RCRDG Blog

Kicking Butt with Social Media

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 21:07:00 GMT

While the world really doesn't need another poorly designed infographic, this one actually contains some pretty good content about making the most out of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It's part of a white paper developed by the Awareness Networks.

Effective Website Copywriting

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Content, content, content - the 3 Keys to Maximizing Your Online Presence. But if you're not used to writing for your audience, much less doing it online, the result is often endless prose, lack of direction, and the dreaded "online brochure".

Smashing Magazine is a great design blog out of Germany where I get a lot of great ideas and inspiration. But I found this post on copywriting to be spot on. Definitely worth 15 minutes of your time and a lifetime of practice! I love the word "Blandvertising" and I love this bit:

Using complicated, fancy words does not make you seem any smarter or your solution any better—it just turns everybody off. Who wants to read something that doesn’t feel like it’s written for them? Talk to people like a real human. If you wouldn’t use a phrase on your website in a conversation with a customer, then don’t use it.

Read the full article on Smashing Magazine »

Not Market Share...Shared Purpose

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Fascinating article from the Harvard Business Review about the metaphors we use for what we do (in this case, marketing and branding) and how changing those metaphors could restore the human component of doing business that seems to be so lacking. Have you ever thought about your customers as "co-creators" and not your "target market". If not, then maybe you need to change your metaphor.

We marketers must become...more choreographer than strategist; more dancer than soldier. As such, we must ask new questions to understand how to take part in the performance.

Good stuff! Read the whole article at the Harvard Business Review »

Social Media Basics

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 06:00:00 GMT

This article from Mashable.com is probably one of the best, simplest primers on how small businesses can use social media. Every sentence rings true for me, and I've heard myself saying most of them to most of my clients. Businesses often feel like they "need" to do something with social media, but rarely appreciate the appropriate tone to take and how much work it can actually be to have a consistent social media presence. But as you build your tribe, social media will be one of the most important modes of communication and interaction, so it's worth the time and effort to hone this skill.

Social media is all about building relationships and growing trust. This means answering questions, providing helpful information, and serving as a trusted resource. These activities should grow your bottom line, but it can be a slower, more nuanced, and potentially more fruitful journey than you’ve come to expect.

Read the whole article on Mashable.com »

How to Make Your Zombies Stand Out

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:45:00 GMT

If there's one thing the video game world has had enough of, it's zombie games. Ever since the first developer learned how to hack limbs and heads from bodies, they've figured out how to bring those bodies back to life. So it was with little fanfare that developer Techland announced their limb-hacked, blood-soaked contribution to the undead genre, Dead Island, several months ago. The response from the gaming community was a collective "meh". After all, how many more clever ways can you come up with to "kill" zombies?

Turns out there's plenty of clever to go around, and in just two weeks the game has amassed 130,000 Facebook followers, 3.3 million views on YouTube alone, mentions by the LA Times, New York Post, and CBS News, and a movie deal is already in the works. Not bad for a game that no one has even played yet!!!

How'd they do it? Read on and see for yourself...if you dare.

In a masterstroke of creativity and promotion, Techland released the trailer for Dead Island to an unsuspecting world, and the game is now one of the most talked about games of the year. Part Christopher Nolan's Memento and part...well, zombies...the trailer brilliantly tells the story of a little girl and her family's vacation on Dead Island, intertwining two narrative perspectives which meet in the middle because one is shown in reverse! Watch below and decide for yourself.

The lesson is simply this...no industry, genre, product, or service has totally exhausted the limits of creativity, and it's those brave souls who are willing to find that creativity and embrace it that get the attention.

Enough Talk, Let's Fight

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose kung fu skills were the stuff of legend. He traveled the land in search of worthy foes. (Cue prospective worthy foes)..."I see you like to chew. Maybe you should chew...on my fist!" The warrior said nothing, for his mouth was full. Then he swallowed. And then he spoke...

"Enough talk, let's fight!"

