Satin and a Bologna Sandwich

 "Mystery guest, will you sign in, please?" Those of you who are of a certain age may remember as I do, glamorous Arlene Francis wearing an evening gown and a black eye mask on the long-running game show What's My Line?

What you may not know is that in 1961, Ms. Francis was another pioneer of branded content. As author of "No Time to Cook," she gave readers a backstage glimpse of her New York apartment as she extolled the convenience of cold cuts for the Schweigert meat companyToday's organically minded families would be aghast by her introduction: "We're the luckiest cooks in world history. Many of our goods are so miraculously processed, pre-prepared and packaged that miracle is the only word to use for them."

Consider the recipe for "Party Babs." It begins: "On four skewers arrange folded slices of pork luncheon meat and salami with maraschino cherries, dried apricots and pineapple chunks."

Impeccably coiffed New York actress promotes bologna? An odd partnership, you might say. For 21st century content marketers in search of a celebrity spokesperson, I'd suggest a more disciplined approach to matchmaking. Make sure your brand and your star look good in the same picture.

Art & Copy

When I first caught wind of this new documentary about the advertising industry, Art & Copy, I was instantly interested in seeing it. Here's the trailer. (I hope the film isn't nearly as self-congratulatory as this, um, advertisement makes it appear.)

 

It appears that the work and ideas of the legendary George Lois are featured prominently in the film. If so, that's probably reason enough to give it a viewing. Look for it at a theater near you.

A lesson in customer service…from an unexpected place

Let me preface this by telling you I'm not a car guy. I can change a tire, check tire pressure, wash the thing, replace wiper blades, fill up my windshield washer fluid, and maybe change my oil. That's about it. When mechanics explain things to me about my car, I usually nod and grunt so as to appear manly. But on the inside I feel more like your typical soccer mom, thinking to myself—Like, what does that mean?—while sipping on my venti low-fat, no-whip, double shot caramel macchiato. Well, maybe not that girly, but you get the idea. I'm not a guy car—in fact, I'd say I find car guys slightly intimidating. I'll admit it.

So when I go to places like Welle Auto Supply, or NAPA Auto Parts, I expect to be a little looked down upon. Do you know what I mean? I'm sure you've come across the IT guy who makes you feel two feet tall for not understanding what a startup script is, or the do-it-yourself guy who scoffs at you because you can't put on a new roof by yourself, or the man's man who grunts his disapproval at you because you don't know the difference between an AK-47 and a .357 magnum. You know the feeling.

So...my point. The other night I had to go into NAPA Auto Parts because my bulb went dead on my left headlight. I approached the guy at the counter, and, the conversation went like this:

Me: "I need a headlamp for a 2005 Mitsubishi Galant."
NAPA guy: "High-beams or low-beams, sir?"
Me: "Low beams," I responded quickly, pleasantly surprised at being called "sir."

At this point he taps around on his computer for a while, and then asks, "Do you know if it has one bulb or two?"

I have no idea, really, and I sheepishly admit it.

"No problem, sir," the guy says. "I'll go check." So he goes outside (it was raining, I might add) and checks for me, and discovers that, yes, it is only one bulb. Not only did the guy save me the hassle of potentially buying the wrong thing, but he also did it without making me feel dumb. I was—again—pleasantly surprised. He then told me to have a great night, and thanked me for shopping at NAPA.

Sometimes it's the little things that make or break a customer or client experience—in the case of the friendly NAPA guy, it was probably no huge deal to him, but it left a big impact on me. I left the store a satisfied customer, and I'll definitely go back—maybe even touting a venti low-fat, no-whip, double shot caramel macchiato.

Sweet Nothings

When we think “content,” we may envision weighty discourse on important subjects. Sometimes, though, it’s how we say the little things that makes the biggest difference.

 

Just this week, for example, I received a communication from my credit card company. The letter stated that “due to significant changes challenging the economy,” the interest rate on my card would double effective immediately. As it happens, I’ve never been late with a payment, I carry minimal balances, and I have excellent credit. Since the cost of borrowing has actually gone down due to the state of the economy, the only conclusion I could reach is that the bank is trying to recoup the cost of their bad credit decisions at the expense of their good customers.

 

What really irked me, though, is the disingenuous way they communicated their action. Instead of being transparent and telling me that they’re increasing my rate because my account isn’t generating breakeven interest payments, or whatever the real rationale is, they chose to blame generic economic conditions. As a result, they forfeited my trust and lost a customer.

 

As I struggle on behalf of our clients over wording for seemingly mundane communications, I put myself in the recipient’s shoes. How do I convey the message, especially if it’s bad news, in a way that respects a customer’s right to honesty while reflecting necessary brand and legal requirements? It’s not glamorous as content goes, but it is essential. The customer relationship depends on it.

Creativity on the Rise.

It’s interesting to speculate on how human consciousness evolves as the result of technology. When the printing press was invented, people began to read more. Eventually, consciousness shifted and become more knowledge based and “interiorized.” What effect is the Internnet having?

 

In his book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, best-selling author Daniel Pink argues that today's workplace has shifted from an "Information Age" of knowledge to a "Conceptual Age" of creativity and right-brained aptitudes.

 

Who knows where this will lead. One thing we do know. Right-brained attributes like design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning connect with people. By developing and cultivating these six "senses, workers can increase their value in today's workplace. In other words, creators and empathizers have the competitive advantage in today's economy.

 

One of the most right-brained creatives I’ve met is a guy named Mark Fenske. I heard him speak at the Creative Summit held in Minneapolis back in the late 1990s. An ad god from Weiden Kennedy, he had big-time credentials. He founded the Bomb Factory, created the “Right Now” music video for Van Halen and became the voice of Subaru telling car buyers not to be snobs — to name a few. Yet he took the stage with humility, wearing jeans, a flannel shirt and work boots. His slide show about the creative process blew me away.

Here’s a sample slide: “When you walk, things move toward you.”

 

What he meant was pretty simple, yet the way he put it was completely original. Taking steps to solve a creative problem — doodling, flipping through a magazine, thinking, brainstorming, researching, engaging in word associations — eventually puts us in a right-brained state of mind and creates the conditions for insight.

 

Creativity is a meandering process. Doing the work teaches us how to do the work. I looked Fenske up on the web recently. He’s teaching creative thinking at Virginia Commonwealth University. Here’s another quote: “Great work in advertising isn't about making people feel bad about who they are. Great work points at value. It finds people at their most human and says, there, like that. You must be as human as you can be to generate connections between products and living/breathing/thinking people.”

 

A good rule of thumb when creating branded content.

Content + Software = Branded Experience

Hillel Cooperman knows a thing or two about software. After all, he formerly directed the Windows user interface team at Microsoft.

During last month's Custom Content Conference in Miami, Cooperman spoke about what he sees as the next generation of online brand advertising: the Branded Software Experience. His main point:

Software and content are becoming so intertwined,
there's no longer much point in drawing any distinction.

"The line between content and software is no longer relevant," Cooperman said. "Branded software is already the new branded content. Brands will be in the software business."

Indeed, a broader takeaway to be drawn from Cooperman's comments is this: Content is more than articles. More than Web copy. More than words.

For the record, a working definition of content that we use here at Hanley Wood Marketing (one that's served us and our clients fairly well for a few years now) is this:

Value-adding information, interactions and experiences
by which brands engage and build affinity
with the audiences vital to their success.

Picture content as encompassing -- but also going well beyond -- words and articles, and suddenly all sorts of possibilities emerge for adding value and sparking engagement. 

Cooperman cited as a prime example of software/content convergence Nike+. If you haven't seen or heard of it, Nike+ is, well, I'm not sure there's a label for it. Yet. Let's call it a product-software-lifestyle mashup developed expressly for a target audience. In this case, runners.

Here's another example: A few years back, HWM had as a client a heavy-equipment manufacturer. This client had done extensive research on how its machines compared with competitors' on more than 40 performance factors of relevance to buyers and end users.

Unfortunately, that data sat in a three-ring binder at headquarters. Then, one day, the client asked us if there were a way to get the data into the hands of dealers. There was. We developed a piece of custom software -- a competitive-sell configurator -- that empowered dealers to instantly generate detailed, side-by-side performance comparisons among competing front-end loaders. Suddenly, they had a powerful new way to engage potential buyers in strategic sales conversations.

It's these sorts of tools, not only white papers and webinars, that are defining the edge of innovation in branded content. Widgets. Generators, Configurators. Calculators that let customers, prospects or stakeholders accomplish real work, or real lifestyle fulfillment.

Where in your business is there a junction where value-adding content and software can powerfully converge? On your Web site? An in-store kiosk? In the hands of the sales force? On your employee intranet?

When you find it, and make it happen, stand back: That explosion you're about to hear is a value-adding branded experience.

Got a favorite example of a content-software convergence that's driving your business? Your comments and case examples are welcomed.

Photo credit: Custom Publishing Council

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Butter

Now that we live in an era where Bob Dylan plugs Pepsi on TV and Ghandi's image is used to sell Apple computers, it's hard to be shocked when a cultural icon of any kind is appropriated for advertising purposes.

Or so I thought.

You'll do a double take, then you'll do a triple take: John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten, lead singer of the seminal punk rock band the Sex Pistols, is a product spokesperson. He who once sang "Anarchy in the U.K." is now singing the praises of -- wait for it -- butter.

(Not incidentally, sales of Country Life butter jumped 85 percent in the quarter following the ad first airing last year.)