Thinking outside the box?

One of the campaigns I see a lot of lately is for LaQuinta Hotels. The heroes of the spots are effective in business because they stay at the hotel. They get their ducks in a row, bring home the bacon, and think outside the box.

That's my favorite. Not because it's better than all the others, but because it's ironic on so many levels. The visual is amusing, with all the other executroids crowded into a huge box, unable to come up with an original big idea. The suit in charge says "We need ideas, people. Think. Think!" (It's the second "Think!" that gets me.)

Jerry's suggestion is "synergistic integration." It makes me laugh, not only because he makes the visual for it by interlocking his fingers into a double fist, he drops a marketing speak bomb that these executroids supposedly haven't heard of, he offers no explanation of what it is, the suit in charge calls him a genius, and it's obvious that the actor has no idea what synergistic integration is.

All these bad elements combine to make to make an amusing commercial. Usually, I'm not a fan of badvertising. This is the exception to my rule.

Attention Extreme Couponers: Have I Got A Deal For You

We walk into the New York Times Store and see that a transaction is taking place. We hear a typical conversation between a patron and a store clerk.

"I'll take the Times, coffee, a box of Junior Mints and a souvenir Times mug. Wait... you still have the Declaration of Independence? Throw that in, too."

And then, the words retailers hate to hear.

"Oh, wait... I have a coupon."

The New York Times Store is selling an original 1776 broadsheet of the Declaration of Independence. For $1.6 million.

The store is also running a coupon for 10% off on retailmenot.com. It's not good on books, crossword books or gift certificates. But it doesn't say anything about the exclusion of nearly priceless artifacts of Americana.

Usually, I boycott coupons, simply because I'm in the advertising business, and I think coupons do not do a very good job of building brands. But how often can you save $160,000 with one coupon and own a piece of American history?

Theater uses irate customers in branding

I don't normally advocate using an f-bomb in an ad, but in this case, I'll make an exception.

When you go to a movie, don't be surprised if you get kicked out for texting. If you call to voice your displeasure at being kicked out, don't be surprised if your ire is met with little sympathy. If it happens to be at the Alamo Drafthouse, don't be surprised if your message ends up on the pre-movie PSAs. And the Drafthouse website. And a marketing website. Oh, and YouTube.

So what does a profanity-laced tirade from an irate customer say about Alamo Drafthouse's branding?

Tons.

First of all, the theater is unapologetic about what a movie-goer will see at its theater. It appeals to the audience they expect to draw to its lineup of indie flicks.

More importantly, the viral PSA lets the customer know that Alamo Drafthouse values the user experience. It's a small house, and one idiot using a cell phone during a movie can wreck it for practically everyone in the theater. From a branding perspective, you can't do better than to show the customer you appreciate the business and that you will go to great lengths to make sure that customer gets his money's worth.

Does the PSA go overboard? I don't think so. Does it make an impact? You bet it does. With the customer and potential talkers and texters who wander into the Alamo.

Kudos for taking the customer experience seriously.

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.

Social media... it's cheap, it's easy, it's social

Recently, we re-designed a website for a daycare facility. The owner is a very nice lady who handles everything, and I mean everything, at the school. When we met her, she was carrying a monkey wrench and had just finished doing some plumbing work.

We talked briefly about how to differentiate the school, what kind of content and graphics she wanted, and about her dogs, which accompanied her to work every day.

She was open to every suggestion we made, and was really intrigued when we discussed using Social Media in her branding efforts. No one else did that. It was a great opportunity, one that could really show potential clients how they differed from franchise daycare operations. It would give the parents the opportunity to keep up with what their kids are doing on a daily basis. And it would allow them to supply parents with any industry information they thought was important.

We set her up with a blog page, a Facebook page and a Twitter account. She would write the blog with our help. The Facebook page would be used only for photos and additional branding tool and would require very little maintenance. We can put everything on autopilot so that tweets and blog entries are automatically sent to Facebook. We suggested that her teachers and administrators should send out one tweet per day.

That's where our plan came unraveled.

She didn't want her teachers accessing computers to complete the task. Fine, I said. Have them tell the administrator on duty or the receptionist and let them take care of it. She didn't want them to have to dedicate the time to the task.

I made a prediction to my partner at lunch that when we were out of the picture the blog would never get written. He agreed, adding that they were missing a great opportunity to really make an impact with potential and existing clients. It takes 30 seconds to send out a tweet. Eight rooms, that's four minutes a day. I couldn't convince her to spend that time to promote. Writing a blog would take 15 minutes a pop, but for arguments sake, let's say 30.

In less than an hour, she could add value to a client's experience, increase traffic, more effectively brand her business and differentiate her facility from her competition. All at a cost of ZERO DOLLARS. Even if we did all of it for them, it would be $60 a week. (We're cheap.)

Social media is an opportunity to keep your customers engaged. It is mass marketing, but directed at the individual. It's cheap. Wait... it's FREE! It doesn't take much effort, but it does take some effort. It's simply an opportunity to brand a business by presenting the unique characteristics of it. Most of all, it's social. Get it? "Social" media?

Our client's website is successful. They are benefiting from an increase in traffic of more than 50% and are adding about three new clients a month. But the blog page is blank. Facebook is only used for pictures and the Twitter account is not active. They have a trickle of new business when they could have a stream.

I think our client has really missed the opportunity to more effectively promote the business. I think the next time a potential client asks about social media, I'll show them the math.