When you look at something while listening to music, the thing you’re looking at takes on stunning new meaning. Music creates mood. That’s why great music is key in film and key in the communication of a message.
Music also implies story. Both music and story require the passing of time for them to even exist. Music is completely incoherent if all of the notes of a piece are played at once. Music only has meaning when notes are spread out over time and played in rhythm.
May I make an odd suggestion? Make sure that you have a strategic adviser that’s either a musician or someone who “gets” music deeply. Here’s why:
Music is art that is directly tied to time and process. What’s happening at any given moment only makes sense in the context of what has already happened and what will happen.
There’s movement. There’s change. There’s direction. There’s preparation. There’s fluidity. There’s purposeful tension and dissonance… that resolves. There’s story. And there’s meaning in it all.
Sound like something your organization needs? Music people get it. Have them write your song.
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.
Learning
We all know how Pavlov could ring a bell and get a dog to start drooling.
But do you know about Pavlov’s second experiment? This time he tried to use shapes to stimulate salivation.
Over time, the dog was trained to salivate at the sight of a circle. But he was also trained to stop salivating when a long oval was on display.
Maybe Pavlov was a bit of a sadist when he started to change the shape of the oval to become more circular. When the shapes became very similar in shape “the dog became highly agitated and the previously conditioned reflex was lost.” Ultimately the confused dog ignored Mr. Pavlov entirely.
Mixed Signals
Here’s the lesson: If you want people to complete an action that you desire, your message must be singular, focused, clear, and repetitive. Your message must be bound to a need your audience already feels.
Are you sending mixed signals? Why don’t you figure out your own story and tell it over and over. Make sure your customer is the main character.
Otherwise, people might stop listening to you and you’ll be left with drool to clean up.
Here’s to an effective 2009. Happy New Year!
Brody
Chances are you have some idea, message, business, or vision that needs to be heard.
But, chances are it’s not moving people. Sometimes it’s trapped because:
people haven’t heard you
they may have heard you, but your idea doesn’t mean anything to them
you know there’s technology out there, but you can’t get it to effectively tell your story
you don’t have the time, energy, or resources to get your message out there
Each of those is a closed door. Wordswell is here to help you kick them open.
The marriage of innovative strategy, clear writing, and potent ideas with polished design, sweet websites, and alluring media and technology (e.g. film, email newsletters, and social media) is how Wordswell makes your message grow legs and get running.
Top-to-bottom consistency makes Wordswell’s approach more effective than a “field of silos” marketing effort. A Wordswell project is infused with strategic, results-based, compelling, and practical solutions. We call it message creation.
Message creation when ideas matter. Here’s the fun part: it’s your ideas that matter. We’re here for you.
