Starting a new trainee today
He’s your basic, overachiever type that we recruit out of school. 3.8 GPA in Marketing and Digital Art, worked every summer, socially involved. Right now he’s in culture shock. All his life he’s been one of, if not the smartest kid in his class, now he’s surrounded by people as smart as or smarter than him…a lot smarter.
First thing I did was hand him a spiral notebook.
“Jim, write your name and today’s date on the cover, when the notebook is full, write the end date on the cover and start a new spiral notebook. This way, if the beer truck runs you over, your replacement will be able to pick right up where you left off.”
The main reason I do this is to constantly drill into a trainee the importance of taking notes, it’s one of the keys to becoming a good account executive. When a trainee is caught without their notebook, they face a barrage of verbal and physical abuse while they run back to their desk to grab the notebook.
Good notes lead to good client contact reports. Good contact reports mean that the agency team knows what’s going on and can react quickly to the clients needs.
One trainee went home over the weekend to visit her parents. Her Mom called her into the kitchen to tell her something and the trainee showed up with a notebook and pen and started taking notes while her Mother was talking. “Wow,” her Mom said, “that new job is really making a difference!”
Jon
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Catalogs
We’re working on a catalog.
It’s targeted to an older audience (65+) so there is a demand for a printed catalog. That’s because this generation has been using catalogs the longest. They were in their 50’s when eCommerce took off.
Once this generation passes on, the printed catalog, as we know it, will pass on with them, going the way of the typewriter and the newspaper.
I’ll say “goodbye” to catalogs with a “thank you” for the money I’ve made on catalog marketing over the years and a “Good riddance” for the insane amount of printed catalogs I get at home that I have absolutely no interest in getting.
Even our older population is moving to the web.
Research tells me that 50% of 65 year olds use the WWW on a consistent basis and that figure is growing by 20% a year. In addition, research tells us that a lot of this generation are sending emails to their family and seeking information on their health and retirement.
One of the problems I run into when we are working on a catalog or website that will have a lot of older people reading it is the type size. There’s usually a 24 year old digital artist with 20/20 eyesight designing the work and I can see that the type is too small.
“Jimmy, I think that type face is a little too small,” I say.
“No it’s not,” he says.
“Older people will have a problem reading it,” I say.
“I can read it,” he says.
“You’re 24,” I say.
“Can you read it?” he asks.
“Not very easily,” I respond.
“I guess that makes you one of those older people,” he says with a sad look.
“Just make the type bigger!” I holler as I walk away.
When our client was considering giving us the creative on their new catalog, they asked me if I had any catalog experience. “Yes,” I said, “I’ve done around a million different catalogs over the years.” Maybe a slight exaggeration, but close enough.
It brought back memories of my first catalog assignment.
When I started out, I had a little art studio. A printing company I did some work with had a catalog they were in a rush to get out. I got a phone call from the owner of the printing company who said, “Jon, if you can turn the copy and art around in three days, I’ll give you the job.” I needed the work more than I needed the sleep, so I took the job.
There were three of us in the studio and we worked for 24 hours non-stop before we realized that there was no way we were going to have that job done in two more days. And by two more days I mean 48 hours, no sleep.
So I called my friend, the nurse. “Hey Peggy, how’s it going? Do you have any more of those little white pills that kept us all awake at your party last month? You do! Great!”
48 hours later three strung-out artists had the catalog done and delivered.
There was an interesting thing about those little white pills; after the second 24 hours you started to hear a little beep inside your head every two or three minutes. It sounded just like your microwave after the timer goes off and you don’t open the door. Which in a way, is exactly what your brain is saying to you.
“Beep. Hello, your brain has been micro-waved and is now ready. Beep-beep”
Jon
It’s targeted to an older audience (65+) so there is a demand for a printed catalog. That’s because this generation has been using catalogs the longest. They were in their 50’s when eCommerce took off.
Once this generation passes on, the printed catalog, as we know it, will pass on with them, going the way of the typewriter and the newspaper.
