Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Straightforward ads outgun metaphorical ads
Straightforward ads outgun metaphorical ads
Many people appreciate a good metaphor in an ad, whether it is of the verbal or visual. The problem with metaphors, according to a study in the Journal of Advertising, is that the ads can be left open to many implied meanings that have nothing to do with the actual content of the ad. This creates confusion in the minds of consumers. Openness appears to be the real issue according Luuk Lagerwerf and Anoe Meijers in their study that compares metaphorical to straightforward ads. Openness in an ad increases as the number and types of visual cues increase. A metaphorical or straightforward ad with many visual cues is considered open in comparison to an ad with one cue, which is considered closed. The authors found that consumers like and comprehend straightforward ads better than metaphorical ads, with open straightforward ads out performing all other types ads considered in the study. While those of us in the advertising business might like metaphors because we consider them creative, consumers appear to like ads they can easily understand while still getting a small dose of visual art as a reward. “Openness in Metaphorical and Straightforward Advertisements” is published by Luuk Lagerwerf and Anoe Meijers in the Summer 2008 “Journal of Advertising,” Volume 37, Number 2, 19-30.
But wait … punsters rejoice! Consumers like a good pun puzzle
Puns or any playful play on words may be considered the lowest form of humor - or even language on vacation. While puns may appear to reside in the language gutter, we all see them used in advertising, suggesting that they have a purpose and that they work. A linguistic analysis of puns found in a sample of British travel ads published in the Journal of Advertising Research provides some legitimacy for puns in advertising. Elmira Djafarova found puns to be a very economical way to get people’s attention and to get them involved in decoding a message. The audience is drawn to an ad by noticing the ambiguity of the pun and is motivated to solve a puzzle. The audience then feels smart when the pun is solved and the relevancy of the message is discovered. Writers and creative directors might groan at the suggestion that puns have their place in advertising, but the simple truth is that research shows that puns work. “Why Do Advertisers Use Puns? A Linguistic Perspective” is published by Elmira Djafarova. in the June 2008 “Journal of Advertising Research,” Volume 48, Issue 2, 267-75. Great Info here from MSU!
With their permission, I will be using excerpts from "Putting Research to Work at Michigan State University"
Where faculty members at Michigan State University help make academic research as relevant as possible for practitionersAbout Us: "Putting Research to Work" is a free subscription service provided to thousands of executives within the nation’s top advertising agencies and public relations firms, courtesy of the Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Retailing at Michigan State University. We invite you to submit comments and feedback to Bruce Vanden Bergh at DrV@msu.edu.
Contributors: Richard Cole, Robert Kolt, Alexandra Przybyla and Bruce Vanden Bergh
Wait Until Web Activists Apply Street-level Organizing PR Techniques
Wait Until Web Activists Apply Street-level Organizing PR Techniques
For a long time, sociologists have looked at how social activist groups stage and frame their messages to rally the troops. So, it would make sense that PR scholars and practitioners would look at the Web sites of social activist groups to see if time-tested organizing techniques are being applied in the Web. Zoch, Collins and Sisco (Public Relations Journal, Vol. 2, No. 4, 2008) combed the Web sites of 304 "activist groups" to see at what stage of PR development the Web activists are. What they found was that the core framing tasks that are the bread and butter of street-level social activists are being missed by the lion's share of the Web activists. Street-level activists are trained to: (1) state the problem being addressed by the group, (2) identify the responsible (polluting, for example) party, (3) indicate what corrective actions need be taken, and (4) calling the individual to action - - what YOU can do about it. They found that only 18% of the Web activist groups were making the best use of their Web campaigns despite the unique communication and relationship-building opportunities created by the Web. Groups and organizations formed to advance a cause should take a more careful look at how they are structuring their public relations message - - particularly if a key purpose of their Web sites is to recruit and motivate new supporters to their cause.
Great Info here from MSU!
With their permission, I will be using excerpts from "Putting Research to Work at Michigan State University"
Where faculty members at Michigan State University help make academic research as relevant as possible for practitionersAbout Us: "Putting Research to Work" is a free subscription service provided to thousands of executives within the nation’s top advertising agencies and public relations firms, courtesy of the Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Retailing at Michigan State University. We invite you to submit comments and feedback to Bruce Vanden Bergh at DrV@msu.edu.
