Is It Worth It?

I love this quote:

Logic examines. Belief accepts.

It's from an 1970's sci-fi book called The Masters of Solitude. Taken entirely out of context, it applies nicely to my approach to marketing: be as logical, inquisitive, and analytical as possible, but at some point you just have to go with the flow and believe that something is right (or wrong).

The big question, to me, is:
When do you put logic aside and start to believe?

JP examines a couple of recent viral marketing campaigns on his blog.
(One example is the same Honda campaign I linked to in my last post, the other is from T-Mobile in the UK).

In both cases, a pile of money is involved. Maybe not relative to the billions that these particular companies make and spend every year, but it's still a lot of money. I'm sure somebody in Accounting and other departments must have said "Whoa, hold on. Shouldn't we put that cash towards something else? How about some R&D? Or paying off a loan? Or new chairs for the Accounting department?"

Logic says:
Does having a musical road make people any more likely to want a Honda?
Do the thousands of viral video views equate to sales at some point?

What's the cost-per-acquisition for acquiring an incremental wireless subscriber?
What retailer incentives could we put in place for the same cost and effort?

But at some point Belief has to kick in.
Maybe, in the short run, the numbers don't justify staging a stunt.
Maybe, even in the long run, we can't possibly measure the whole emotional impact of doing something fun for our audience.

As professionals, we have a responsibility to ask all the "logic" questions. Fact is, some (I would actually assume most) big, expensive, complicated, creative promo ideas aren't worth the effort or money. We shouldn't do stuff just because somebody's ego thinks it would be a cool idea and might win an award or two.

(Read The End of Marketing As We Know It by Sergio Zyman for plenty of examples of classic campaigns that everyone loves, but could never justify their own existence. )

But, as professionals, we also have a responsibility to recognize that sometimes we don't know all the answers. Sometimes something beautiful is worthwhile simply because it's beautiful. Sometimes, the benefits of a campaign will never clearly and obviously show up in a metrics report, a financial statement, or anywhere else. Sometimes you have to believe that it was worth it.

Brand Passion

Do we, as marketers, miss out on the love of brands, the passion, the excitement?
Do we see through too much, or read too deeply?

Check out the comments about Honda here.

Can you imagine a marketer really, truly loving a brand this much?

The amazing fact is: some "regular consumers" really do love brands.

We'll Solve Your Problem So You Can Do It Again!

I don't know if this is a brilliant retention technique, good insight into the target market's mindset, or just bad copywriting:

On the train last week, I saw an ad for a credit counseling / debt consolidation organization. Basically, it showed an image of an ecstatic guy giving an enthusiastic endorsement. Something like "Thanks to them, soon I'll be able to afford a vacation, a new car, and maybe even my own house!"

Yes, in that order.
Quite the prioritization.
I think the term "vicious cycle" may apply.

Imagine if other advertisers took the same approach...
"Weight Watchers helped me take off so many inches that now I can go gorge myself on a buffet every weekend, take that two week all-inclusive cruise, or maybe even buy some nice new clothes!"

"This cancer treatment was so effective that I'm going to start smoking again, and maybe even spend more quality time with my kids!"

"These lawyers were so great in getting me early parole that now I can stab an old lady, rob a convenience store, or maybe even apply for a legitimate job!"

How I'll Know The Economy Is Bad

You can probably tell from some of my past posts that I think much of the doom-and-gloom about the economy is overblown. I'm willing to acknowledge that there are lots of problems, though.

However, here's the signal that will tell me that things are actually as bad as people say:

I'll get amazing service from every business I contact.

Three reasons:

1. Companies need to try harder to win my business. They're more desperate and desperation leads to extreme actions.

2. Companies that are laying off workers will start by eliminating the worst ones, improving the average. (Though, this also means more workload for those who remain, but I believe that the best workers will be able to handle this)

3. Companies that are hiring workers (whether through growth or just to replace those in #2) will have a bigger bucket of prospects to choose from, including a lot of great people.

We're not there yet, at least not where I live.

I still speak with phone reps who sound like they're just awakening from a coma.
I still face retail staff who'd rather hit on their cute coworker that talk to any customers.
I still find obvious mistakes in invoices and receipts.
I still read basic spelling and grammar errors on signs, menus, and even in newspaper columns.
I still know that half the products I buy are going to fall apart before their time.
...

When the day comes that I'm thoroughly impressed by the service I've received all day, I'll really start to worry.

Toilet Paper Math

One of the most annoying things to shop for is toilet paper.
Not because it's embarrassing.
Not even because of the stupid "bathroom tissue" euphemism.
Nor the inconvenience of carrying the big package through the store and/or home.

It's the math.

One package has 12 rolls of 180 sheets of 2 ply for $3.99.
Another is a 24 roll of 160 sheets of "ultra soft" 2 ply for $4.99.
Still another contains 12 "double" rolls with 240 sheets each, 2 ply for $8.99.
Or 18 rolls with 180 sheets of "quilted ultra soft with extra large sheets" for $4.95, on sale from $5.45.
Then there's the 3 ply super-deluxe-ultra, the 1 ply campground outhouse stuff...
And multiply all this by five or six different brand names.

You need to open up Excel just to figure out the relative value per ply per square.