I’ll say “goodbye” to catalogs with a “thank you” for the money I’ve made on catalog marketing over the years and a “Good riddance” for the insane amount of printed catalogs I get at home that I have absolutely no interest in getting.
Even our older population is moving to the web.
Research tells me that 50% of 65 year olds use the WWW on a consistent basis and that figure is growing by 20% a year. In addition, research tells us that a lot of this generation are sending emails to their family and seeking information on their health and retirement.
One of the problems I run into when we are working on a catalog or website that will have a lot of older people reading it is the type size. There’s usually a 24 year old digital artist with 20/20 eyesight designing the work and I can see that the type is too small.
“Jimmy, I think that type face is a little too small,” I say.
“No it’s not,” he says.
“Older people will have a problem reading it,” I say.
“I can read it,” he says.
“You’re 24,” I say.
“Can you read it?” he asks.
“Not very easily,” I respond.
“I guess that makes you one of those older people,” he says with a sad look.
“Just make the type bigger!” I holler as I walk away.
When our client was considering giving us the creative on their new catalog, they asked me if I had any catalog experience. “Yes,” I said, “I’ve done around a million different catalogs over the years.” Maybe a slight exaggeration, but close enough.
It brought back memories of my first catalog assignment.
When I started out, I had a little art studio. A printing company I did some work with had a catalog they were in a rush to get out. I got a phone call from the owner of the printing company who said, “Jon, if you can turn the copy and art around in three days, I’ll give you the job.” I needed the work more than I needed the sleep, so I took the job.
There were three of us in the studio and we worked for 24 hours non-stop before we realized that there was no way we were going to have that job done in two more days. And by two more days I mean 48 hours, no sleep.
So I called my friend, the nurse. “Hey Peggy, how’s it going? Do you have any more of those little white pills that kept us all awake at your party last month? You do! Great!”
48 hours later three strung-out artists had the catalog done and delivered.
There was an interesting thing about those little white pills; after the second 24 hours you started to hear a little beep inside your head every two or three minutes. It sounded just like your microwave after the timer goes off and you don’t open the door. Which in a way, is exactly what your brain is saying to you.
“Beep. Hello, your brain has been micro-waved and is now ready. Beep-beep”
Jon
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Promises, Promises
Let’s talk about your brand’s promise.Previously I wrote about the RPV Sessions, (Reputation, Promise, Vision) that we have at the agency. (see the February 14 post) These sessions, when done correctly, help us gain clarity on what our brand and it’s position is. We end up with a list of “power words” tailored to the brand and it usually generates some Big Honkin’ Ideas.
The first step was the brand reputation; the next step is the brand promise.
The promise refers to the tangible attributes of the brands product or service. It lets you see exactly what you are selling, what it is and what it does. It lets you understand what you have that the competition doesn’t, and what the competition has that you don’t.
It’s a car, or a vacuum cleaner, a sandwich or a tax service, landscaping or designer jeans.
In addition the product or service has features:
- 26 flavors
- Money back guarantee
- A 10 horsepower electric motor
- Once a day dosing
It’s the brand’s promise to the buyer that clearly defines what they are going to get when they purchase your product or service.
This is where you take a hard look at what you are promising and be very sure that you are paying the promise off. Promise is a very strong word, that’s why I use it.
If your brand breaks its promise, your brand is a liar.
Reputation, Promise and Vision are closely linked together and if you break a promise, it will affect your brands reputation and vision.
Here’s a great saying:
“Nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising”
The reason customers don’t come back is because a brand failed to deliver on its promise. Great brands always deliver, always. That’s how they became great brands. When I open a bottle of Coke, I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt what that Coke is going to taste like and that it’s going to be refreshing. When I get into a Volvo, I know that I’m safe. When I stay at the Four Seasons, I know that I’m going to get great service.
Now you have a column of your brand’s reputation words and a column of the brand’s promises. The reputation words helped you set a look or tone for the brand. The promise words help you understand exactly what you are selling. Next I’ll write about the Vision and how it brings it all together.
Jon
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