To-Do List-itis

The last postcard in our campaign. It isn’t really about marketing. But if you’ll allow me, it’s about more than business. In his classic documentary, “Running Out of Time,” Robert Krulwich explores “The paradox of modern life … that we have more labor-saving devices but less free time.” That “in Japan, karoshi (“death from overwork”) is accepted as a valid cause of fatalities among middle-aged men” and the irony that the people in wealthiest nation on earth take two weeks of vacation, “contrasted with those in Europe, where 5-6 weeks of vacation per year are common.”

It’s about a philosophy. As a cancer survivor, as a survivor of sliding off I-94 at 70mph into a snow-filled ditch with my daughter, as a survivor of the 60’s, recessions, depressions, orphaned and grandfathered, I believe life is precious and short. I believe we are lucky to work in the creative arts – a field of great mirth and joy – with co-workers and clients who smile (you can even sign up for our humorgram!). We, at Sinard, try to bring some of that joy to every project, every day.

And so, while it is a false promise to suggest that your vacation time will increase, your blood pressure will go down and you’ll have more free time if you work with us, perhaps one of these things will happen, if just a little. At very least, you’ll know your to-do list will be in the trusted hands of world’s only Licensed Social Media Therapists!

For more about our newly-concluded “Fear of” campaign, featuring Blogophobia, Facebookitis and the rest, go to www.sinard.com/treatment.

Dissociative Catalog Identity Disorder

We make both kinds of catalogs: gorgeous print catalogs (go to your nearest Rainbow Play Systems dealer and pick one up!), and equally gorgeous and effective websites, including eCommerce sites with thousands of SKU’s.

They are not the same. Where we put tremendous thought and effort into the style, look and feel of a print catalog, that becomes the point of departure for the web version.

Layout/Design

Print projects can be created in a huge variety of sizes, but that size is determined at the outset by the designer (on advice from sales, marketing and consumers). Once printed, it won’t change: what’s designed is exactly what the customer sees. Web designers, on the other hand, have no control over what sort of monitor people are going to be viewing on. 1280 x 1024? Smaller? Larger? iPhone? 960? Wider? Will the screen tend toward blue? Green? Red? This is much closer to Television design, where students were taught to memorize the National Television Standards Commission standards (NTSC) with the pneumonic: “Never Twice the Same Color.”

Ecommerce Usability

Ecommerce design is at the mercy of a thousand technological and usability contingencies which need to be factored in before the first graphic is made.  And of course, since websites are active, we have an extra metric – time. If you want your ecommerce site to have a full page Black Friday graphic, make sure you tell your designer when he’s making wireframes in April.

Interactivity

In a print catalog, information design is all about optimizing a classic linear form – table of contents up front, content in a straight-forward order, index, the end. But with a website linearity is out the window. Your customer may want to learn about ice cream by flavor, calories, size, location … multiple entry-points give prospects the way they prefer to get to information they deem critical. Managing and designing information in a way that gives viewers constant, clear, opportune options is the most difficult part of web design. Your prospect will give you only moments to orient themselves before they type in your competitor’s URL.

Creating your ecommerce site with an understanding of how people search allows for immediate client satisfaction, minimal frustration, and maximizes the sales funnel effect – the information channel which leads from the homepage to the Buy button. Because unlike a print catalog, which at best refers you to a website or phone number, your website should be making sales.

If you’re a very small company that has simply moved your print catalog online as a pdf, we can help. We have a friend who put his entire several-hundred page catalog on the web — as is — with “page-turn” effects. He’s gone through marketing media therapy. His sales are better now.

Dulliosis

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everything said above about catalogs must be applied to the website as a whole. But it is true that the most focus goes to the homepage, and the design that flows from it. There are many studies showing how people react to various layouts and designs – what works, what doesn’t. All newspapers have headlines and columns. The familiarity makes for ease-of-use.

But familiar doesn’t have to be “foolishly consistent,” ie., dull. Far too many sites are, in another word, staid. Now especially, as the worlds of computer monitors and TVs merge, motion media, such as animation and short-short videos, are more important than ever. Video remains the most effective, powerful medium in current use. Slide shows are better than nothing, but too many people that should really have meaningful motion, don’t.

That doesn’t mean you have to turn your homepage into something like the “The Daily Prophet” in Harry Potter (although that would be cool). There is rich, fertile ground between Google’s homepage and Avatar. But should you be that person who wants to be the artist, iconoclast, eccentric or maverick, we could make your site round, or triangle, or voice-controlled.

Or not. Because in communications there is something called the “bandwagon effect.” In art, the same flaw is called “derivative.” That is to say, there’s nothing wrong with your design following conventional standards – because they work for most people.