Why so complicated? Are people's wiping needs really this diverse? Even with a dozen different products, why not standardize things like roll size and sheet dimensions? Why even sell a "single roll" if we now have space-aged "double roll" technology?

I assume the complication is intentional.
When you can't differentiate your commodity very much (at the end of the day, a square is a square is a ply is a ply), confuse the market to make the differences seem more substantial or the pricing less consequential.

Social Growth

Interesting chart from eMarketer was posted today on Mashable.


It clear that "Social Networking" is the growth area for digital marketing these days. No surprise, but some of the figures are a bit confusing (perhaps even concerning) and could use more context.

For example, how is social networking defined?
Does this include all forms of social media, or just actual networks like Facebook and LinkedIn? (i.e. media placements with "social" aspect)

If I include a "send to a friend" link on a site or ad, does that make it "social"?
Don't many people include blogging as a type of social networking? So why is it a separate category? Or is it just a sub-category?

I'd also love to see how responses relate to one-another.
Are the businesses who plan to spend more on e-commerce, for example, the same ones who plan to spend more on their Web sites, or is one gaining investment at the expense of the other?

I suppose I'm a bit cautious to take these numbers at face value, primarily due to a observation made in the Mashable post: is it really true that more companies are currently engaged in social networking than have a corporate Web site?
Somehow I doubt this.

If the survey participants were free to apply their own definition of each of these categories, perhaps there's a lack of consistency. If I run a display ad that includes video, am I using "online display" or "online video"? What if I run a static diaplay ad within a video? Or a display ad on a video page?...

Still, it's interesting to see some quantitative data to confirm the growing interest and investment in the "social" space.

Apologize For The Right Thing

Here's a weird one.

I was out for dinner with four other people recently at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown. Not the fanciest place in the world, and the food is hardly exceptional, but it's comfortable, affordable, and generally a nice place to eat.

Anyway, when we arrived we gave them our name and were told that we'd have about a 20 minute wait. No big deal, and quite common for a popular place.

We waited a while and began to notice (after about 10 to 15 minutes) that other parties who arrived after us were being seated. At first I wasn't bothered -- these were typically groups of two or three or four. Perhaps they simply didn't have a large enough table for the five of us. I had to wonder, though, if there were really no opportunities to push two tables together.

As the 20 minute mark came and went, the restaurant was getting a bit quieter and people who walked into the lobby would be seated almost immediately. Including a group of 5.

At this point, everybody in my group must have been thinking the same thing, and two of them approached the staff. The hostess checked her little list of names and, lo and behold, they were just about to call our name. What a fantastic coincidence!

Give me a break.

So, as we were being led to the table, I complained aloud (as I tend to do when I'm annoyed by poor service or ridiculous people) abou tthe fact that others were seated faster.

She responded by apologizing. But, for the wrong things.
It was an apology, but came out like excuse-making.

She said that the other groups were smaller than ours.
I pointed out that at least one was exactly the same size.

She said that larger tables weren't available.
I pointed out several places where large tables sat empty, or where smaller empty tables were side-by-side and could have been moved.

She said that some people had reservations.
I reminded her that any time we try to make reservations, the restaurant tells us that it's only possible to reserve a table for 6 or more.

She said that some wait staff were just coming onto their shift.
... only to take us to a table immediately beside the other party of five who were brought in before us, and served by the same waitress.

Throughout all theses "explanations" she apologized. Sorry for the wait. Sorry that our wait staff weren't ready for you...

But no apologies for the real issue.

Let's face it: she somehow skipped over our name on the list, and as soon as it was brought to her attention she was able to seat us.

How hard would it be to say "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I don't know why I missed your name." ?

I didn't mind the wait, since it was pretty much what I expected. Everything else about the experience was fine. So why lie or make excuses? If you're going to apologize anyway, why not apologize for the real problem?

Billboard Ads

A collection of outdoor ads.

Not to be grumpy, but...
I only followed a couple of the links, but it appears that many of these are just spec or completely fictional ideas.

I remember, back in a media class 11 years ago, coming up with an idea to spray a (diluted) perfume out of the top of a giant perfume bottle-shaped billboard. Who knew I was so ahead of the times?

Some fun ideas in the link, although it's often a lot easier to come up with a clever concept than to actually implement it...
Several of these, for example, would require the light and weather conditions to be just right in order to get the full effect.

Harder still is convincing a client to pay a gazillion dollars for a single piece of creative.*

And, on top of this is my usual comment: they're fun to look at, but how many actually cause anybody to buy anything and/or think more highly of the advertiser?

I have to admit, though, that some of these are actually really good ideas. I particularly like the Tide example (a new take on the old P&G TV formula of demonstrating the product in action), and the clarity of the Economist "lightbulb" concept.

Enough already, though, with the "let's-put-a-car-on-the-billboard" and the "let's-show-what's-on-the-other-side-of-this-sign" ideas. Thanks.


* Although, let's face it, half the time ads like this are done without a gazillion dollar budget, just so the agency can win a couple of awards.

More To Consider in the Mac Decision

Oh great. As if it wasn't enough of a challenge deciding whether or not to convert to Mac... Now Apple launches this amazing innovation:


Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

;-)