by Joyce Turner-Gionet | Aug 19, 2015 | Advertising, Business Success, Communications, Latest, Marketing
Most of us want more: more time, more fun, maybe more money, more apps and upgrades to help us do what we do faster and more efficiently, more stuff to help us minimize chores we hate doing. I believe in ‘more,’ I do. (I want to take more trips!) If something can help me do more in less time, measurably less time, and the time saved allows me to do other things, then it’s all good. If ‘more’ can help me deliver more value to my clients, then obviously, that’s good too. If ‘more’ is going to make me happier, for more than the time it takes for the novelty to wear off, then I’m more-ish! What got me thinking about the value of ‘more’ was a comment this week from my cell phone provider.
Do I need MORE?
“You’re eligible for an iPhone upgrade.” Granted, the upgrade isn’t free. No, I won’t get the latest model, unless I want to pay a LOT more; but I’d get a model that gives me more than the 2013 model I have now. I got excited. I’m an Apple fan from way way back. It was tempting. I’d get a bigger screen with greater pixel density, a more powerful processor, a battery that will last twice as long, a better camera — all good things, all stuff I’d like to have; but that’s not my point. Do I need more? Right now, my phone does what I want it to do, but …
MORE is so tempting…
My MacBook Pro’s getting old. I could do with a lighter, faster, more powerful model; okay, a sweeter one than the one I’ve got.
Apple’s advertising — as always — is smooth, intelligently simple and exciting. For the latest MacBook Pro, it’s particularly appealing: Hey, Joyce, with the new Force Touch trackpad “you don’t just see your content, you feel it.” Hey, Apple! I’m all for “feeling” my content, I’m a writer. The subhead reads: “Press a little deeper, do a lot more.” I’d be able to look up a word in the dictionary by simply pressing a little harder on the trackpad; it can distinguish between a hard touch and a softer one. Haptic feedback, aka kinesthetic communication, is a marvellous thing. (Haptic is from the Greek, relating to our sense of touch.) The new model would scan my retina, bypassing the need to enter my user name and password. Maybe that would prevent my daughter from ‘borrowing’ my 15˝ laptop to watch Netflix on a larger screen (hers is 13˝ and just not big enough for enjoying her shows, it seems). But since I’m not storing secrets that could rock the world on my laptop, do I need retinal security?
But will they allow me to do MORE?
“A groundbreaking retina display. A new force-sensing trackpad. All-flash architecture. Powerful dual-core and quad-core Intel processors. Together, these features take the notebook to a new level of performance. And they will do the same for you in everything you create,” says Apple.
Wow! All of that makes my laptop seem about as current as the era in which we hominids split with our ancestors, the chimps, to walk upright. I could have all of this really cool stuff and I’d love it. But will those features, as Apple’s copy suggests, take everything I create to a new level? Will they allow me to do ‘more’? Maybe!
How much MORE do we need? How much is MORE really going to give us?
I’ve had conversations with my geek pal about ‘more’; he gets excited about the near future and the far future and how much more we’ll be able to do. It’s an exciting world and yes, we need to anticipate, stay current, stay relevant and lean on technology to help us work smarter. Use it and yes, upgrade it, to enrich our lives and make things better in all of the ways that it can. But every once in a while (even if it’s just delaying the inevitability of those unrecyclable parts from my iPhone ending up as e-Waste) shouldn’t we question the value of more? How much more do we need? How much is ‘more’ really going to give us?
The job of advertising is to persuade
The smarter the advertising, the more persuasive. Apple can be very persuasive; but at the end of the day, it still falls to me to be persuaded.
In the near future, NO new phone; but I do see a laptop – if only to get me to the dictionary faster and put that retina scan to work cramping my daughter’s laptop-borrowing style! And it would be really nice to schlep around a lighter laptop. For this week, though, I’ll forego the enticing bells and whistles, stick with my old laptop and continue doing more, with less. I’m not quite ready to be persuaded.
For a futuristic perspective on ‘more’, here’s a peek at what more we might/can expect:
Tomorrow’s World: BBC’s Guide to the next 150 Years
BBC’s Timeline of the Far Future (a thousand years, a million, etc.)
by Miriam Hara | Aug 12, 2015 | Advertising, Agency, Business Success, Communications, Creative, Latest, Management, Marketing
Is the concept of ‘value add’ or ‘value added’ overused? Perhaps it’s more correct to ask, is it misused? Has ‘value added’ become like the tipping issue? Many of us tip automatically, whether it’s deserved or not. Has the term ‘value add’ become interchangeable with just doing a good job, or simply meeting expectations, not exceeding them? What happened to going above and beyond, every time that you can? To me, that’s value added.
The retail landscape is rife with ‘value adds’
The retail landscape is rife with ‘value adds’. Think about extended warranties. You purchase a new refrigerator. You wanted value for your money, so you likely paid for the brand name as well as the fridge’s features and benefits. Brands that have been around for a while, proved their worth, built a following, have intrinsic value. But as you’re buying that brand name fridge, the salesperson encourages you to purchase an extended warranty beyond the standard one-year warranty — a warranty that will protect you — and one you’ll have to pay for. Where’s the value in that?