In either case, be you innovator or not, if you or someone you love has Dulliosis, Dissociative Catalog Identity Disorder, or other Social Media Malady, call us. After all, as “the world’s only Licensed Social Media Therapists”, it is our duty to keep our public informed!

For more about the “Fear of” campaign, featuring Blogophobia, Facebookitis and the rest (appearing weekly 9/27 – 11//15) go to www.sinard.com/treatment

Whether it’s on a DVD, TV or the web, when you put out that brand new video, the last thing you want is your audience thinking: “This looks cheap.” “My kid could make that.” “What are they even selling?” “I don’t get it.”

What you want your audience to think is, “I’m going to forward this to all my friends.”

What they want…  isn’t.

These two extremes – under-producing with lack of concept and over-producing with too much concept – might seem like two very different problems, but what they both share is a disconnection with their audience; usually based on a miscalculation about what people want.

When you’re coming up with a new campaign, the question always is, “what will my prospect/client/audience respond to?” And you always think of the wants first. Your audience wants something from you.

• Testimonials from satisfied customers
• Demonstrations that prove the product
• Pricing that competes with the other brands
• How-tos that make it look easy
• a 30-minute talking head from the Chief Engineer in front of jungle wallpaper (okay, we established they don’t want that)

And the list goes on.

What they really want are benefits, trust, confidence – a combination of rational and emotional appeals. What you want is to promote your brand, your differentiation, your product! You find success where the two intersect.

But don’t just take it from us. All one really needs to know about marketing strategy is this: “the most important characteristic of creative and effective advertising [is] that it [elicits] positive feelings in the viewer related to their self-image.”*

In other words, it’s an emotional response that makes a new customer. Sure, you need to put up the web address and the introductory price and the closest dealer, but none of those are going to matter unless you make your audience feel something.

Here’s a quick quiz. Taco Bell experienced double-digit growth as a result of a campaign featuring:

• A massive, nation-wide sale
• Gorgeous images of their tantalizing offerings
• A talking Chihuahua with a Mexican accent

Maybe that was a fluke. Let’s try another one. Taco John’s experienced double-digit growth as a result of a campaign featuring:

• A massive, nation-wide sale
• Gorgeous images of their tantalizing offerings
• A monkey riding a dog delivering burritos

What do dogs and monkeys have to do with tacos? Nothing (except that they’ll both eat them, in a pinch). But the ads were funny and different and cute. People loved them. And sales went up – double digits.

But enough about tacos.

So you want to make a video that sticks with people. What should it look like? Where does it go? And how much does it cost? With 30 years experience in award-winning production, we could write a book (and maybe we should!). Of course, creating a concept that’s going to deliver that emotional hook to an audience is going to be different for every client, but if you look at the viral video phenomenon you’ll notice a few trends. People tend to have strong reactions to videos that show one of four things: Something incredibly funny, amazing, cute, or awful. Most of you won’t be interested in the Awful category, but the other three qualities are what you find in the videos that really make the rounds. These are qualities that inspire emotional reactions. So whether you’re looking to simply step up your commercial game or aiming to make the next Will It Blend?, your first brainstorming session has got to plan ahead for the watercooler conversation.

If you think you or someone you love is suffering from symptoms of Videoitis or another Marketing Malady, get in touch, or follow along as we continue examining Media Maladies during our campaign over the next few weeks.

This is certainly true of our latest campaign – for ourselves. Our “Fear of” campaign deals with maladies called “Blogophobia,” etc.,  and exhorts treatment by “the worlds only Licensed Social Media Therapists” – us! We hope our prospects find it clever, amusing and relevant, as we’ve directed it squarely at the critical pain-points we’ve worked to overcome for our clients; those pain-points being:

▪ improper use (or absence) of social media, including blogs, Facebook, Facebook Places, Foursquare, Twitter, etc.

▪ inappropriate treatment and use of video

▪ poor translation of sales materials from print to web and vice-versa

▪ ineffective or just plain dull websites, lacking a “you” focus or a sales funnel

Over the course of the next six weeks we’ll post companion pieces to the campaign, elaborating on these pain points with examples and advice that we hope might get you thinking about your own marketing strengths and weaknesses. And we promise, you won’t feel a thing…

Part One: Blogophobia & Facebookchondria

Is your social media marketing working? Is it on a horse? Old Spice, using “two new TV spots, and the online response videos, [sent sales] up a whooping 107%” (read the article here). Best Buy and Target use Twitter and Facebook for brand loyalty and coupon outlets.

But what if you’re not a Fortune 500 company or not in B2C? What if you’re a small retailer or Business-to-Business company? The trick is which social media? For whom? How does it tie in to your larger marketing plan?

