What a One-Hit Wonder Taught Me About Advertising

Setting: A London Pub in the punk rock riddled days of the early to mid-1980s. We enter in the middle of a conversation...

"... oboe, cello, keyboard and kettle drums. We'll have ourselves a smash hit!"

For some reason, Life in a Northern Town has stuck with me through the years. I liked the song when it came out back when MTV was concerned mostly with music and showed videos. I was in college, in the middle of my REM/Police/U2/cheap beer phase.

So how did it cut through the Weideman-soaked haze to stick with me as my choice for greatest one-hit wonder ever?

I think mostly it has to do with the combination of sounds that make the song perfect. It was about doing something so different that people had to notice. The Dream Academy came together and produced one song that, to me, is very memorable.

I still like this song. A lot. A lot more than anyone who in his Rory Gallagher/microbrew/get the kids to baseball practice phase should. So, what did it teach me about strategy?

1. Cut through the clutter of sameness.
   If you're doing the same thing as your competitors, you won't be noticed by consumers.
2. Provide something of unsurpassed quality.
   If you're doing it half-assed, not only are you missing an opportunity, you kinda suck.
   
3. Believe in what you're doing.
   If you don't, you'll never convince your client he should be doing what you're advising him to do.
   
4. Tell a good story.
   'Nuff said.

So that's what I learned, although I probably didn't know it at the time. (I blame the Weidemann.) But at least now, working for a Kansas City website design company, I can recall why I like it use it as an analogy for the business.

Or metaphor. Whatever. It's a good song.