Will Ideas be Currency in a Recession?

Many months back I was talking to Mike McDerment (FreshBooks CEO and all around nice guy) and he asked me the “Where do you see yourself in 5 years” question. My answer was simple and has been the same for a while.

“I want to be the world’s best Word of Mouth Marketer in the world (second world is for emphasis) and to be so rich people will call me eccentric instead of crazy!”

Now we had this conversation before the world fell apart and slipped in to an economic downturn but I still have every intention of meeting my goals and getting through this, but to do so, especially in this economy, I and others are going to have to start thinking differently. A great example of this was waiting for me when I got home tonight.

You see about a month and a bit a go I tweeted about my excitement of a very rare shoe that Nike was releasing exclusively for “Black Friday”. I love these shoes and continued to gush about them in several tweets including one asking for anyone to send me a pair as a Chanukah present.

Well about a week ago I got a phone call from a cool company asking if I would write them a social media plan and how much would it cost. I never know what to charge for these things and don’t do it often (even though I really enjoy doing this) because I just don’t have the free time. I gave them a bit of a high price and their answer really surprised me because instead of haggling me down they said (dramatic pause) “How about I send you a size 12 pair of Black Friday’s and we call it even?”

I said yes without hesitation even though the value of the shoes are probably 1/3 of what I would have made in cash but I appreciated the fact that they took the time to do their homework on me and it got me thinking about ideas and if it can truly be used as commerce in a downturn.

Normally my answer would always be “take the cash” because with cash I can just go buy whatever I want but this opportunity excited me because it showed that this company thinks differently and will appreciate my plan cause I am a bit wacky and so are they, plus it changed the dynamic of the relationship from a simple job to something else.

So, assuming you are not out of work and have an income, would you do side project for goods instead of cash?

Is this a new reality?

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments area!

...oh ya...and here are what the shoes look like...and yes that is real pony hair

I am getting tired of entertaining ladies in my hotel when I travel

Regular readers of this little blog will know that I travel a whole bunch and occasionally I am away from home for days at a time. Friends of mine think this is pretty glamorous and while it is very cool and fun to stay in hotels and stuff (yes it is true...I have the best job in the world) it can sometimes be a solitary thing that doesn't always create inspiring ideas.

This is why I recently made a decision to do things a little differently from now on while I travel...you see I am one of these responsible business travelers that books a slew of meetings and tries to maximize every minute of my trip...right up to sleep time.

Makes sense right?

Well ya but what was happening was I would come home and people would say stuff like "Did you see this...or that?" and my answer was always no because I was too busy running from appointment to appointment or sitting in my hotel answering my email.

Then it came to me...why am I spending so much time in my hotel room calling housekeeping every hour for pillows and stuff?

(Answer is cause I crave female conversation but that is a post for another day)

...then I had another realization....I can answer my email from anywhere and have decided to do just that. Last week when I was in NYC I had plans fall through on me so I used the time to take a trip up to Harlem to watch Basketball in the world famous Rucker Park and actually wrote the idea notes for this blog post there...and answered a few hundred email in a super cool setting...and since I was clacking away on my laptop I am pretty sure people thought I was an NBA scout because people kept offering me water and asking if I saw anything I liked!

The following day I had a meeting in Brooklyn and instead of running back to my hotel like I normally would've I asked some folks if they knew where the movie Do The Right Thing was filmed so I could sit on that street and work there but no one knew so I simply parked myself in front of a corner store and started working and just pretended I was Robin Harris.

I guess what I am saying is nothing interesting happens in your hotel room...unless you get one of those open minded housekeeping staff members...so why stay in your hotel?

Get out and see stuff...meet people...create interesting stories and opportunities.

Looking back I think I was more productive because I wasn't sitting in a cab or on a train to get to somewhere to sit and do my work...I just sat somewhere interesting and did it!

(photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/ cause I forgot to take a picture)

I have an IDEA! You should totally make out with someone today!

Recently I met a pretty awesome lady and she told me that she had a feeling that there was a lot going on in my head....between you and me, She has no idea how true that is. One of the strange things about me is that I am pretty much unable to "turn off" my mind and I am always working on things. I am sort of a genius with a super computer for a brain but instead of using my abilities to solve the worlds problems I use it to process song lyrics and lines from movies and television shows...oh and to generate a lot of ideas on many different subjects.

I have been thinking a great deal about ideas and idea generation in the last few days because I picked up the book Catching The Big Fish - Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity by David Lynch (yes, That David Lynch). The book is a fascinating read and delves into a lot about letting your mind generate ideas etc and my favorite advice in the book is about love!

