I've recently read a short story called Obvious Adams by Robert R.Updegraff. It is a story about advertising, and I recommend itto everyone to read. One thing that I took away from this tale wasthat the most important point of advertising was not to have theprettiest ads, or the best tag line, but rather to have an ad that works.If an ugly ad works better than a pretty one, use it. If a tag linethat doesn't “flow” gets more responses than one that rhymes androlls perfectly off your tongue, who cares? Use the one that works.
I've just started watching the series “Mad Men”. It's about anadvertising agency in the 60s. So far, it is a really great show. Ihave seen exactly one episode. The Pilot episode. In it, the 'ad guy'is trying to come up with a campaign to sell cigarettes when the newshas just caught on to the “cigarettes cause cancer” idea. Majorpanic in the cigarette industry. So what does the ad agency do? Focuson something else. Find something else that works. Change. Adapt.
(I am not in favor of selling or advertising anything that is hazardousto your health, please don't get me wrong.)
Remember the movie WhatWomen Want?Mel Gibson's character, a very successful ad guy who just happens tobe somewhat of a “ladies man” suddenly gets a female boss. Yikes.About the same time, he electrocutes himself and begins to hear thethoughts of women. Huge yikes! A new client wants to run a campaignaimed at women. He quickly comes to realize that his previous notionsof what women want are sadly mistaken. So what does he do? Startslistening to what they are really thinking. Admittedly, he doesn'thave much of a choice, but in his favor he finally begins to actually payattention.
There are lessons to be learned in all aspects of our daily life. I haveused very obvious examples. All three pieces have caused me tore-evaluate my marketing and advertising efforts. One of thecopywriters I follow sends daily emails with mini-tips aboutcopywriting. He gets most of his material and ideas from his dailylife. He talks about movies, books, shops he visits, trips he goeson. They all have valuable lessons if you look for them.
If you had to share a valuable lesson about sales, marketing,advertising, or running a business based on something you experiencedwithin the last week, what would that lesson be?
Please share your ideas; this is a great way to get the creative juicesflowing and start thinking outside the box! If you want to make sure2010 is a powerful year, this is a phenomenal way to make your mark.
Replies
I just returned from the LA Go Green Expo and it was awesome!!!!!! far better experience than the Pool Expo and much better results. Im making plans to exhibit at the New York City Go and Atlantic Go Green Expo. If you want information I highly recommend exhibiting there.
I read Ben Settle's daily emails. I have also bought some of his copywriting products, and I think he is a very quick thinker. If you are interested, you can find his stuff at BenSettle.com. I recommend him highly.
I do follow a few others, as well: PerryMarshall.com (google adwords), MikeFilsaime.com (Internet Marketing), Darren Rowse (problogger.net), and Kim Duke (salesdivas.com), are among my favorites.
I would be very interested to hear your favorites, too!
Take care, and enjoy the reading!
Monique
Brett Abbott said:
Can you imagine that? Competitors allowing advertising in their establishments? Would you ever do that? Probably not. But...
The restaurant is the type of place that gets most of its business at dinner (I don't even know if they are open for lunch) and a substantial amount of their profit comes from liquor sales. They have a pub type environment.
The Bistro offering wine classes was in a completely different area of town and they are a smaller, bistro type dining establishment, if you can believe that from the title. Additionally, they have a loyal lunch crowd.
What I am getting at is that they weren't direct competitors. They are in the same industry, but are not competing head to head with each other. So, in this case the advertisement was placed in a perfect location. The bistro catches the eye of all sorts of people who, without too much of a stretch of their imagination, probably like to drink. The restaurant encourages their customer base to learn more about the beverages they serve. Regulars aren't going to stop going to the restaurant, they will probably just end up drinking more expensive drinks when they go, and the Bistro taps into a new client base.
GREAT LESSON! How can you apply this to your business?