What is that saying about the product? Shouldn’t you be able to expect that the refrigerator will work for you a heck of a lot longer than one year? And if it’s not going to, then shouldn’t the manufacturer promote an offer to fix anything that does go wrong in the 13th month after you bought it, and fix it for free. That would be a true value added proposition! Same thing goes for a car purchase and the extended warranties that go along with those purchases. Fundamentally, these types of things are not adding real value, they’re just up-selling and increasing the profitability of “you”. I believe I should be able to expect that most high-ticket items that I purchase are going to last a while; that they’re going to meet my expectation of performance, without me having to buy protection in case they don’t.
‘Value added’, from a business owner’s point of view, is having my vendors go beyond… which make them partners… not vendors.
‘Value added’, from my business owner point of view, is having my vendors go beyond. It’s having their service and their staff perform well beyond my expectations, not just meet my expectations. I hired them to meet my expectations. And I’m ecstatic when they exceed them! In other words… you got the business, now keep it by impressing.
In terms of my clients, value added doesn’t mean giving them great creative. They expect great creative. Why else do you go to an advertising agency? It doesn’t mean delivering on time, that’s an expectation from the outset. It doesn’t mean delivering results. That’s expected too.
‘Value added’ happens when we anticipate what the client needs before they need it.
Value added happens when we anticipate what the client needs before they need it. It’s when we nudge them by showing them there’s a better way. It’s by surprising them with things that they didn’t expect; things that help and delight them. Value added is exceeding beyond what our clients expect, and giving them a reason to keep coming back. It’s making them feel good about working with us because not only are we delivering on their expectation, we are adding value to the service and valuing them as clients, by exceeding their pre-conceived expectations. At its core, value added should be about building relationships.
Jump! How High? That’s not value added.
Jump! How high? That’s not value added. Leap as high as I can for my clients before they ask me to jump… now that’s adding value.
What is your idea of ‘value added’ in your ‘world’? I’d be interested to hear!
#ValueAdded #SharedWisdom #ExceedBeyond
by Miriam Hara | Aug 4, 2015 | Advertising, Agency, Business Success, Deadline, Latest, Management, Marketing
Time is of the essence!
More than any other decade, business is running at the speed of light, which makes the efficient use of time ultimately the most important element to control. When I first entered the advertising business, the industry was notoriously known for its fast pace and deadlines. Contrary to corporate marketing departments, who albeit were also working at a faster pace than other departments in the same organization, advertising agencies owned the “RUSH” space. By owning that space, agency people often worked longer hours, weekends, evenings, around the clock to make an impending deadline. I can sincerely say, our industry no longer holds the monopoly on time. No matter what business you’re in today, time is of the essence!
All bets are off on personal time, downtime; any time is the time to work or check off one more item on the list of tasks to do and things to accomplish.
It goes without saying that the team around you, your colleagues, your support staff and every one in between plays a role in you efficiently managing your time and maintaining control over projects, launches and plans.
As a team member, or player or even potential wannabe team member, how does one add value to the department, the job, and ultimately the boss. Here’s a few of my thoughts:
1) When deadlines are looming and there just isn’t enough time, don’t tell me what you can’t do, tell me what you can do. Only then can a secondary plan of action emerge.
2) If there is an issue, and there are often issues with any project, don’t just come in and report the problem, without having all the facts. If the facts aren’t clear, you can’t work on a solution. Or better yet, come in with a solution – that would wow any manager.
3) Don’t say you can do something, then not; only to say you didn’t have the time. That only means you haven’t made the time. And that only means one of two things. 1) You felt it wasn’t important enough to get it off your list and 2) You didn’t plan or allot time to getting it done in a timely manner. Either way, it’s not good.
4) When tasks come your way, no matter how menial you perceive them to be, don’t just “do”. It’s the small things that shout the loudest in making impressions. So don’t just take direction, and do it; understand the need and ultimately the ‘why’ of what is being asked, so you can add value.
5) For all new business development managers, or client engagement managers, or any permutation thereof, if you’re successful in getting a meeting to present your organization’s services, don’t provide no more than what can be found on your website. That’s a waste of time, for both of us – and it’s also a missed opportunity.
And last but not least…
6) For all of you trying to break into any industry; don’t send in a resume for a job that you’re not qualified for. Wasting my time by having me read it only to find out that you’re not qualified for it – that only frustrates me. If you want to apply, then by all means do, but do something different; something that will provide me with a perspective of who and what you are about. Sending in a resume that you don’t have any qualifications for, without any explanation or counter claim, isn’t going to cut it – Honest.
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 Miriam Hara | Jul 10, 2015 | Advertising, Agency, Business Success, Latest, Marketing, Uncategorized
Earlier this week, I focused on you being the multi-tasking maestro as the business or team leader. It’s equally important to encourage your team members to multi-task.
