Notes from the point Newsletter 16

We recently completed a theme development and a multitude of different elements for this year’s Atlanticare Foundation’s 53rd Annual Century Club Gala. After a discussion with Atlanticare to learn about the event and this year’s location (Revel Resort and Casino in Atlantic City) we developed four or five different approaches. From there it was a matter of fine-tuning and applying the established look to all the different printed elements that were needed as well as a website and a video that were utilized to recognize and thank all the sponsors of the event.

It’s one element that we can’t create more of.

The other week I received a phone call and an email from my credit card company stating that they questioned a possibly unauthorized charge on my account. After calling them to determine that it was actually a valid charge I went back to work. Shortly after that I received an email stating the results of our phone call. I know it was a whole 11 minutes earlier but I actually did recall the phone call and wasn’t in need of a recap. Another hour and a half, another email. This time letting me know that they had sent me an email earlier to let me know about the outcome of the phone call and if I hadn’t received it to please contact them.

Now, I appreciate the security issue here but it got me thinking. And as I looked through all the repetitive and endless email promotions and electronic connections of all flavors a question came to mind, “whose time are we respecting by this ease of promotional delivery?” It certainly is easier for the senders of these e-smorgasboards. It’s respectful of “their” time. But my profession is to effectively promote my clients, “effectively” being the operative word.

“Hmmm, a bit of irony here” you may be saying to yourself. Yes, I am using the same media that I appear to be condemning. Truth be known, I do feel that there is great value in promoting on-line via email or on the various social and work related networks. My goal here is to look at it realistically and to see it for what it is, a very efficient but changing and quickly saturating environment. If we take the totally unrequested and unrelated SPAM out of the equation (my apologies to all the purveyors of personal products and services out there), think way, way back, maybe three years ago. How many emails did you receive that you had some degree of interest in but deleted because there simply wasn’t enough time to read them. Now flash forward, past the falling of the US credit rating, past the shrimp with petroleum sauce in the Gulf. Today, how many emails did you receive that you had some degree of interest in but deleted anyway because there simply wasn’t enough time to read them. If you are like me the numbers don’t quite match up.

Audiences are getting more and more selective and tightly focused in what they choose to read. It is simply self defense. We need to put up shields from the onslaught of electronic promotion. The result? More and smaller pools of focused subject matter that draws a specific and focused audience, and these become more opportunities to advertise. If you have an interested group that usually read your correspondence you have created one of these smaller groups. If you are looking to an email marketing campaign to open new markets you are competing for the free time of your brand-new audience in an ever rising marketing tide.

So, where is the magic bullet? What is the answer that makes marketing successful? If anyone claims to have one answer for this they are working hard at selling their product not working hard to get results for you. In some ways, things have radically changed. Yet, the same philosophy still applies; Find out where your audience is spending their time (physically or electronically) and show up there with a strong delivery (read well-thought-out, and visually interesting) of a valuable message (read relevant to your audience and beneficial to their end goals).

Lastly, be respectful of your target audience’s time. I have signed up to some daily newsletters. After a little time it becomes very easy to delete them without reading a word. The ones that arrive on a daily basis suffer from their very repetitiveness. There is just little value to something that shows up every day even if I think that “I’ll read them in the future when I have time.” So if you are reading these words, if you are part of this little community, we hope this was well thought out, interesting and relevant.

Thank you for your time.

After many years in this industry I have seen the critical combination that is needed for success. The success I refer to is not the benefits to my own business, although they are a natural byproduct of the real success that I am discussing. This “real” success is in creating the correct and inspiring materials and message for our clients. It is their success that is the goal.

The two things needed for this success are often viewed as opposites, as two completely different entities, both fighting for dominance. They are the oil and water of the industry. Technical and business knowledge, and emotional creativity often compete when working on marketing and successful design. The quantitative and factual understanding of technology and business delivers focus groups, trends and data that likes to say things like “This is the absolute approach.”, “This color, layout, technology, etc. is the proven answer.”, “This is the way everyone else does it so it clearly is the best.” The missing element in this rigid equation is the human emotion. We are after all delivering design and marketing to people in order to get them to take an action like buy, support, or simply to just take notice. It is the target audience that needs to be discussed and analyzed… and then “touched” on an emotional basis. There are plenty of “good” marketing communications that rely heavily on dry technology and measurable research. There are also plenty of “good” solutions that draw heavily on the emotions of the viewer. I believe that the best solutions, the truly successful ones pull both the oil and the water together to create marketing that uses the “data” and then wraps the emotional component around it. This is where successful design and marketing lives.