Tune Up

One of America's finest young poets, Ange Mlinko, is writing a new column on linguistics for The Nation. Uh oh, sounds highbrow -- and it is, a little -- but also entirely worth your time.

In her first piece, Mlinko reflects on new, conflicting studies on the origin of language. Did language, as one scientist believes, evolve from a mother's need to "extend" her arms when she can't physically comfort a child? Or did language, as another scientist believes, evolve out of humans' need to cooperate with abstract concepts during a hunt?

Most interesting for our business: the studies that show the profound influence "motherese" -- the maternal sing-song voice -- has on infants' willingness and ability to receive language. Could it be that effective business communication isn't just about brevity and clarity, but also about the ability to deliver sweet music?

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090330/mlinko

Quiz Your Audience with Content

As a fan of trivia games in general, I'm obsessed with the TV quiz show Jeopardy. On the road, when settling into a hotel room, if I come across an episode I'll drop everything and focus. Once I've sized up the categories and the competition, people in adjacent rooms might hear a series of staccato ehhh! sounds as I "ring in" and blurt answers (in question form, of course) before the real contestants beat me to the buzzer.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this affinity for the test-your-knowledge format. In fact, trivia games and quiz shows might have something to teach us about content marketing. Consider:

• Simply being approached to participate in a test of knowledge gets some people's emotions, intellect, even adrenaline revved up. 
• There's an inherent promise of value and possibility in a quiz -- you're either going to learn (education), or have multiple opportunities to showcase and be affirmed in your knowledge (validation).
• Information, interaction, calls to action, feedback, measurement -- all occur in a steady stream of small increments, so there's a natural continuity and engagement to a Q&A "touch stream."
• Conceptually, the organization delivering the content is automatically coming at the audience in a value-add way. This is about information-sharing, learning, fun -- it's not a hard sell.

When deciding on a content marketing approach, perhaps as a change of pace or one engaging touch point within a broader campaign, consider the quiz format.

Identify subject matter around which the audience and the brand have shared interest. Then, parcel out relevant information in the form of test-your-knowledge quizzes, questions of the day or week, longer-form continuing ed courses, or your own, unique "did-you-know" execution.

Here's my current favorite example:

When parents register their high schoolers for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), a key step toward college admission, the folks at SAT invite student and parent alike to receive The Official SAT Question of the Day via e-mail. 

This feature gives students a chance to practice (and parents the opportunity to feel humbled), thanks to a daily stream of multiple-choice math and language/grammar questions of the type students face on the SAT.

I registered my high school junior months ago. She tested weeks ago. Yet here I am, still eagerly awaiting and answering daily questions (all the while confirming what a smart move it was to choose journalism over math as my college major).

In other words, SAT has me engaged. And, when it comes to additional reseach and planning around college admissions, I'm likely to return to their Web site as a resource. No question about it.

How to Drive Branded Content

Bibendum

I first met Bibendum (aka the Michelin Man) in London, when I dined in the early 90s at the restaurant named for him in the wildly evocative Michelin House (1909) near Kensington Station. Gargantuan stained glass windows showcased his rotund figure rakishly pedaling a bicycle.

"Well," I thought, "there's a real travel role model." I decided that Bibendum's Michelin Guides and Michelin maps would from then on chart the course for our annual trips to Europe.

In those days, Michelin's restaurant guide was published only in French, but even I could make my way through its clever information architecture. As we traveled down autoroutes and remote country lanes, the guide sat between us and unfailingly pointed the way to large and small restaurants of incredible finesse.

A Content Pioneer

But I digress. I want to point out that the Michelin Guide is, in fact, one of the best and earliest examples of branded content. Like many of today's astute marketers, Andre Michelin, one of the founding brothers of the French tire company, realized that the best growth strategy was to provide the information and inspiration for French consumers to get out on the road. 

Michelin's Red Guide was born in 1900, and its lists of hotels, gas stations and mechanics did indeed popularize leisure travel in Europe until World War 1 interrupted. Restaurants were added after the war in 1920, but the famous star-based rating system did not debut until the 30s.

Michelin said in the introduction to his first guide: "This book was born with the century and will outlive it." What a branded-content visionary he was.

So if you are thinking about adding custom content to your marketing mix, consider the long-term success of content pioneers like Michelin and remember: When you begin to provide valued information to your customers, stay the course. Building a fan base for your brand is a long-term proposition.

Tips and Travel Resources

• If you're brave enough to drive GPS-free, travel through France the old-fashioned way, with a map. Michelin regional maps still set the standard. Or for the best European driving directions, consult www.viamichelin.com. The directions are precise, tell you when it's time to take a break and even give you the cost of the tolls you'll encounter along the way. Hint: get off the highways whenever you can to experience the real joys of the French countryside.
• In these lean times, skip the uber-expensive Michelin-starred restaurants except for very special occasions. Look within your GuideMichelin for a red symbol of Bibendum licking his lips. That "Bib Gourmand" sign means a great meal at a good value. www.michelin.com.
• If you find yourself in London on a sunny afternoon, it would be a shame not to check out my old favorite, restaurant Bibendum. The cafe and crustacean bar downstairs is lessexpensive than the restaurant upstairs, but make sure you see the stained glass windows before you leave. www.bibendum.co.uk
• Europe too expensive right now? The Bibendum Cookbook by Terence Conran, Simon Hopkinson and Matthew Harris will let you sample more than 40 of the restaurant's top dishes. Or try one of the engaging recipes in the best-selling Roast Chicken and Other Stories by founding executive chef Simon Hopkinson. www.amazon.com

 

Opt Out of Snail Mail

Gone are the days when you knew your mail carrier by name, or at least waved and said hello as he drove past. Now, not only do you have to worry about strangers coming into your neighborhood and rifling through your mail, you can’t trust the employees assigned to sort it and deliver it.