Contributors: Richard Cole, Robert Kolt, Alexandra Przybyla and Bruce Vanden Bergh
Monday, February 15, 2010
I have Been a big fan and admirer of Brian Tracy since 1990 when I won a contest while in training at GTE and received "The Psychology of Selling"
I believe he has the best perspective of and prescription for SUCCESS
in many areas of life. Read these articles and let me know what YOU
think...
you wondering what to do to attract clients and create a surge in
sales? Are you frustrated by getting minimal response to your
advertising or online promotions? Are you asking yourself,
"How can I avoid having my sales and profits dry up in this market?"
"Should I reduce spending on marketing to preserve cash?"
If you're like most business owners and marketers, you're doing
everything you know how to bring in more sales, and you're still not
realizing the profits you want. You've worked for years to grow your
business and now a financial meltdown that you had nothing to do with
is making it harder.
What can you do? You could bury your head in the sand and hope you've
still got a business in a few years. You could copy your competitors'
marketing, but their sales are hurting, too. Or you could ask yourself,
"Is there a way I can actually grow my business in this economy?"
Yes, there are easy and inexpensive ways to increase your profits.
Start with these 3 steps:
1. Change Your Marketing Strategy
When we get the rare
cold spell here in San Diego, I change the clothing I wear. I put on a
sweater or even a jacket. The same is true for your marketing strategy;
when the economic climate changes, you need to respond.
In good times you can get away with fairly ineffective
marketing, and the rising tide will float your boat along with
everybody else's. In an economic downturn, you can't afford to be
haphazard about your marketing. You'll pay the price in reduced sales.
Spending money on ads or mailings that barely generate sales isn't
affordable anymore.
2. Focus Your Efforts
While fusion food is popular here in San Diego, we don't have a single
restaurant that is a combination of French, Italian, Mexican and
Chinese cuisines. Can you imagine a pasta dish with jalapeno cream
sauce and a ginger root topping? It'd taste terrible. That's not a
time-tested combination of flavors; it's a mess in the kitchen.
Unfortunately, most small business marketing isn't much more than a
mess in the kitchen, a collection of sales and marketing activities
that don't work together. Many businesses don't grow as fast as they
could because they don't have an optimized marketing strategy or a
system for implementing it.
3. Use Cost Effective Marketing Strategies
Let me tell
you a secret. Some of the most effective marketing and selling tools
are inexpensive or even free. Most people don't use them, so when you
do, you can easily beat the competition. 92% of businesses overspend on
marketing. They're wasting money on marketing that isn't getting
results.
You may be doing all the right marketing activities, but without an
effective marketing system, you could be struggling for a long,
unprofitable time.
are books, articles and multi-day courses on listening. There are
audio/video-learning programs that include hours of instruction and a
variety of exercises. They are all valuable and helpful, but what they
teach can be distilled down into a key skill. Your mastery of these
skills, through discipline and practice, is all you need to become an
excellent listener, with all that that entails.
Listen Attentively When Others Speak
The best listening
skill is to listen attentively. Lean forward; face the prospect
directly rather than at an angle. Focus your attention on the prospects
face, on his or her mouth and eyes.
Hang On Every Word
Listen without interruption. Listen as
though you were hanging on every word the prospect was saying. Listen
as if the prospects were about to give you the winning lottery number
and you would only hear it once. Listen as if this were a million
dollar prospect who was just on the verge of giving you a major order.
Listen as if there were no one else in the world to whom you would
rather listen at this moment than this prospect, and to what this
prospect is saying.
The Most Important Skill of All
The ability to pay close,
uninterrupted attention to a person when he is speaking is the primary
listening skill. It is the hardest facility to develop and is
simultaneously the most important of all. It requires continuous
practice and discipline. And it's not easy. It is hard to keep your
thoughts from wandering, but the payoff is tremendous.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, imagine that your customer is the most fascinating
person in the world. Hang on every word as if he was about to place a
million dollar order.
Lastly, lean forward when your customer speaks. Nod, smile,
agree and be both active and involved. Listening builds sales
relationships.