Love is my favorite thing in the world and am always thinking about how LOVE (the emotion, not the physical act) can be used in your job and your career. The best example in the book is, about falling in love with an idea....really falling in love with an idea and I am now going to take that example to an extreme......I agree falling in love with an idea is the way to go but I think you need to fall so in love that it gives you butterflies and you are always thinking about it and even when you are not thinking about it you have a piece of it with you and you are wondering what that idea is up to and how you can get back to it.

Believe me when I say I know that sounds creepy but if you are really interested in great idea development you have to really find it from somewhere deep inside yourself (hence the title "catching the big fish") and if you really think about it......Love makes you do things and take risks. Can you remember a time you just grabbed a girl or a guy and kissed them not knowing if it would be received well. That was a big risk but I bet it felt awesome and exciting.

Now take that feeling and implement that in an idea or a project.

Fall in love with things and take a love risk.

Oh and find someone you have never kissed before and grab them by the ears and give them a sloppy wet kiss.....today only...you can tell them I said it was Ok!

Remember my post on inspiration? Well this guy inspires me!

I can listen to David Lynch talk all day long.

Rohit Bhargava answers my questions about Personailty

If you read this blog as much as I do you would know that I am a firm believer in the power of personality and how important it is for companies to not only have one but let customers or clients see that they have one.

Rohit Bhargava, writer of the Influential Marketing Blog, agrees with me...or maybe he had come to this conclusion without my help because he has written a new book (available April 25th) called Personality Not Included.

Since I am a huge fan of Rohit, his blog and his new book I am pretty jazzed to have had him answer a few questions on the subject of personality....just for you....by beautiful readers!

So here you go.


Saul Colt: Can a super big company have a true personality or is it more a corporate image?

Rohit Bhargava: One of the ideas I share in the book is that size is not the major determinant of personality. For example, there are many small businesses that don't have a personality and large organizations that do manage to have one. In the end, it comes down to how you end up fostering it from your employees.

SC: Can a company have its own organically derived personality or are they usually an extension of the founders personality?

RB: This is a question that I actually focused on trying to have a good answer for in the book. To do that, Chapter 2 is all about the idea of the "Accidental Spokeperson." One of the insights in that section is that the personality can absolutely grow from an individual or a set of individuals instead of the founder of an organization. There are many places that this identity can "accidentally" come from ... the main point is that you need to recognize this and reward it.

SC: Why write a book on personality? Is this something you can teach?

RB: The main reason is because I believe it is greatest trend in business that no one is talking about. We are talking about components of it, like social media or authenticity or word of mouth, but personality is a way to bring all those concepts together. The other reason was that I felt it was a new and ownable idea that hadn't already had too many books written about it. That not only makes it more interesting, but makes it more likely that people will find it useful.

SC: This may be a Chicken/Egg question but what comes first...the personality or the fan base?...and can you tailor your personality to match your biggest ambassadors?

RB: You should absolutely be open to tailoring your personality to match what your customers are excited about. Sometimes, particularly when it comes to new brands, there is a temptation to define what you stand for after you talk to customers. This may seem like a chicken & egg situation, but your brand needs to stand for something before you can foster brand ambassadors. You can always change it, but you need to start somewhere.

SC: If a company is evil, does that count as their personality?

RB: Hmmm, thinking of any company in particular? You'll be really interested in Wired's cover story this month about Apple, because it essentially asks the exact same question ... profiling how Apple manages to do well while being decidedly "evil" in their approach to business and secrecy (vs. the open source ideals of the rest of the valley). In their case, I'd say they do a good job of being both evil and innovative, simultaneously - so the answer to your question would probably have to be yes!

Oh ya an Rohit answered a bunch of questions from a bunch of other people as well. Follow the link to read a few more and if you are interested in this topic I recomend you picking up the book!

The movie going "experience" is coming to a theatre near you!

I am a few days late on this announcement but surprisingly I didn't see much pickup on it so I am going to blog about this now as if it was two days ago.......so here goes.

Any regular reader of this bloggie blog know that I love movies. I used to think I would only be happy working for a fancy pants movie studio (even though I am very happy doing what I am doing now)and because of my passion for this stuff I follow the industry news reasonably closely.

Well today (remember I said we are pretending) I came across an announcement that Cineplex Entertainment (the largest movie theater chain in Canada) is moving forward to revolutionize the movie going experience .

According to their press release "Cineplex will unveil some impressive out-of-home entertainment extras. The new amenities and services at the 12-screen, 45,000-square-foot movie complex include bowling, billiards, babysitting and VIP auditoriums.

The chain's aim is nothing short of "revolutionizing the entertainment landscape in Canada," says Cineplex president/CEO Ellis Jacob. "This is a true entertainment complex like no other, with something for guests of all ages to enjoy. It is the next generation in theater entertainment, with many new amenities and services all under one roof."

