.
Copywriting is a commitment—a commitment to engage with people in a manner that they will value, and yes, perhaps even enjoy.
Copywriting isn’t about writing.
Copywriting is about selling.
Effective copywriting shifts your messages away from what you want to say toward what people want to hear, and it can be a magical thing. It can take your organization from ordinary to legendary.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. Just ask Mi6.
Just because something is legible doesn’t mean it communicates.
—David Carson
The above is one of my favourite observations by the American graphic designer David Carson. I was thinking about it a few days ago as I was sitting as a judge on a panel for a Marketing Case Competition hosted by the Marketing Students’ Society at the Edwards School of Business.
The whole event was fun and I truly appreciated the opportunity to provide some feedback to the emerging marketing stars. What troubled me, however, was the fact that most presentations were far too ‘busy’. For example, almost every slide featured contained 100+ words (or it felt like that, at least).
My 2¢:
As David Carson said, “just because something is legible doesn’t mean it communicates.”
It’s easy to forget that.
Feb 15, 2012
Rationality is a fetish of the twentieth century; we are not allowed by our culture to admit true irrationality as an explanation of our behaviour. Yet the majority of religious and political systems, as well as such aspects of human behaviour as loyalty, love, and affection, are all irrational.
_ _ _
That’s not me taking. That’s Ernest Dichter talking in his remarkable book The Strategy of Desire.
Case in point: Red Bull, the maker of a so called energy drink.
The question is, what can we learn from Red Bull?
What’s rational about buying a can of Red Bull?
In one breath, the company says “Red Bull gives you wings.”
And in the second one it says that it does not.
You guessed it: there’s no rational reason for buying a can of Red Bull.
So then what does Red Bull really sell? Here’s a couple of suggestions:
a. Minimally, Red Bull = a novelty beverage;
b. Maximally, Red Bull = an unmistakable and instant authentication of the buyer’s personality.
Either way, Red Bull sells a shortcut. You see, as Ernest Dichter suggests in the above book, every person wants to be more than he/she really is. This is why Red Bull positions itself as the drink for the crowd of happening risk-takers, if you will.
My 2¢:
Is your business a short cut?
Why not?
Because shortcuts are:
There when you need them.
Experts in their own little corner of the world.
Happy to help make you successful.
We humans have a common emotional lexicon guiding us through life.
That’s my favourite gem from the Charles Darwin’s book In The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animal.
My 2:
Almost everything can be made interesting.
You just need to present it in a way that emotionally resonates with people.
A few night ago I watched a remarkable documentary on PBS about wolverines—one of the most elusive creatures on earth. I was especially impressed with its attitude, if you will. (More comprehensive image of the wolverine is just beginning to emerge). Here’s a little taste:
If wolverines have a strategy it’s this:
Go hard.
And high.
And steep.
And never back down.
Not even from the biggest grizzly.
And least of all from the mountain.
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My 2¢: Be like the wolverine. Go hard. And high. And steep…
A few days ago, the best-selling author James Lee Burke said something in an interview that caught my attention. Here’s a little taste:
JLB: I used to teach creative writing, and sometimes a student would say, “Hey, Jim, do you think I have talent? Do you you think I should stay with it?” I would avoid answering the question because it was the wrong question.
Interviewer (Lindsey O’Conor): What’s the right question?
JLB: There would be no question. The real writer couldn’t care less if other people think he has talent or not. Every writer knows—a real writer, real artist, knows he has it. He never doubts it.
_ _ _
My 2¢: Keep calm & carry on.
Artwork: Rachel Perry Welty, Lost in My Life (price tags), 2009, pigment print
The above is one of my favourite observations by the late Kurt Vonnegut. I was thinking about it a few days ago as I was reading a copy of the recent interview between Harvard Business Review senior editor Gardiner Morse and former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson. Here’s what Ron said about why many retailing giants are struggling:
So it’s not department stores’ size or location or physical capabilities that are their problem. It’s their lack of imagination—about the products they carry, their store environments, the way they engage customers, how they embrace the digital future.
My 2¢:
You are leading you.
If you are not happy with the status quo just remember that you are whoever you think you are.
It’s easy to forget that.
Sting is an English singer-songwriter.
Prior to starting his solo career, he was the principal songwriter, lead singer and bassist of The Police.
I enjoyed Sting’s music from time to time.
One of my favourite Sting’s songs is The Bed’s Too Big Without You.
But I am getting off the point.
The real question is: Can Sting teach us something about marketing?
My 2¢:
Almost everything can be made interesting. Even heartache. You just need to present it properly.
Kenya’s Maasai tribe has become an icon of a people whose traditions, beliefs and routines have changed little since the dawn of our history. (Some people unfortunately tend to use words such as primitive to describe those kinds of societies.)
But wait, what have you got in common with the Massai? You = a modern, sophisticated, cosmopolitan individual not bound in the least by any archaic beliefs, right? Would you believe me if I said that you are in many ways much like the above Maasai warrior?
But don’t take my word for it. Check out this excerpt from Ernest Dichter’s remarkable book The Strategy of Desire, which suggests that our contemporary behaviour is much less ’modern’ than we often assume:
“Primitive cultures know and use non-verbal forms of human strategy without blushing. We, as logical people, insist on verbal communication, logical appeals. Our true communications, however, are not too far removed from primitive symbolism. Flags, uniforms, the way we build our houses, how we dress, and what we use and buy in every day products are all part of a second language, a language universally spoken, hardly taught. There is much evidence to show that it is the non-verbal, implied communication that is much more often the effective one than the pure logical verbal form of communication.”
_ _ _
Case in point: The American Express Red Campaign ‘My Card, My Life.”
Sure, the American Express Red Campaign ‘My Card, My LIfe’, may have a noble aim; to donate 1% of all Red-card spendings to AIDS elimination in Africa, but why does its print campaign showing Supermodel Gisele posing next to an African Masai Warrior? Is it because American Express knows that our most effective communications are not too far removed from primitive symbolism?
My2¢: For business building ideas that last, study the winners. Study American Express.