I’ve heard marketers talk about how they’re going to “spin” a campaign. There’s a problem with that line of thinking. It’s short-term and ineffective. Spinning a campaign is NOT likely going to change a company’s brand in any significant way. Here’s Laura Reis’ riff on a recent WalMart attempt at doing just that. A brand, you see, (using Michael Eisner’s words) is “enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures.”

It’s like a pack of wild dogs pulling a sled. If they’re all going in different directions, you’ll get nowhere fast … and adding another dog (with a strong spin) won’t change things. If you get all the dogs pointing in the wrong direction, again, adding another dog won’t likely change the situation. The only way to steer brand is to put in the time, energy and PLANNING to get the dogs to run in the direction you want. The problem with both brands and dogs is they’re both kinda fickle and unpredictable.

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In our freebie marketing report Go Nuts in 2007 we talk about taking your brand and marketing to a whole new level (assuming you want your business to do better in 2007 than it did in 2006). A more fundamental question crossed my mind this past weekend while waiting for a plane at LaGuardia. The question is not “do you WANT to do better in 2007?” … more to the point, it’s “are you mentally READY to do better in 2007?” Some business owners want to do better simply to make more money (nothing wrong with that), however, this is without consideration to what state of mind will best allow them to get there.

Here’s what happened at the airport: We were delayed due to weather and were stranded for over four hours. My friend pulled out a Soduko puzzle to while away the time. I commented that I had tried them and didn’t really find them enjoyable. He insisted that I try another one but gave me a difficult one. I was immediately stumped and had to be walked through some of the more advanced logic. OK, I got hooked. With extra time, we started talking about these types of mental exercises and had a lengthy discussion of how they change your overall outlook AND mental health.

Shankar Vedantam writes in the Washington Post that a new study conducted by JAMA, again, supports the long standing knowledge that exercising your brain decreases the likelihood that you’ll suffer from brain capacity decline such as Alzheimers. Good news, indeed!

In an unrelated blog post, Seth Godin made a casual observation of the behavior of several people and made the comment that “Adults are the new kids“. In one case, he observed a fifty year old man doing card tricks for a store clerk. My suspicion is that this gentleman has a much more youthful outlook on life, has a lower stress level and will live longer than the average CEO.

The point? To be at the top of your business game, be sure to exercise. Not just your body, but your mind AND your attitude! PICK A CARD!

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Advertising Lab points us to a press release from London based BunnyFoot … a renowned eye-tracking analysis firm. Apparently, they’re able to demonstrate that advertisements placed inside video games don’t perform as well as expected. In the first example photo, it’s conclusive that teenage boys prefer to look at Lara Croft’s butt rather than ad placements. DUH!

Don’t get me wrong, I think that there’s HUGE value in this type of study. I would even go so far as to say I’d be interested in purchasing the Tobii Eyetracking System to perform this type of analysis in-house. That being said, however, I think it should also be noted that good decision making doesn’t need to be this complex.

It’s ALL about focus. Consider your target audience’s focus on their needs … even superficial needs. When they’re at work, they need to write emails and create reports and make widgets. They don’t need to look at banner ads in an email message or on a web page. When they need to watch a television show (this is one of those superficial ones), they don’t need to hear an Australian guy pitch a car wax. When they do need to buy a car wax, they’re focused on that ONE specific task and need little else, in that moment.

Viral marketing, permission marketing, social networking, blogging, forums, etc. are all exploding right now. Why? Because these, for the most part, aren’t interuptive advertising. The consumer is allowed to focus on a buying decision in a way that gives them more control. The product or service isn’t unexpectedly thrown in their face. These new non-intrusive venues are focused not on the product itself as much as they focus on the consumer … and their needs.

Am I suggesting that companies abandon all advertising? Heck no. Just dont’ expect the same return on investment as some of these other, less “traditional” strategies. More to the point; regardless of the medium you choose for your advertising, focus the message on consumer need and emotion, NOT on your product or service.

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As little as a decade ago it was commonly believed that brand strategy development was for the “big players” … the multi-gajillion dollar behemoth companies that ruled the hearts and minds of television viewers. Over time, the process has slowly trickled down to the smallest component of our culture …€” the individual.

BUT, what about going in the other direction? How BIG can a branding project get? Read this news story if you’re interested in taking on the task of re-branding Israel (yes, the country).

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Making the simple complex is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, THAT’S creativity.

…€” Charles Mingus

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Name Game #12
I have to admit, this one’s “borrowed” from Word Wizard Lani Voivod over at Epiphanies, Inc. I told her that I’d give her credit the first ten times I use it, but it’s MY idea after that!

You’re working on a name and you’re hip deep in sample phrases … related words, snippets, jargon, ideas … the works. First, separately list all of the adjectives (come up with more if needed) and then separately list all of the nouns. Start mixing and matching them to see what happens. These unique combinations will help you to cite and incite your most exciting insights (that’s more word-smithing from Lani). Mash those two word combos ’til you find something great.

Example; Lani needed to name a new local writing group/club a while back. She started the naming process and ended up using this excellent strategy to come up with “The Wild Quills.” What a powerful name … Bravo!

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Spending time immersed in the world of brand and creative design, one tends to get picky when it comes to visual presentation. If you’re in any business and have found yourself creating a PowerPoint slide with 10 (or more) bullets, all text, in 12 point font you need to check out these resources more than anyone else:

• Seth Godin redirects us to A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods. If you’re not familiar with the enormous number of different directions visual presentation can take, this is a MUST see chart. Comprehensive, inspiring and itself very creative.
• Garr Reynolds wound up the Presentation Zen 2006 calendar year with a list of recommendations including Say It With Charts.
• And finally, one of my all time favorites; Guy Kawasaki’s masterpiece “rule” of presentation creation called the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint.

Understand that a large, double-digit percent of the population learns visually. They not only want to experience your presentation visually, they need to see it that way. That, and sometimes, the data is simply better presented in a visual format.

Next time, break out the Crayolas and take your presentations up a notch.

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