It’s why we should all be excited about emerging web technologies. Here’s why:
We will no longer have to wade through the mire of content packed into tight, unsearchable places.
The old way
Jam lots of content into a printed newsletter. Force people to have to read though everything to find the pieces of content they actually want. Make sure none of this content is ever accessible again. Do not leverage this content outside the scope of your current audience. Oh, and spend lots of money to print and mail it.
The newer way
Put all of your content online – text, pictures, audio, and video. Allow users to see titles, summaries, categories, and tags to find what is useful to them. Make all this content searchable, both so that it can be found in the future and so outsiders might find something valuable to read. Store all this content for free (regardless of how many people see it). Allow folks to comment, share, link to, and otherwise engage your content.
The web lets us spread out information. It allows us to find information on demand. It’s like a proxemic white space.
It allows us to find those needles in the haystacks.
It allows us to breath.
It also levels the playing field of influence… but more on that in Part 3 next week.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” according to Leonardo da Vinci.
He’s right.
The best teachers, consultants, pastors, artists, and leaders all do the same thing: they make the complex simple. Does what you do fall into any of those categories?
What should you do when you have to explain something complex? How do you make it simple? Find a metaphor.
If someone doesn’t understand something, figure out a way to say, “Well, it’s just like…”.
Is he still not getting it? Use careful examples. Starting a phrase with “For example…” is one of the most powerful ways to bring meaning to what you are saying.
In graphic design and web design, simplicity is achieved through the use of white space.
What’s white space? Well, it’s just like what you would have when you clear away all the hay to find the needle.
For example, look at how simple it was to donate to Haiti relief efforts through the way this iTunes store page was designed and written:
Do you ever feel like a victim to your own stereotypes about what you do? Smash them.
This year at the TEDx Mid-Atlantic conference, Joel Salatin said, “If we devote ourselves to sacredness in our vocations, the world will rise to meet us.” Do you see the sacredness and the dignity in what you do? What about in other people?
The humility that lets you see the value in everyone around you is the humility that will let you see the value in yourself.
Take the phrase “I’m just a…” out of your vocabulary,
Brody
P.S. If you watch the “Wordswell < :90 Update” video today, you’ll see we’re asking you “Why are most car dealership ads so bad?” and “What would it take for you to care about where you bought a car?” To access that survey, click on wordswell.com/cars.
You know how to get snow to stick to the ground really well?
Make it really, really cold. And keep it really cold for a long time.
Your sales and marketing tactics are like a snowstorm. No matter how ferocious your blizzard is, your strategy will not stick unless you’ve prepared the ground. You gotta keep it cold enough long enough so that your customer is willing enough to let your storm turn to beauty.
If you don’t prepare the ground, you’re wasting money with every flake that melts.
Here’s how to make it cold: Say the right things in the right ways. The “right things” are the things your customers care about. The “right ways” are ways that are a) surprising enough to get attention, and b) beautiful enough to earn credibility.
(Can you feel the B.S. meter going up these days?… it’s not just how you say it, it’s what you say.)
Here’s how to keep it cold: Say the right things in the right ways over and over and over again.
How do you know the right things to say? Ask. Ask your customers. Ask your sales people. Ask Wordswell to help you.
How do you know the right ways to say them? Ask. Ask your customers. Ask your sales people. Ask Wordswell to help you.
How do you say them over and over and over again? Strategize. Ask Wordswell to help you.
We define brand development as “telling the truth about who you are, faster.” But we should also add “…for the long haul.”
As soon as you change your set of promises, you start the freezing process over again. It’s ok to do that. Just be patient, like the last time.
brrrrrr.
brody
P.S. Wordswell loves to do brand assessments where we research your “stuff”. How good is your message and your media tools? What are your competitors doing? But really, all that only helps to assess the main questions:
Do your customers know the promises your making?
Do those promises matter to your customer?
Do your customers believe that you can deliver on those promises?
Ultimately, do your customers/members/donors/stakeholders know you? Trust you? Advocate for you?
If so, great! Let’s run with that. If not, great! Let’s fix that.
Prices start at various four-figure amounts. Start 2010 with a Wordswell Brand Assessment.
So, we’re in the season of stale platitudes, cliché religious advice, crassly commercialized quips, and bad photography. How are your holiday cards and public service announcements looking?
There’s an oft-quoted piece of advice that sometimes rubs me the wrong way: “Live everyday as though it were your last.”
To me, that can be short-sighted, selfish, hedonistic, uncharitable, rude, or opportunistic. There are certainly times when we shouldn’t throw it to the wind. We should often take care to live today like there is a tomorrow – so that tomorrow is all it can be.
The implications for your organization and it’s brand development are strong. Simply, a business cannot think only of the present if they are interested in building a brand. A brand says, “we’re here, today, tomorrow, or whenever you need us, ready to serve you and meet your needs.” A brand’s marketing and advertising needs to communicate that.
The opposite of a brand is a commodity that screams, “Sale! Today only! Call us now! We are awesome! Your opportunity (and our success) lives or dies right now!” Those businesses take advantage of their customers.