I believe he has the best perspective of and prescription for SUCCESS
in many areas of life. Read these articles and let me know what YOU
think...
Tracy
business success in the world today. His fast-moving talks and seminars on
leadership, sales, managerial effectiveness and business strategy are loaded
with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that people can immediately apply to
get better results in every area. For more information, please visit Brian on
the web at: www.briantracy.com.
By Brian Tracy
Excerpt From: Sales Success
Areyou wondering what to do to attract clients and create a surge in
sales? Are you frustrated by getting minimal response to your
advertising or online promotions? Are you asking yourself,
"How can I avoid having my sales and profits dry up in this market?"
"Should I reduce spending on marketing to preserve cash?"
If you're like most business owners and marketers, you're doing
everything you know how to bring in more sales, and you're still not
realizing the profits you want. You've worked for years to grow your
business and now a financial meltdown that you had nothing to do with
is making it harder.
What can you do? You could bury your head in the sand and hope you've
still got a business in a few years. You could copy your competitors'
marketing, but their sales are hurting, too. Or you could ask yourself,
"Is there a way I can actually grow my business in this economy?"
Yes, there are easy and inexpensive ways to increase your profits.
Start with these 3 steps:
1. Change Your Marketing Strategy
When we get the rare
cold spell here in San Diego, I change the clothing I wear. I put on a
sweater or even a jacket. The same is true for your marketing strategy;
when the economic climate changes, you need to respond.
In good times you can get away with fairly ineffective
marketing, and the rising tide will float your boat along with
everybody else's. In an economic downturn, you can't afford to be
haphazard about your marketing. You'll pay the price in reduced sales.
Spending money on ads or mailings that barely generate sales isn't
affordable anymore.
2. Focus Your Efforts
While fusion food is popular here in San Diego, we don't have a single
restaurant that is a combination of French, Italian, Mexican and
Chinese cuisines. Can you imagine a pasta dish with jalapeno cream
sauce and a ginger root topping? It'd taste terrible. That's not a
time-tested combination of flavors; it's a mess in the kitchen.
Unfortunately, most small business marketing isn't much more than a
mess in the kitchen, a collection of sales and marketing activities
that don't work together. Many businesses don't grow as fast as they
could because they don't have an optimized marketing strategy or a
system for implementing it.
3. Use Cost Effective Marketing Strategies
Let me tell
you a secret. Some of the most effective marketing and selling tools
are inexpensive or even free. Most people don't use them, so when you
do, you can easily beat the competition. 92% of businesses overspend on
marketing. They're wasting money on marketing that isn't getting
results.
You may be doing all the right marketing activities, but without an
effective marketing system, you could be struggling for a long,
unprofitable time.
By Brian Tracy
Excerpt From: Entrepreneurial Success
Thereare books, articles and multi-day courses on listening. There are
audio/video-learning programs that include hours of instruction and a
variety of exercises. They are all valuable and helpful, but what they
teach can be distilled down into a key skill. Your mastery of these
skills, through discipline and practice, is all you need to become an
excellent listener, with all that that entails.
Listen Attentively When Others Speak
The best listening
skill is to listen attentively. Lean forward; face the prospect
directly rather than at an angle. Focus your attention on the prospects
face, on his or her mouth and eyes.
Hang On Every Word
Listen without interruption. Listen as
though you were hanging on every word the prospect was saying. Listen
as if the prospects were about to give you the winning lottery number
and you would only hear it once. Listen as if this were a million
dollar prospect who was just on the verge of giving you a major order.
Listen as if there were no one else in the world to whom you would
rather listen at this moment than this prospect, and to what this
prospect is saying.
The Most Important Skill of All
The ability to pay close,
uninterrupted attention to a person when he is speaking is the primary
listening skill. It is the hardest facility to develop and is
simultaneously the most important of all. It requires continuous
practice and discipline. And it's not easy. It is hard to keep your
thoughts from wandering, but the payoff is tremendous.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, imagine that your customer is the most fascinating
person in the world. Hang on every word as if he was about to place a
million dollar order.
Lastly, lean forward when your customer speaks. Nod, smile,
agree and be both active and involved. Listening builds sales
relationships.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
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