So begins the classic opening sequence from Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda. This short exchange reveals a lot about human cynicism and its implications for marketing and communication. Namely, people don't buy the hype. No matter how legendary you claim your skills are, people don't want to talk, they want to fight.

Put another way, don't TELL your audience what you do, SHOW them what you do. Based on many years of working for and with small businesses and not-for-profits, I can say with some confidence that the number one communication challenge for smaller organizations to overcome is the incessant need to talk about oneself, as though volume of word is a suitable substitute for tangible proof. The number two communication challenge is avoiding hyperbolic statements of grandeur as though an educated audience would actually believe what you say.

Recently, a pre-edit website bio from a client in the coaching arena included the following phrases:

"...a lasting result that richly avows the complex diversity of the corporate world."
"Displaying a vivid understanding of the human condition..."
"Uniquely devoted in the realm of organizational relevance..."

I don't even understand what most of that means. The unfortunate reality is that we've moved past the days when people actually trust companies and their advertisers. They want to see the proof. They want to touch the product. They want to be able to align marketing copy with reality.

How do you do it? Pictures. Videos. Blog posts (from the heart, not from the salesman). Podcasts. Testimonials. Reveal the core of who you are through emotional texture and experience, and you can keep the copy to a minimum. The irony is that writing good marketing copy is hard. Revealing who you are and what you do is easy.

Enough talk. Let's fight.

Polishing Turds: A Sad Day for Marketing Integrity

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

No doubt you've heard the phrase "You can't polish a turd" -- meaning no matter how good you try to make something look, people can still tell it's crap. Well apparently it's not true!

In a sad moment for integrity in communication, last night's episode of Mythbusters revealed that a Japanese art form called hikaru dorodango - which involves polishing of balls of dirt to a Pledge-like sheen - also works on animal droppings. With enough time, effort, water and gentle, consistent rubbing, you can make a pile of dung shine like the top of the Chrysler building!

Of course, marketers, politicians and Enron executives have been trying this for centuries, and kudos to them...it works!

The same episode of Mythbusters also revealed that the old business adage "hit the ground running" is actually a bad thing. Apparently, the friction caused by hitting the ground while moving, whether on foot, on a bike or in a car, gets you off to a worse start than if you had just started from a dead stop. So forget about "getting up to speed", spend your time polishing turds...you'll be much better off!

The Little Details

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

So my wife and I finally got with the program and watched Slumdog Millionaire. A brilliant movie, no doubt, with some beautiful cinematography, great acting, and a very clever use of the game show storyline to prompt flashbacks to the major events in the characters' lives. But my favorite creative touch...the subtitles.

As the screengrab demonstrates, director Danny Boyle eschewed the old standby "black bar across the bottom" in favor of color-matched overlay carefully placed for maximum effect in each scene. The beauty of this shot isn't lost for a moment. In fact, the placement of the subtitle emphasizes the loneliness of the child. Beautiful stuff.

What I love about this technique is the attention to detail. Instead of taking what is traditionally a throw-away, "need to do it so people can understand" effort on films, Boyle used the subtitles as part of the scene...a stylistic and thoughtful decision that makes the subtitle work better while making the film more engaging. It's clear that he's considered every detail in a way that elevates the overall work.

So what are the traditional throwaway details in your work? And how could you use them to your advantage, enhancing your constituent's overall experience?

The W and the Art of the Peek

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Just spent a night in downtown Chicago with my wife celebrating my 40th birthday. We splurged and stayed at the W hotel (ok, we Pricelined it, but still...). If you've never stayed at a W, or if you're just a brand junkie, I highly recommend paying a visit to your local W. Not surprisingly, W's are everywhere, and everything ties back to their "Whatever, Whenever" slogan that encapsulates the whole experience.