Taking this on face value I think this is a cool idea and it is something I suggested a while back but I wonder if this will work the way they are counting on it to.

I say this because as someone who loves movies I actually have absolutely no complaints about the movie going experience. If I had my way I would only see films in the theater and only watch films at home that are not available any where else.......so why am I skeptical about this announcement?

Because going to the movies is about spending a lot of money. This is not just a perception but a reality. Concessions are out of hand and a single ticket is actually less then getting a hot dog and a large drink. In my humble opinion I think movie chains would benefit a great deal from making films and concessions more reasonable instead of offering us more ridiculously overpriced forms of food and entertainment.

So you are probably asking yourself how I know that these new options will be over priced and the answer is..............I don't! But my perception (and this is their brand because all good marketers know that your company brand isn't what you think it is but rather what others think it is) is that all stuff by this chain is over priced and expensive.

Anyway here is the full list of all the new stuff going into the theater

• The Backlot family entertainment centre has six lanes of bowling, a licensed lounge with appetizer menu offerings, two party rooms and a games room with the latest interactive video games and billiards;

• VIP Experience (for ages 19 and up only) with three auditoriums featuring reserved seating, in-seat service and a licensed lounge with appetizer menu offerings, private box office, concession stand and premium seats;

• Cineplex Kids Club child-minding services staffed by the YMCA of Oakville for parents and caregivers while they watch movies;

• Canada's largest digital cinema system with nine cutting-edge projectors delivering razor-sharp images;

• FastLane Service allowing guests to order food and beverages at an automated kiosk and then proceed to the FastLane counter to pick them up;

• XTRAS - a retail store offering DVDs, CDs, books, magazines and movie collectibles including posters, action figures and T-shirts. (again I need to pat myself on the back because I thought of this along time ago)

.....and even with all my ranting I will probably go check it out at least once......cause deep down in side I am a bit of a sucker who loves movies.

-saul

Creating Demand for a product by telling kids to stay in school!

Mr. T is a smart guy. Not only did he know that school is important (cause he kept telling me) but he also new that there is no room for jibba jabba in a conversation.

So why is Mr. T making me think about demand generation?

Honestly?

He isn't but like the late Lou Rawls, It is better to have Mr. T and not need him then not have Mr. T and need him.

Anyway, now that I have that out of my system I can talk about what this post is really about.......product demand.

What happens if you have the absolute best product on the shelves and no one cares?

Wanna know?

The answer is not much....not much sales...not much profit and not much interest.

So how do you create demand?

Well there are bunches of good ways that have worked time and time again but that is not what this post is about........this post is about an idea I had on how to create demand a brand new way!

Parents all around the world use incentives to get their kids to co-operate and "listen". I know this because I am one of them.....and it got me thinking if this could be "productized" and I think it can.

So here is my idea on how to create demand for a teen/tween oriented middle to high end consumer item......make it a school based incentive. Think about this. What if there was a cell phone or ipod/mp3 player that could only be purchased after you meet a school related goal (Attendance or Grades etc). Students would be exposed to your messaging all year or for an extended time creating more then demand but desire! In simple terms you are letting the school market your product directly to the target market the same way they would a school trip and at the same time this strategy is guaranteed to get major media attention. Your company will be thought of as a community builder since you will be rewarding students for their hard work and while the “exclusive” product will not be available to the general public your other products will!

Sure some people will object to this and see this as crass commercialism but if you could work out a beneficial partnership where the school benefits with something (books/uniforms/trips/whatever a school needs) you could create a slow buzz for a product while also giving an exclusive “coolness” to something that would otherwise just be another product in a category.

Sure there is risk to this but I see this as a calculated risk with a HUGE reward.....kinda like casing a leprechaun.....or a guy who wear 30 lbs of gold around his neck!

-saul

I work out my mind so you can work out your arms!

My mind never stops working. I actually like it this way but sometimes it prevents me from sleeping.....so a long time ago I came up with a nighttime activity that I can do at bedtime to get me to relax so I can go night night.

My ritual starts by me slipping into something comfortable.....clearing my mind......letting my mind drift into a place where I can fantasize on how to innovate the current marketing for industries who I don't think are doing a very good job.

Yes I know that was a long way to travel for a simple masturbation joke.

Anyway I spent some time thinking up ways to re-invent the Sports Club/Fitness Club industry marketing because in my opinion this is an industry that could use some new ideas.

The goal of this post is not to "out" any one company and I am in no way pointing fingers or saying all fitness clubs employ these lazy practices but a bunch do and the perception of this industry is (in my opinion) is largely negative and that is why this was a fun little project for my brain.

To truly make a difference you need to change the way people think of a health club by making it a place people want to join, tell their friends, and hang out long after their work out is finished.