For example, Twitter is an absolute no-brainer for every restaurant on earth that has regulars and specials. It’s certainly helped us track down the food carts that have premiered in downtown Minneapolis this summer.

And B2B? We are extremely proud of one of our own success stories: our work for Creative Water Solutions. We created a blog (which they maintain) that allows them to demonstrate their expertise in spa and pool water science at a level of detail that a traditional campaign could never reach. Combined with a multiple channel marketing push and excellent PR, “WaterBlogged” established CWS as the go-to experts for scientific information in their field (a field that’s sorely lacking in good science). The blog has been so successful that their competitors are trying to ape their jargon and keywords. Fortunately for CWS, it’s too late for the competition – they are well on their way to becoming North America’s most trusted source for accurate information in their category.

And so if you think you might have a Social Media Malady, please share them with us, After all, as “the world’s only Licensed Social Media Therapists” J, it is our duty to keep our public informed! So we’ll be examining several Media Maladies during our campaign, especially over the next few weeks. In the meantime, the comments section is open, and the doctor is in…

For more about the “Fear of” campaign, featuring Blogophobia, Facebookchondria and more (appearing weekly 9/27 – 11//10) go to www.sinard.com/treatment.

What’s changing?

Starting on July 1st of this year, any code that touches a credit card must be PCI compliant – not only compliant, but certified as compliant.

Until recently, not storing credit cards, encrypting credit card information (through a secure certificate) and sending the information directly to a Gateway such as Authorize.net for final processing has been regarded as a secure setup. As of July 1st, though, the requirement now includes the security of your shopping cart.

Your shopping cart must be certified as PCI compliant, or you have to find another way of processing credit cards. And the list of certified carts is very short – chances are your cart isn’t on the list. Check the PCI Security Standards Council site (filter by application type: Shopping Cart).

What’s the solution if your cart isn’t compliant?

You can check with the provider and see if they plan on obtaining certification soon. But if you’re a small to medium-size business using an inexpensive or open-source cart, they probably won’t be. Certification is prohibitively expensive for most small cart providers.

The safest and probably cheapest solution is to change your payment processing. You can keep your current cart, but change where the credit card information is collected – outsource that part of the process.

Be sure to look for payment processors that are themselves compliant – that information should be on their site. Paypal is a well-known solution that’s PCI compliant. Another alternative is Authorize.net. Since Authorize.net is one of the most used gateways, there’s a good chance that you’re already using it. If you’re now collecting the credit card information on your site and sending it to Authorize.net, you can have a programmer switch you to Authorize.net’s server integration method (SIM). With this method, all the credit card information is taken at the Authorize.net site, so they’re responsible for security.

What else do you need to do?

Figure out what merchant level applies to you – Visa’s site has a clear listing.

Then follow the requirements for your level. Small merchants (< 20,000 transactions), for example, need to fill out the self-assessment questionnaire -  and may or may not need quarterly security scans. Check with your merchant bank for specific requirements.

You also need to provide security for credit card numbers you take over the phone or in person.

What are the consequences of non-compliance?

Your merchant bank could decide not to let you process credit cards. If you should happen to experience a security breach (stolen credit card number), the credit card company fines could put you out of business. They range from $2000 a day until you’re compliant to $500,000 for a single incident.

A note about our suggestions

There are other ways of dealing with the compliance issue. If your host has great security, you may be able to pass a scan even if your cart isn’t compliant. But as Trust-Guard notes, “it’s important to keep in mind that no matter what your acquirer does or does not recommend that you do in order to be PCI DSS compliant, you could still be financially responsible if something happened.” I.e. if there were a security breach with your host between security scans and credit cards were stolen, you might be fined. We don’t like the uncertainty, so we’re recommending a method that protects against that possibility. You could also switch carts, but that’s likely to be a more expensive solution than changing your processing.

In some marketing departments, they think everyone in sales is named Willy Loman or Shelly “The Machine” Levine. Of course, these same sales people may see themselves as Dale Carnegie or Tony Robbins. The key for management is to remind each group that they weren’t hired to make great theater or start a self-help industry. They are, for better or worse, partners in the same enterprise, critical players on the same team.

The teams start off from the same places – product or service FAB, audience definitions, strategy and leads – but they diverge from there. Marketers pick the appropriate medium to drive Attention, Interest, Decision, Action and Retention (AIDA). Sales people, however, deal with people, not media.

