A History Lesson in Advertising

I like to keep up to date with the latest trends in advertising, as you may have noticed. But I always keep going back to the fundamentals.

If I ever need a wake-up call, if ever I find myself over-complicating things, I pick up my copy of "Ogilvy on Advertising" (David Ogilvy, 1983). This is a grass roots approach to advertising and one that, twenty four years on, is as valid as it was when written.

This is not a book review but a suggestion that as online media becomes more prevalent, try not to get caught up in the visual hype of web design and interactive media. After all, why are you advertising in the first place? Not to look good, but to increase sales or sales enquiries. Let me give you an excerpt:

"...head of marketing at Ford, inserted advertisements in every other copy of the Reader's Digest. At the end of the year, the people who had not been exposed to the advertising had bought more Fords than those who had. In another survey it was found that the consumption of a certain brand of beer was lower among people who remembered its advertising than those who did not. The brewer had spent millions of dollars on advertising which un-sold his beer."

So grab yourself a copy. $44.95 last time I checked, although mine only cost me $1 at Vinnies (there's a plethora of research books there too, highly recommended!).

I'll leave you with some of Ogilvy's predictions for post-1983:

1. There will be a renaissance in print advertising.
2. Advertising will contain more information and less hot air.
3. Billboards will be abolished.
4. Candidates for political office will stop using dishonest advertising.
5. The clutter of commercials on television and radio will be brought under control.

Ok so maybe this book is a little out of date! But trust me, the fundamentals will never change.
Ogilvy, D. (1983), Ogilvy on Advertising, John Wiley and Sons, Toronto, 1983 ISBN 0-517-55075-X (and Pan Books, London, 1983 ISBN 0-330-26985-2). (Please note any opinions expressed are my own and not that of my company or employer)

Online Video Marketing

Nobody goes around "surfing" in a serendipitous style anymore ... so what you really need to address is the desire from the user to get what they are looking for in the least time possible and in the most effective way (from a communication viewpoint).

OVM is the key differentiator for companies with an online presence wanting to effectively communicate their product profile and benefits within the shortest possible time. There is nothing else that comes close to the effectiveness and persuasion power of a well designed video message.

This doesn't mean that putting up a 10-min video tutorial on your site will automatically double your enquiry rate or that you will instantly sell more of your product. There is more to effective video communication than just slamming some video content up on your website.

Video is a complex, highly multidisciplinary art, and extracting the best out of it is not as simple and clear-cut as writing a news story or a blog post.

But why is video the best way to go? Because, today, the average attention span of a web user today is measured in seconds. Once delivered to you on a red carpet by a major search engine search query, or via a link, the new web visitor applies only a very limited effort and time to see whether they can make sense of what you are communicating/selling/proposing and to decide whether your content, style, look and approach are a good fit for what they were actually looking for. If you can engage their interest right there and then, and offer a fast, highly visual way to let them discover what your message is, you're halfway there.

Do your research. Keep your presentation clear and succinct. Keep it educational, informative, and ensure you end with a call to action. As with the site itself, your viewers have a small attention span so you need to maintain interest.

If you need any further help, feel free to contact me or leave your comments on this article.

(Please note any opinions expressed are my own and not that of my company or employer)

Word-of-Mouth Marketing

When was the last time you raved about a good movie to a friend? You might not have realised it at the time, but you were providing the best possible advertising for the movie makers…word-of-mouth advertising.

If you endorse the movie, chances are they will go and see it. Your genuineness will be far more credible than the Hollywood hype. Fear melts away, and any uncertainty or doubt surrounding the decision disappears as the movie is presented truthfully.

Further to this point, you must have a good product or service for word-of-mouth to work in a positive way. If the movie isn’t liked, the negative word will spread even faster. For every person willing to spread the positive word there are eleven who will spread the negative.

So word-of-mouth marketing might be described as ‘giving people a reason to talk about your products and services, and making it easer for that conversation to take place.’

To get started, list the objectives you want your word-of-mouth advertising to accomplish. You might say, "I want everyone talking positively about my business." That's great, but it's too vague.

Marketing goals and objectives must always be specific. They should have time limits and detailed methods for accomplishment. For example, "I want to cut our returns by 50% in the first quarter to improve customer perception of our products and customer service." "I will accomplish this goal by having each employee go over every purchase in detail with the customer, before the product leaves the store." "I will follow-up with every customer within seven days of purchase." "Each month I will record and analyse the reasons for returns." If I do these things, two things should happen. First, my return rate should go down. Second, the number of satisfied customers should go up.

What's the best way to handle customer complaints? Welcome them. Make it as easy as possible for customers to complain to you. Follow-up with satisfaction cards or phone calls. Stop customer problems before they get out of hand.

When it comes to customer service, you are competing against every other type of business. Customer service is a "feeling" the customer experiences, not a thing they can see, touch or smell. They know it when they feel it. Customers respond to confidence, fear, a genuine smile, gestures, voice inflection, body language, eye contact, and or course, attitude.

If you expect customers to spread the word about your business, everything that happens to them in your business must be a positive experience. The products, the service, the personnel and the follow-up must all be first rate.

How does your word-of-mouth stack up?

(Please note any opinions expressed are my own and not that of my company or employer)