I’ll repeat my definition of multi-tasking. I’m not talking about one person being asked to wear too many hats and spread themselves thin. That leads to resentment and overtired team members who lose motivation. I’m talking about encouraging people to step out of their defined roles, even momentarily, to try on a new hat, or a few new hats. I’m talking about team building.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#TeamBuilding”]Getting people involved in tasks they don’t own can lead to shared ownership[/inlinetweet], bigger ideas, better ideas and a richer outcome. It benefits people on a personal level. They’re learning new skills, they feel involved, they feel appreciated. A richer outcome is also better for clients.
I remember when secretaries went the way of the dodo bird and many professionals exclaimed: “I don’t know how to type a letter or make a presentation!” Now, almost everyone in business creates their own PowerPoint presentations. We learned to multi-task. The world changes; today more than every before, it changes quickly. If we’re smart, we change with it. If we want to survive and thrive in business, it’s not an option. And we need to encourage our teams to change too.
Speaking from an advertising perspective, back in the ‘50s on Madison Avenue, Bill Bernbach, of Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) put together the first creative team: an art director (artist) and copywriter. He chose the teams with complementary personalities in mind. Fundamentally, this was an exercise in multi-tasking; putting together people with different skill sets — art and copy — but with similar mindsets. Mindsets that understood the advertising world and conceptualized visually and verbally. Getting them to work off each other, getting the writer to think visually and the designer to think verbally, built confidence, trust and ultimately the clients benefited from the results. It was brilliant. It worked and it works still. Today, the scope is even larger.
Agencies haven’t been just about print for years, they’re constantly evolving: digital/internet, mobile, guerilla, broadcast, outdoor, public service, to name a few. A lot more people are involved in the marketing strategy and the advertising that results. Everyone’s talents can be tapped, everywhere. Who says only a copywriter can write a good headline? Experience tells me the IT people often read the advertising copy and have ideas. Project managers work with clients all day long. Who better to be included in brainstorming than the people who know your clients best? Admin personnel? Absolutely. After all, if you’re admin in an ad agency, your creative side asserts itself sooner or later. It can’t not. Everybody has a creative side. (If you think you don’t have one, you just haven’t had a chance to explore it.) I’m not saying when you’re stuck for a headline call the IT guy — he’d probably look at you like you’d lost your mind. I’m saying be open to the idea that everyone has more to contribute than you, or they, might think.
Social Media is an ideal example. It’s a prime area for promoting multi-tasking. I’ve said this in other posts: Social Media is its best when all departments are involved. Everyone in an organization has something to say, saying it just needs to be encouraged. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#TeamBuilding”]The more employees know about how an organization operates, the more involved they can be;[/inlinetweet] the more they assume a personal stake in the business’ success and feel free to contribute, the more successful the organization will be. When someone in Admin or HR writes a Social Media post, that’s multi-tasking. You’re asking them to step out of their assigned role and try something new. You’re building a stronger team.
As I’ve also said before: [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#TeamBuilding”]To be in marketing and not be a multi-tasker is dangerous. It’s also not as much fun.[/inlinetweet] If you approach it the right way, give expanded opportunities to learn and contribute, I’m sure your team will agree. At 3H, it works well.
What’s your take on multi-tasking, at least my meaning of it? Are there ways you’re using it in your business to build teams? Let me know.
by Miriam Hara | Jun 18, 2015 | Advertising, Business Success, Latest, Marketing, Social Media
As a skill, business writing isn’t new. Written expression has always been valued as a means of communication between departments within organizations. Few businesses can do without a key business writer.
Many feel a new dawn has arrived for business writing, making it more highly valued and sought after. With the advent of content marketing, businesses and corporations see strategic business writing as a skill they require from their marketing department. The hair-trigger reaction is to find someone to fulfill this important new “role”. But is this the most logical way to venture forward? In the brave new world of content marketing, what kind of writer does your business need?
Does the skill of business writing equal the skill of content creation?
The writing skill of a business writer may equal the writing skill of a content creator, but the skill sets are different. At the risk of sounding patronizing, not all writing “types” are the same. A journalist doesn’t write the same way as a novelist, or an editorial writer, or an investigative reporter, or a copywriter. Hence a business writer may not have the writing style or skill set needed for content marketing. Content marketing requires content creation, which requires not only basic business writing skills, but strategic and creative thinking. Those are the skills needed to propel content creation to the next level – getting the consumer interested and then engaged. A solid understanding and healthy respect for content development and creation is key to achieving content that resonates, eliciting the desired action from the consumer
Perhaps then, a content creator must be three parts writer and one part marketer: The writer must be investigative, inventive and devoted to engagement and the marketer ensures things relate back to brand, but not in an obvious way. It irks me when content is created under the guise of information, when in fact, it’s purely promotional. Shame on brand! Shame on business. Consumers today are savvy and they expect more from brands and businesses. Fortunately, in this new era, a good content creator understands and respects the difference. Businesses should too!
What are your thoughts on writing and on the new dynamic in the marketing landscape: Content marketing?