A Minneapolis mail handler was recently charged with stealing over $80,000 of Best Buy Reward Zone certificates, buying up lots of electronic goodies, and reselling the stuff to his co-workers. What was once a symbol of a civilized society is now an easy target for theft, identify fraud and waste.

Online recordkeeping may be a safer solution.

E-delivery and online access to account information — including banking and investments, rebates, gift certificates and refunds — is safe, convenient and timely, not to mention environmentally-friendly. It's time to take advantage of this service, and in most cases, sign-up's a breeze. Then, proceed directly to:

1. Cleaning out those file cabinets stuffed with obsolete prospectuses, 10-year old account statements and receipts for things you don’t even own anymore.

2. Creating a new system for managing Web addresses, login IDs, and passwords (like a simple address book that you used to use for snail mail). Keep it in a safe place near your computer, check your accounts regularly, and print out only what you really need on paper.

Yes, even those Best Buy Reward Zone certificates are available online. They send you an email when your certificates are ready; then you just log in, print them out and run to the store (or better yet, shop online).

Computers and electronic recordkeeping aren’t going away. But maybe snail mail should. Or at least offer a choice to “opt out.”

Hollyapolis?

Content is everywhere.

It’s in the books we read, the music we hear, the radio programs we tune into, the magazines we browse, the blogs we visit, the news we watch, the programs we download, the entertainment we consume — well, you get the picture.

But the most densely compressed form of content is film — the quintessential American art form.

The distillation of lights, camera, action. The weaving of story, character and place. The compression of events that drive a story, called “beats” in the screenwriting world. The use of technology that makes the fabulous seem so real. All these come together to capture the imagination in a single aesthetic experience that transports the moviegoer beyond the everyday into a welcome moment of self forgetting.

But to produce a film you need a screenplay. No easy task. Although a great how-to book, "Save the Cat," will lay out the process if you’re so inclined.

Enter three unlikely screenwriters from Minneapolis:

Diablo Cody, Nick Schenk and Ken Rance. Other than the Coen brothers, originally from St. Louis Park, these three talented writers have put the Twin Cities on the map out West.

Last year Cody won an Oscar for “Juno,” her coming-of-age story about a quirky teenager who handles her pregnancy with humor and grace. Currently, another Cody script is in production: “Jennifer’s Body.”

After working as a stripper by night and blogging about it by day, Cody was an overnight success. She’s currently the creative force behind a new Showtime series, the “United States of Tara,” a comedy about a woman with multiple personalities (played by Toni Collette).

This year it’s Nick Schenk, a former fruit truck driver and store clerk who penned the screenplay for “Gran Torino.” Schenk, who did not own a laptop, wrote the script with pen, paper and a little help from his friends at Grumpy’s neighborhood bar in Minneapolis.

A feel-good film directed by Clint Eastwood, “Gran Torino” has been snubbed at the Academy but is doing laps around the competition at the box office. In fact, it will probably be Eastwood’s largest grossing movie yet. Eastwood also plays Walt Kowalski, the protagonist, a crotchety and cantankerous Korean War vet — the character Dirty Harry might have become in his golden years.

Last but not least, Minneapolis-born Ken Rance is the screenwriter of “New in Town,” a romantic comedy about a hard-driving Miami businesswoman transferred from Florida to icebound New Ulm, Minnesota. Starring Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr., it’s a fish-out-of-water story that aims for simple emotions and big laughs — a few at the expense of those tortured Minnesota vowels — ya, you betcha, just like “Fargo.”

While content is everywhere, successful screenwriting isn’t. Yet it’s streaming from the Land of 10, 000 Lakes. Is there something in the water here?

Big Book Overhauls

If you want a quick barometer of the state of the economy, pick up a newsstand magazine. Two years ago, they were as thick as small-town phonebooks – you had to roll up your sleeves and WORK to find editorial content amid all the ads. Today, even the widest circulating brands feel closer to pamphlets than magazines. Ad pages have been slashed – and so has editorial staff.

But despite – or maybe because of – the economic pressure, there’s still exciting creative work being done in print. One of the most blogged-about magazine design shops right now is Pentagram. Pentagram is headed up by Luke Hayman, who has become the Timbalaland of major magazine design, working behind the scenes to give books like the Atlantic much-needed overhauls.

Here’s Hayman sharing a few thoughts on effective magazine design – thoughts which apply to custom publishing as well as newsstand publishing.