And they don’t build trust. Hurried messages can’t make the type of promises that you can deliver on over and over again. A brand is a promise. And, without a concerted effort to build a brand, it becomes difficult for people to become advocates and fans of who you are.
All of this is directly tied to the religious significance of this season:
Hanukkah is a holiday that celebrates longevity. Consecrated oil that was thought to only be able to burn for one day miraculously burned for eight days.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, whose very coming was predicated on God’s desire to redeem the world so that people could live forever with Him.
Right on the cusp of every new year we are reminded of what endures. Does your organization – does your brand – follow the theme of that song?
“All you and Lisa ever do is come home, turn on the tv, and then do your own thing on your computers as you sit on the sofa all night long.”
So says my wife’s brother who lives with us.
Certainly, my wife and I are not going to have deep conversation nor get cuddly while he’s around, right? He has a limited perspective of how we spend our time.
The problem is that his limited perspective creates his entire framework for how he sees our marriage. It’s arrogant.
And we all do it.
We so often use our limited perspective to give us our entire framework of looking at something. Like my brother-in-law, we let our perceptions of something project realities that aren’t always true. We are all arrogant.
This happens in business all the time. The limited (and jargon-laden) perspective of a business owner will often provide the entire framework for how that organization communicates with their prospects and customers. The message will be about the company, in the language of the company, and about things that the company cares about.
But remember: marketing and advertising are not about you. Each ought to be used to serve your audience. Messages should be about your customer, in the language of your customer, and about the things your customer cares about.
At Wordswell, we define brand development as “telling the truth about who you are – quicker.” It’s a process that requires humility. Only when we are humble can we speak someone else’s language. Any only then can we convey real meaning.
How do we meaningfully communicate the truth about something (e.g. our organizations)? 1) Realize our perspectives are limited. 2) Listen.
Ya hear?
brody
P.S. The best advertising merely echoes that which people are already saying about you. Research is a key element of brand development. That’s why Wordswell helps our clients research what they should say before they say it. When we interview your clients to see why they love you, you get invaluable information about your brand. (And, along the way, you get some huge customer service points with your audience.)
Message Creation isn’t just about getting you a website, logo, or brochure.
With Message Creation you bring into focus the value you offer your audience, establish your voice in a crowded world, earn the right to have influence, and deliver on the promise that is your brand.
Wordswell helps our clients do this. And we offer production leadership and creative consulting when it comes time to create your identity, website, email campaign, film, etc.
This Communiqué is written by Steve Smallman, Creative Director at 15four Integrated Media. 15four creates amazing films of all varieties. You can see their film portfolio here. 15four is a partner with Wordswell in creating great messages and distribution channels for our clients.
Our New Office Space
It’s funny that for weeks after we moved into our new office space, the sign of the previous tenant was still on the front of the building. It wasn’t really helping the cause, you might say.
We called a sign company to install our new 15four Integrated Media sign – and it looks great! The colorful character that installed our sign was also the owner of the sign company. I just had to talk to him.
“How’s your business holding up?” I asked.
“I hate to admit it ’cause I don’t wish bad times on anybody else, but we’re booming right now,” he replied. I was surprised. He continued, “We make signs. When businesses struggle, they need a bigger sign. So we’ve been building a lot of signs.”
Using Film as a Sign
A sign is anything that points to something else. The goal is to create ideas or images that point people to you.
Integrating short films on your website is a way of building a bigger sign. Companies are quickly realizing that their static web content must get a voice and a personality. Your message must be dynamic and engaging to be the biggest and best sign that it can be. This happens through film; film can be a sign that moves people to action. It’s available 24/7, on demand, and has world-wide distribution.
Convert your messages to short films. It’s cheaper than scattered marketing approaches. Integrated film content on your website gets you a bigger sign. We help you build it and hoist it up where everyone can see it.
Your Brand is a Promise
So, how do you get into the tiny decision-making window of your customer or member? Your brand has to “Starbucks” them. When you say “Choose me,” you are making a promise to your audience that you won’t let them down.
As customers/deciders, we need brands to help us make our decisions. We buy based on our emotional attachment to a brand.
Quick Thoughts
Ideas about branding are vast, but take these to the bank. Your brand is:
greater than the sum of its parts: Every aspect of your organization is your brand. Your brand is not just your colors and logo. These merely serve as visual cues to help customers remember your true brand and differentiate you. Instead, the way your employees act, the way you answer your phones, the cleanliness of your restrooms, your perceived value – that’s your promise, your brand.
personal: In addition to “buying billboards”, brands are now having conversations. Technology and social media are opening the doors here. More than ever, brands have personalities like people, and we are asking, “Is he reliable? Is he authentic?”
foundational: Your brand drives everything you do as an organization, internally and externally. It informs hiring, pricing, decor, and management. And it is certainly the base for all communication, PR, and marketing.
a promise.
Before you spend another day and another dime on “marketing” yourself, take a look at your brand. Wordswell can help if you need it.