But one thing that stood out to me was the presentation in the room itself. One wall was dominated with a wall unit that contained the desk, plasma tv, minibar, etc. Most of the doors that covered these items were of the sliding variety, and in a stroke of utter genius, several of them had been opened ever so slightly...enough that you could see something interesting behind, but maybe couldn't tell exactly what. A sucker for a treasure hunt, I opened them instantly. Some were boring...ooh...the outlet strip for your computer. Some were classy...a stylishly lit bottle of wine and some glasses. Didn't matter. The end result was that they got me to interact with the experience. They took that irresistible "What's behind the door?" urge and totally manipulated me into doing something. It worked. It was brilliant.

While most of us don't run hotels...the "peek behind the door" is a strategy we can still use, thanks to the internet. We're drawn to things that seem only partially complete or out of place or intentionally hidden, and when you combine that desire with the internet's ability to hide, show, move, highlight, etc., you can easily get people to engage your site. No...it may not turn everyone into a client...I didn't plug in a computer or buy the wine...but that little level of interaction made the experience stand out from 98% of the other hotel experiences I've had.

Dangling Over the Ledge

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Just revisited the Sears...er Willis...Tower for the first time in probably two decades. From a purely branding perspective, I have to say that I think the Tower is the most cohesively and completely branded attraction I've seen since Disney. Not surprisingly, the brand is essentially "whoa...this is a really big building" and every touchpoint with the visitor is carefully crafted around that brand.

The graphic approach begins as soon as you get in line. Shades of grey and orange, with big, bold, simple fonts and graphic representations of staggering statistics, are everywhere. From the ridiculous...how many thousands of feet of electrical wire in the building...to the sublime..."The Willis Tower is 323 Barack Obamas Tall". While you wait, interactive kiosks bide your time with touchscreen quizzes that instantly compare your results with the 30,000 other visitors. The mandatory video presentation is simply presented but deeply informative, and is current up to and including the recent renaming. My favorite touchpoint was the elevator ride, where a plasma screen tracks your progress as you rocket past other major buildings and structures on your way to the 103rd floor. If you weren't already convinced, by the time you get to the top, the brand is fully entrenched in your mind. Yes, it is a really big building.

But the pies de resistance has to be "The Ledge". For the uninitiated, The Ledge is a big glass box that juts out about 4 feet from the west side of the Skydeck at the top of the Tower. This is the side of the building that drops straight down 1300 feet to the street below. And when I say glass, I mean glass. There is no visible supporting structure to speak of, so when you step out into it, there is nothing below you. You see your feet, and you see the street. It is an incredible visual and sensory experience as energizing as any theme park ride.

What I love about it from a branding perspective is that it pushes the brand to its extreme conclusion...it forces you to decide whether or not you will truly accept the "really big building" brand or not. Sure, the rest of the observation deck is just as high...but heck, it has a floor, roof, and walls and with a name like "Skydeck" it almost sounds like a cruise ship. The Ledge is different...a psychological and visceral experience that forces you to decide how you're going to respond. This is what the ultimate brands - Harley Davidson, Apple, Nike, Victoria's Secret - all excel at. They know they don't appeal to everyone, and that's how they want it. They want you to decide whether or not you are going to be a junkie to the brand, with all of the good and bad that goes along with it. At once they build both a loyal following and staunch opposition.

And so it makes me wonder how often we're willing to push our own brands to that extreme. How often do we force people to either say "yes, I'm bought in" or "no, I refuse". For small businesses or not-for-profits, it's a fascinating prospect...how much are you willing to engage people...how deep are you willing to go for people to experience what you do in a visceral way. How forceful are you being in making them decide to support you or ignore you? Conversely, how much time, resources and effort do you spend dancing around the edges, playing it safe, trying to reach the largest, most benign audience possible, not wanting to put off or discourage the casual prospect?

As business with limited resources, I don't think small business and not-for-profits can afford to do that. They need advocates, not casual purchasers. They need ignore people who complain about the temperature of the Skydeck, and pursue people who are willing stand on The Ledge and have an experience they will remember forever.

