Image IS everything

By: > August 15th, 2008

A New York Times blogger (Errol Morris) just wrote an interesting article on images and the power they have. In his article/blog he interviews Hany Farid, a Dartmouth professor who is an expert on digital photography and said this about the Iranian missile photo (without Godzilla) published almost everywhere on July 10th.

“Oh look, this picture? It’s a fake. This picture? It’s a fake.” But you know what people remember? They don’t remember, “It’s a fake.” They remember the picture. And there are psychology studies, when you tell people that information is incorrect, they forget that it is incorrect. They only remember the misinformation. They forget the tag associated with it.

I remember when my youngest son was a few months over 2. He didn’t even know his alphabet yet, but he knew when he saw a McDonald’s logo. He even would watch American Idol with us and while driving through Atlanta one time we passed a Ford production plant and he screamed: “Hey Mommy and Daddy, American Idol!” It took us a minute to figure out what he was talking about, but after was saw him pointing to the Ford logo, we realized he associated Ford with American Idol.

Now if we all had the advertising budgets of Ford and McDonald’s we might not have a problem. One of my favorite marketing authors is Harry Beckwith and in his book Selling the Invisible, he articulates how smaller business or even independent professionals can take advantage of this same principle:

Prospects do not buy how good you are at what you do. They buy how good you are at who you are. People deal with you because the feel comfortable with you. Convey that you are “positively good.” It is better to say too little than too much. Watch what you show – lobby, clothes, business card, etc. Make sure people see who you are. Make the invisible visible. There is no correlation between the orangeness of an orange and its flavour. Growers pick oranges when they are green. They never get any riper or juicier. The oranges are coloured artificially. Seeing is believing, so check your peel. 

Have you checked your peel? If not, redo your web site, get a new brochure or maybe update your logo. Your image communicates a lot more than you think.

Does your service have credibility?

By: > August 18th, 2008

Marketing author Tom Peters once said: “Coffee stains on airline seat trays make you wonder about airplane engine maintenance.”

Everything your customer experiences, directly and indirectly, affects the way you are perceived.

You spend thousands of dollars on buying the right advertising, noodling over every single detail of copy and artwork, but if your employees take their smoke break right outside your front door where customers can see them, doesn’t that say more than any ad copy?

Are your companies delivery trucks clean? Is the person who answers your phones courteous and friendly? If your ads promise a great experience or great service, every part of your company needs to sell that idea, not just the commissioned staff.

Small businesses often have many disadvantages going against larger ones, but one advantage a small business has is the ability to control these “minor’ details more effectively. Make sure your customers expectations are met with EVERY experience they have with your company. Your brand, is your promise to your customers. Give your company’s brand credibility–in everything you do.

(Special thanks to Tom Fishburne for letting me use his cartoon).

Office Space

By: > March 5th, 2009

Guaranteed space for your red Swingline stapler.

Advertising & graphic design agency, Serif Group, has office space available. The office is located on the second floor of 207 East Reynolds Road, Suite 210—between Nicholasville Road and Lansdowne Drive.

Amenities include: conference room, contemporary décor, utilities included, convenient location, a spacious, free parking lot, lots of sunlight, kitchen area, and a private office space. See photos on our Facebook page.

It would be an ideal location for an independent professional looking to move out of their home. Rent is affordable and includes utilities. For more information, contact Jackie or call 859-271-0701.

“Eye-catching” spot got us to stop the fast forward

By: > February 23rd, 2009

I’m amazed at how my TV-viewing habits have changed over the years. Our first TiVo box opened up new life for us in a way that was more fulfilling than our current cable provider-issued DVR box, but that’s another story. We can now watch Survivor in 40 minutes instead of 1 hour. The Office in just over 20 minutes instead of 30. That’s a lot of extra minutes gained for housework, reading, or more realistically, surfing the web.

But what does this say about people who are supposed to watch TV for the commercials? We’re advertising agency owners, ferpetesake! However, the other night we spotted a commercial that was actually worth stopping for: the new H&R Block “Second Look” spot. The guy with one eye was too “eye-catching” to pass up.

Upon devoting 30 seconds of our lives to it, Bill and I agreed that it was great. Just what is needed these days to cut through the clutter of TV advertising. It’s not enough to sound intriguing, you must have intriguing visuals to get viewers to stop fast-forwarding.

What do you think about that spot? Disgusted like these folks? Or did it get your attention, too?

Tiger, youtube and other misc. tidbits

By: > August 25th, 2008 > One comment

Tiger Woods responds to Fan’s video on youtube.

If there was ever a way to get your message out there efficiently and cost-effectively, viral is the way to go. the folks at EA Sports knew this and either contrived this whole experiment or were on their toes to respond the way they did.

Here are some other interesting links: