by Joyce Turner-Gionet | Jul 29, 2015 | Advertising, Business Success, Communications, Latest, Marketing
Addicted to making lists? You’re not alone. We all (well, most of us) love lists. We don’t just make them because we’re busy, or because our memory’s occasionally letting us down. We’ve been ‘listing’ from the beginning.
As kids it was: “Who’s coming to my birthday party,” and we’d get busy making a list. We made impulsive mental lists — deciding we’d eat the icing flower on top of the cupcake first, then lick the icing, then eat the rest (that was the order in which I did it, my little brother did it differently). Back in the day, we had a ‘Pet the Snake’ club on the bank of a river. We’d catch a garter snake and then list names in chalk on the wall under the bridge of those who were brave enough to pet it. You were in the club if you were brave enough. Life was simple. Lists were simple.
Many of us are compulsive list makers
As adults, many of us are compulsive list makers. We don’t always write our lists down, we compose them in our head. Waking up in the morning, we think about what we are going do today: that’s a list. When we mull over solutions to a problem, we’re ‘listing’.
We regularly ‘list’ at work. Marketing couldn’t exist without lists: leads, accounts, and contacts, even a list of marketing strategies in order to settle on the best. Advertising is no different: a client brief is a list, things the client wants us to accomplish with the advertising. Advertising campaigns require all types of lists: new product names, story options, headline options, tag line options, graphic options, the list is endless. As a copywriter, my job regularly involves creating a list of product features with its corresponding list of benefits.
Outside of work, we make things-to-do lists, friends-to-call lists, books-to-read lists, grocery lists, wish lists and bucket lists. Our New Year’s resolutions are lists. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#3HListAddict”]Try going a day without listing.[/inlinetweet] Apps for list making can take it to the absurd. I recently saw a link to “5 free apps for making better to-do lists.” The link’s title got me. How do you make a better to-do list? Instead of I need to buy cucumbers, oranges and milk, should it read 3 ripe cucumbers, 2 juicy oranges and a pint of fresh milk? I’m kidding, but then again, how much instruction do we need to make a list? Lists, by nature, are meant to simplify our lives; they have a simple purpose.
Why we make lists
Psychologists say we make lists:
- So we don’t forget
- To help us feel in control
- To gain focus by prioritizing
- To prevent procrastinating
- To feel good when we cross something off the list.
Yes, I know, I just made fun of an app for making a “better” list, but Sir Richard Branson, entrepreneur and obsessive list maker, published a listicle recently. Its focus was business, but it’s apt personally too: Top Ten Tips for making lists. I particularly liked #10: Celebrate your successes, and then make new lists of new goals.
Celebrate! Crossing off a task done is worthy of celebration
When we cross everything off a list, we should take a moment to celebrate. Mostly, we don’t. We just make a new list and start the process all over again. But that ‘Wow, look what I did’ moment, the one that comes when we’ve accomplished everything on the to-do list, deserves celebrating. Isn’t that why we made the list in the first place, to feel good about crossing things off, getting things done?
A final thought. A little tongue-in-cheek, perhaps, but my favourite comment on list making was by writer Umberto Eco in an interview with Der Spiegel. He said: “We make lists because we don’t want to die.” What do you think he meant by this?
Last week, we published a blog that focussed on the new term ‘listicles’ and whether they have a place in advertising. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#3HListAddict”]Listicles and our ongoing attraction to them could be an extension of our inherent need to simplify, organize and get things done.[/inlinetweet] Let us know some of the reasons you write lists. What has been your most bizarre? #3HListAddict
by Joyce Turner-Gionet | Jul 17, 2015 | Business Success, Latest, Management
Your company’s struggling financially and you’re going to have to lay off staff. How you do it is important. In Canada, there are labour laws (Canada Labour Code) that employers must follow during a layoff. This blog isn’t about laws, it’s about love.
In most layoffs, if we’re honest, a little deadwood leaves; employees who perennially didn’t pull their weight despite being coached and encouraged, perhaps even warned, multiple times. But we lose valuable assets too, people who practice business love. These are smart, capable, motivated employees who cheerfully showed up each day willing to go that extra mile to get a job done. I’ll call them business lovers.
“It’s never a good moment, but it’s a better moment when done with love”
6,500 Canadians lost their jobs last month, according to Stats Canada. When I read that stat in the paper, I thought about the 6,500 conversations it involved. How many of those termination conversations were politely informal, cold and loveless? It got me thinking about the way people are laid off. I thought about talks I’d had with friends recently. Over the past year, a few of them, all business lovers, have been laid off. All were long-time employees, all valuable contributing team players at different companies. Each of them had a slightly different experience. I thought of my own experience. The #1 takeaway from my conversations: “It’s never a good moment, but it’s a better moment when done with love.” It’s better at the time and strange as it seems, better when that ex-employee looks back and there was a compassionate, human face on the experience.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#DoitwithLove #ExceedBeyond”]In our society, jobs still define us. We are what we do.[/inlinetweet]
What’s the number one question people ask each other at dinners or parties when they meet for the first time: “What do you do?” When you take the ‘what I do’ away from someone, especially when it comes out of the blue, it’s a shocking experience for them. They think (although in the moment it’s probably never framed quite so coherently): “[sinking feeling in stomach] that’s what I did [panic], what do I do now [more panic]?” Dismissal from work ranks high on the famous Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, a report from the late 1960s, still valid today, which studied the top 43 most stressful life events that can contribute to illness.
Business owners, managers, HR: If it’s part of your job description to hire, fire and also lay off in troubled times, you need to own it. If you haven’t had any formal training in letting people go, try to get some. It can be emotional on both sides; yours and the employee you have to let go. Wear your big girl or big boy pants and take the time, be respectful, show the love. Sure, it can get a little tricky, but it’s a lot trickier for the employee whose entire life changes dramatically in the 15 seconds it takes you to say: “We have to lay you off.”
Understand the impact you’re going to have on a person’s life in those few seconds. In planning for the layoff, while preparing documentation, take a moment to ask yourself: “If I were to be laid off, how would I want it to be done?” Think about the tone of the conversation you will have. Here’s my take:
- Make sure the location you choose is a place where the conversation cannot be overheard, a place that also allows that person freedom of emotion. It’s an emotional time.
- Don’t simply show up at an employee’s desk with the proverbial pink slip, HR package and a rehearsed HR spiel. Make your words heartfelt and personal.
- Especially in the case of a business lover, that person did nothing wrong, they’re a victim of financial circumstances. Focus on that. Tell them they were valued and appreciated. Emphasize and reiterate.
- Expect anger or grief, or even a complete absence of both, everyone’s emotional makeup is different.
- Don’t get try to get the conversation over as quickly as possible.
- Give them a chance to speak, an opportunity to let out emotions and ask questions about anything they want to ask.
- Let them know they can contact you if there’s something they’ve forgotten to ask.
- Follow up! If you’ve promised a reference letter or the services of a placement firm to help them transition to a new job or learn a new skill set, provide the letter and the firm’s contact information the same day. If you can’t do it the same day, do it in the week immediately following. Don’t wait for the ex-employee to be forced to follow-up with you.
- Give them an opportunity to say goodbye to their colleagues, if they wish. Many people never go back to their place of employment after a layoff, so this allows for a little closure. The hugs, handshakes and the “I can’t believe this is happening and I’m really going to miss you” comments from colleagues (and yes, even the tears) are surprisingly comforting to many people who have just been laid off.
- Speak to the people who are still there. There’s nothing like losing your colleague in a layoff to start the rumour mill: Am I gonna be next?
And finally … DON’T show the cheese video!
Who Moved My Cheese? is an allegorical video about reinventing yourself. It’s often shown to employees who are going to be laid off. Two little mice — Sniff and Scurry — and two tiny humans — Hem and Haw — live in a maze. For years, they’ve relied on a seemingly never-ending pile of cheese. The pile dwindles, until one day it’s gone. The characters’ names give you a good idea of what they do next … it’s time for all four to get motivated and find a new cheese pile. If you’re going to show that cheesy video, make sure you explain why you’re showing it, otherwise you cause panic in the minds of the watchers. You provoke tense conversations later around the water cooler or in the kitchen or during after-hours phone calls, texts and emails between employees: “What is the company saying to us?” “What do you think that movie meant?” “Are we going to lose our jobs?” “Do they see us as mice?