The Psychology of Degradation (not what it sounds like)

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Last night I finished reading "Get Real" by the 37signals guys. A great read for anyone, in the web development field or otherwise, who specializes in coming up with great ideas but is overwhelmed by execution. Something they said affirmed a long-standing belief I've had about website development...that contrary to popular opinion, you don't need to make sure that your website works for everyone.

In the book, they describe how in developing BaseCamp they intentionally ignored how the service would function (or not) in Internet Explorer 5, even though at the time IE5 was 7% of the browser market. They made the conscious decision that satisfying that extra 7% was not worth their time or investment. They were willing to lose that 7% of business for the ability to focus on delivering an efficient, top notch product to everyone else.

This decision is contrary to conventional wisdom in both web development and brick-and-mortar sales, and that's why I love it. Why would you intentionally alienate 7% of your potential revenue stream? Simple...it's not worth the trouble.
A similar debate rages around an issue known as "degradation" (hence the title of the post). Degradation is the notion that a particular user will not have the latest technology installed or employed on their computer, and the site needs to accommodate those users with backup technology. A common example is Flash. If a user has Flash "turned off" on their computer, will they be able to navigate or interact with your site? Another common example is Javascript, a programming language that powers web functionality from drop-down menus to forms to client login to slideshows. If someone has Javascript "turned off", how will the user see your site?

Here's my response...who cares. And my response to web designers and developers is equally blunt...just stop it. Stop catering to the lowest common denominator. Stop enabling the unwillingness to adopt modern technology. Stop spending time getting your site to work for less than 10% of users and spend that time creating a killer site for the other 90%. Yes, creating a site that "degrades gracefully" is a purer, more robust form of development. But the only people who will care are the less-than-10% who are 5-10 years behind the curve.

You've heard the adage that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. That same adage works in reverse...80% of your headaches will come from 20% of your customers.

A Little Tarnished: My Experience with Starbucks Gold

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 05:00:00 GMT

I'm a big fan (and consumer) of Starbucks. Their marketing is good, their coffee is good, their tie-in with iTunes is good, their sense of style is good...heck, they even distribute a newsletter called GOOD.

So it was with eager anticipation that I awaited the arrival of my Starbucks Gold Card.

Starbucks Gold is their new membership program that gives you discounts off of pretty much everything, and little freebies along the way. The discount more than covered my annual purchases, so I went online to set myself up.

Herein lies the first problem in what is proving to be a hair-pulling experience with the company I love. My local Starbucks did not hand out actual cards that you could register online...just little promo sleeves. So I went online and found the card ordering process to be ridiculously convoluted. You're exited out of the "Gold" site and into the regular Starbucks site, where you're asked to pick a card, of which the Gold card isn't one. So I pick another one, figuring my order of a Gold Card will be enough to convince them that's what I wanted. Today, my card arrives in all it glorious black and gold-ness. I could almost hear the angels singing...ohhh OOHHH!

I go online to register it...punch in the number on the back of the card, only to be told that it's not a valid Gold Card number. Oh? It's a Gold Card. The number is printed on the back of it. How is it not a valid number. The website says if I have problems I should call the customer service number, which I do.

The automated service then tells me that I need to register my Gold Card online. Are you beginning to see the hair being pulled? I wait patiently and finally am patched through to a customer service rep, who was extremely courteous and helpful, but was totally flummoxed by the whole situation. Apparently the card number they had assigned me in the system was different than the one I received. Apparently they had gotten confused because when I tried to order it online, I picked a different card design...EVEN THOUGHT THERE WAS NO GOLD CARD CHOICE!

So apparently now my case is being elevated to something with the word "Resolution" in it, which sounds good to me. Meanwhile, I've got a dead Gold Card in my hand and a new one coming in 10-12 DAYS?!?

I'm sure it will all be resolved. I'm sure by Thanksgiving I'll be happily sipping my discounted grande soy white mocha. Until then, I will marvel at how the company that does everything so well messed up a promotion designed to capture its most valued customers.