Depending on the product, service and distribution channel, a sales person may use many of the following terms, but all Sales people must decide – usually in moments – whether marketing has succeeded, and whether they are talking to a:

• Suspect: an unqualified lead – not yet attentive or interested

• Opportunity, Contact, Call Back or Prospect: a Qualified lead that has some familiarity, but has not decided to buy “our” brand

After the Pitch, Proposal, Assumptive Close, Trial Close or just plain Close (failure of the aforementioned not-withstanding), there is a:

• New Customer: someone who has purchased, but not re-purchased

• Client, Established Customer: repeat business

This is quantitatively and qualitatively different than marketing.

Can’t we all just get along?

What can be confusing is that there are many other similarities between the two. Both the successful sales person and successful marketer wishes to gain trust; both try to handle objections. But only the sales person presents and closes sales. Both sales and marketing work to retain clients. But few marketers get a person-to-person earful when a marketer has over-promised.

And this is critical: Marketing, along with operations, needs to listen to sales, to know what worked and what didn’t. Do sales people hear what they want to hear? Do sales people sell to their strengths? Are they human? Of course, and that’s why marketing needs to balance sales feedback with up-to-date demographic and psychographic information. This is usually where problems arise – when marketing finds facts that will mean new markets, transitions, uncomfortable changes. But in the long run, the two must work hand-in-glove, for mutual improvement, and improvement of the bottom line.

Why Brands Should Embrace Technological Change

Worst Smithy Ever.

The best thing that business owners can do is be aware and, when possible, get involved. Google Alerts is an excellent way to monitor your reputation online. Sign up for the free service, and Google Alerts will scour the web for your company name and send you reports on where you’re popping up. Additionally, find out where your audience gathers online to talk. Track down the forums that cover your business, and join the discussion. And remember, this isn’t a place to sell, it’s a place to contribute. Show expertise in your field, be helpful, ask questions — this is how you build an online reputation that can gain you customers, and maybe, silence a few of the critics.

Restauranteur? Visit Chowhound.

Brewer? Try BeerAdvocate.

Blacksmith? Iforgeiron.

If it exists in this universe, there’s a forum about it, and someone’s finishing a Worst of 09 list.

Constant Vigilance… isn’t worth it

This doesn’t mean non-stop, white-knuckled, late-night web-surfing. Find a few top sites, and check them out once a week. Skim through your Google Alerts and take action if necessary. Participate in the discussion, but don’t obsess. Just understand that everyone’s a critic, some of them are jerks, and some battles just can’t be won.

Read the CP article

Thinking outside the box means thinking outside traditional normatives and mores. But normatives and mores are the building blocks for shared communication. They are our way of thinking and behaving. By living inside the borders (created by the the famous “nine dots” puzzle) we are safe and comfortable. To go beyond their borders means “art.” No more, no less. And I include scientific discovery and prophesy in that realm.*

Connect all the dots using four lines, without lifting the pen off the paper. Hint: Think outside the box.

In other words, truly thinking outside the box means Picasso, John Cage, Trio-X, and every 100th student at MIT and CalArts. Being outside the box is strange, unusual, weird, uncanny, awful, smelly, messy and unique. It can also be fantastic, glorious, transcendent – and quite scary and lonely. We know. We’ve been there.**

What most trainers and marketers usually really want is derivative thinking.

Derivatives are not merely instruments of unethical financial behavior. They are based on well-known social conventions, such as TV shows. When BMW commissioned a video for webcast, it is a derivative of broadcast moved to the new medium. Placing videos on YouTube is a synthesis of TV and Americans Funniest Home Movies. These ideas are new, refreshing, fun and not outside the box.

Which is why advertisers long-ago coined the term “edgy,” with, perhaps, an unconscious nod to “the box.” Being “on the edge” can be a metaphor for many potential changes – from emotionally explosive to physical danger. But “edgy” is most often used in ad lingo to describe, I submit, that border between derivative and the truly unique – that which is “outside the box.”

The truly unique

Why should you care? The truly unique is ground-breaking; it evokes an emotional response, sometimes a physical reaction, and occasionally provokes actual thought. Thought, of course, is often unwelcome, and is unnecessary in the Attention stage of adoption-diffusion and advertising. But if the emotion is strong enough – especially if it is positive – it can push a clients brand into instant recognition, and prospects scurrying to discover more.

Being outside the box isn’t for everyone, and deciding how far to go outside the box is fraught with second-guessing. So if you’re thinking of going there, call us for a tour. It’s where we work on many days, before we drive home in our solar powered cars to our cubist homes and minimalist pets.
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*Great authors on the subject include C.P. Snow and Dr. Rudolf Arnheim.

*Sinard has been a consistent early adapter of new – outrageously new, and often unique – technology and art. We were amongst the first to use a new technology called videography in 1970; “interactive” in 1984; digital video editing in 1987; Sandin Image processing in 1990, and Portable Domes in 1997. Have you seen our interactive surfaces and environmental objects?