Who moved my Cheese? The Movie by Dr. Spencer Johnson
Yes, it is a lousy job laying someone of; nobody wants to do it, but somebody’s gotta do it. If you’re the one who draws the short straw by virtue of your position, make sure you do it right. [inlinetweet prefix=”Food for thought” tweeter=”” suffix=”#DoitwithLove #ExceedBeyond”]Forced to lay off employees: do it with love.[/inlinetweet]
Been laid off? Was it done with love, let me know? [inlinetweet prefix=”We love lists” tweeter=”” suffix=”#DoitwithLove #ListChallenge #ExceedBeyond”]Have additional ideas for the ‘How to do it with love’ list?[/inlinetweet] Send them to me. #DoitwithLove
A unique approach to laying people off:
Is it possible to lay people off nicely. One company’s quest to blend rejection and kindness
by Joyce Turner-Gionet | Jun 30, 2015 | Advertising, Branding, Creative, Latest
It depends.
If the celebrity fits the brand and the spot acts as a springboard to elevate and personify the brand, then it’s good creative. Last year, Matthew McConaughey was in the driver’s seat for the new Lincoln Motor’s (luxury division of Ford Motor Company) MKC. According to ET Canada, sales for Lincoln shot up 25%, to their highest level in seven years. In this case, the campaign ads inadvertently also inspired a celebrity bonanza with Ellen Degeneres, Conan O’Brien and Canada’s Jim Carrey revvin’ their comedy engines to parody the commercials. A link to one of the MKC commercials is below and for those who haven’t seen it, just for giggles, I’ve included a link to Ellen’s parody. The parodies ended up driving the outcome, so the MKC ad spots got even more attention than they otherwise might have, thanks to … celebrity coverage.
There’s considerable financial investment attached to celebrity endorsement. The cost of the celebrity as a brand ambassador has to be weighed against ultimate traction for the brand, particularly for small companies with shallow pockets. So much about building brand and brand awareness is about breaking through the clutter. Yes, the right celebrity can cut through clutter like a warm knife through butter, but that warm knife also slices off a major part of your advertising budget. Don’t forget frequency of the message. In any company, large or small, there are only so many advertising dollars to go around. For the strongest traction, dollars need to be used on a message that’s seen frequently and for best results, spread across more than one medium.
Celebrity Endorsements: There is risk involved.
There’s the danger of the celebrity overriding the brand. What’s actually being sold? The celebrity or the brand? It pays to be careful.
There’s also credibility. Today’s consumers demand truth, which goes back to my first point: a celebrity must fit the brand. If something smells fishy, someone will Tweet the stink and quickly. Consumers are savvy enough to know that any celebrity is in it partly for the money. But it’s a fine line; if the celebrity is perceived as just in it for the money then brand suffers. There’s got to be authenticity; like Cher modeling Marc Jacobs’ stuff this month. Can you think of anyone who could better carry off this Marc Jacob’s dress? Talk about brand revitalizing for Cher too! Makes me want to go back and revisit her ‘Dark Lady’ lyrics, “The fortune queen from New Orleans …” (Yes, Cher really is almost 70!) In this case, endorsement is mutually beneficial, working for Jacobs and for Cher.
[inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”#CelebrityEndorsements”]Celebrities can energize a brand or re-energize one.[/inlinetweet] They can change consumer perception of a brand, even old and dusty ones. Remember Proctor and Gamble’s ‘new’ Old Spice Man, ex-football player Issaiah Mustafa. ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”. It spoke to men and to women, the ones that typically buy after-shave or cologne for “their men.” The spot helped reenergize a brand that was, at that point, as old as Cher on her next birthday. Done by Wieden and Kennedy out of Portland Oregon, with more than 65 million views on YouTube, it’s still one of the most successful ad campaigns, ever.
There is a downside, of course: If a celebrity puts a foot wrong, or the ad campaign hits a nerve. Think Tiger’s troubles (even shareholders of his sponsor companies lost billions!). Think Rob Lowe’s recent spots for DirecTV which ticked off a rival cable company enough to lodge a formal complaint and one particular spot that incensed the International Paruresis Association (also called shy bladder disease, a surprisingly common social phobia in which people who have trouble doing their business with other people around). The ads were cancelled.
[inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”#CelebrityEndorsements”]Done well, celebrity endorsements can be a big boost for brand.[/inlinetweet] Gone wrong, they’re a PR nightmare. But at the end of the day, a celebrity is still an actor and no celebrity endorsement goes far without good creative backing it. Just make sure your ad budget can support the star light.
View the Celebrity Endorsements:
[dt_sc_one_third_inner first][youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoGGDKV88Fg][/dt_sc_one_third_inner]
[dt_sc_one_third_inner ][youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K69chHMtrs4][/dt_sc_one_third_inner]
[dt_sc_one_third_inner ][youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE][/dt_sc_one_third_inner]
by Joyce Turner-Gionet | Jun 24, 2015 | Advertising, Communications, Creative, Latest
25+ years ago, copywriting jobs were few and far between. Most people had no clue what a copywriter did. Things have changed. With SEO, Social Media, tweeting and blogging, the opportunities for a career in copywriting have exploded. Mad Men made it sexy. Today, it’s often referred to as content creation. A company out to hire is looking for a ‘Content Creator’. One aspect of content creation that, in my eyes, is not given its due is catalog copywriting.
In Canada, think IKEA, Lee Valley or the Regal catalog. In the U.S., there’s L.L. Bean, J.C. Penney, Hammacher Schlemmer and Orvis (an icon of catalog shopping for almost 160 years). If you think about it, Mail Order (Direct Mail) catalogs were actually a precursor to Internet shopping? You couldn’t buy something locally, so you ordered it from a catalog and had it shipped. It could be argued that every online shopping experience, including Kijiji and ebay, is fundamentally catalog shopping.
Even in this age of technology, people love catalogues. They’re also brand loyal. I browse the IKEA catalog in print and from my phone. My 20-something daughters browse American Apparel’s catalogue online. At one company I worked for, which shall remain unnamed, we often got letters from prison inmates: “We love your catalogs, when’s your new one coming out? Can you send it so we can pass it around.” Granted, maybe we weren’t making any money off those folks at the time, but it makes the point.
When I started in the business, you either worked for an ad agency or you wrote catalog copy for a large retailer. Fresh out of university with an English degree (are you sure you can make money with that degree? my pragmatic father asked), I saw exactly one copywriting job advertised. It was writing catalog copy for Consumers Distributing. I was all over it! I must have rewritten my resumé ten times, even though my experience was slim pickins. Somehow, I got an interview. A scary, no-nonsense woman in an expensive navy blue power suit with a hair bun and imposing tortoise shell glasses interviewed me. Don Draper, she wasn’t. (But what a marvelous mentor she turned out to be!) “We’re looking for a workhorse. Tight deadlines. Lots of overtime. [inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”#CatalogCopywriting”]You need to make the products sound sexy in 30 words or less[/inlinetweet]. Can you make a coffee pot sound sexy?” she peered at me over the glasses.” I’d missed my bus, walked two miles in my cheap new ‘interview’ pumps and my feet were killing me. Desperate for a job and to prove to my dad that I could make money with my degree, I said something like: “Oh, absolutely. I can write anything!” (Wondering if I actually could make a coffee pot sound sexy and what my dad would think of me making it sound sexy?) I got the job — enthusiasm, not experience, won the day
As Thomas Jefferson, put it, “the most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”[inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”#CatalogCopywriting”] If catalog copywriting teaches you anything, it teaches you to be stingy with words[/inlinetweet]. It’s the boot camp of copywriting. Short, powerful, precise prose. It gets thoughts in shape, tones down wordiness, keeps the message lean. Forget ego, there’s no room. Snappy headlines and a photo generate interest, bold lead-ins draw the reader in and feature/benefit copy closes the sale. Personally, I think every fledgling copywriter should be required to put in an obligatory six months writing nothing but catalog copy. It forces one to be disciplined.
I have the greatest respect for catalog copywriters. [inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”#CatalogCopywriting”]A good one can take the writing to an art form.[/inlinetweet]
Seen a great piece of catalog copywriting? Send me a link.