I would do this by changing all the direct mail pieces with the stock photography of frogs and generic people (a common practice with the local clubs in this area) and re work all the collateral to reflect the personalities of each unique club....the direct mail pieces should be targeted to the neighborhoods in and around the clubs and the collateral should reflect this. Make people feel they are hand selected and not a singular piece for the entire chain with multiple locations listed on the materials and drop all the questionable offers of $XX per month for the first 10 people who join only to have people show up and find out it is really three times that amount.

I see the key to making this great is by building a community.

If you create an environment where people look forward to coming and staying at your clubs you will empower the membership to boast about the clubs to the point where they are an extension of the sales team.

This is easy to type and not so easy to pull off but I see doing fun regular events like movie nights , Nintendo Wii Tennis Tournaments, Speed Dating, Surprise Birthday Parties for members on their B-Day and other member oriented events you create a feeling of club and community that will get members talking....and hopefully to non members.

Every marketing plan I dream up has a healthy dose of Guerrilla activity. I love Guerrilla stuff and done well is so over the top effective in getting people talking about your service and company....an example of a guerrilla campaign for a health club would be to have people doing barbell curls on the subway in rush hour...not saying anything or selling anything...just lifting/curling while wearing a club t-shirt.

I have an even better "WOM" idea but I am keeping it for myself since it can be used in a bunch of different ways.

.....and this is where I fell asleep........but to quickly finish the concept idea I think there are opportunities online like a Facebook Exercise Tracker App. and a whole whack of other lead generation tactics so they can dump the "win a free membership" ballot boxes that populate convenience stores all over the city.

Anyway if you are in a position to execute on these ideas I would be happy to share the rest of my ideas.......heck you could even hire me to be a consultant!

I await your call

Saul

...an arts and crafts project for you to try

Hi Everyone,

Been tied up with work stuff (something I will be blogging about soon....perhaps later today) so I have not been posting as much as I usually do.

I am busier then ever today so instead of posting about something that isn't going to move you and captivate your imagination (I was going to write about a rumor that DC Comics is going to kill Bruce Wayne and make Robin become Batman) I have decided to wait till tomorrow to fascinate you with my brain power!

BUT WAIT

Just because I have nothing interesting to write about today doesn't mean I am not leaving you with homework.......as you may know I have an unnatural connection with custom sneakers....so much so that I considered starting a small business designing custom AF1's. People always ask me to make them shoes and/or how I do it so I am going to spill the beans.

Here is a step by step guide how to create some cool kicks!

Have fun!

saul

I would like to take "Flying the Friendly Skies" for 1000 Alex

I am a passionate guy with a whole slew of interests.

Some of the things I am most passionate about are movies, books, TV, marketing, and my family but the thing I am most passionate about is customer engagement (and ways to get people to love your brand).

I have spent some time in Airports the last few days and I came to the conclusion that airport waiting areas (or gates) are possibly the most boring place in the world. Sure you can surf the interweb (if you want to pay for it) or watch the muted TV set tuned to Headline News or even survey the people around you and figure out (in your head) who you would have to beat up to prove your domination and leadership should you choose to start a new civilization with only the people in your gate area.

That being said I think these areas are probably the absolute best areas to get people to embrace the brand of whatever airline you are flying on because like people in prison....they can't go anywhere......so sonce they are a captive audience why not provide the customers with a super cool experience so they will feel so good about the airline they will forget that the level of service in the air my not live up to much.

So how should/could they do this?

Each "gate" area should be equipped with ginormous video walls and feature different interactive games and events in different locations or just different gates. Some of the events could be Jeopardy Tournaments with all the travelers playing against each other, or other fun trivia style games that many people can play at once.

Even better then the game show idea (am more profitable for everyone involved) is using these walls to introduce people to MMORPG games and/or just video games in general. This would be sponsored by a game manufacturer like Playstation 3 or even a game like Halo 3 or perhaps something less violent....who knows.

I realize these ideas will require people to have controllers and this is easy to equip the seat with but if this idea takes off then cell phone companies like RIM or Palm Treo can add these controls right to people's cell phones and then "road warriors" can get right in on the fun as soon as they hit the gate area.

.....and my absolute favorite idea using this space is to create a "Real World" game show set in this space and let travelers participate in a real world game of the Family Feud....because people love getting kissed by a Richard Dawson impersonator or whatever other game show who wants to pay the airline companies the opportunity to promote their brand while developing a new fun feeling of engagement for the customers of the airline.

Sure this would smell of commercialism and people would see it for what it is BUT if you give people a solution to boredom and add a sprinkle of fun at the same time I know people would forget they were being advertised to and look at it as an added value of flying with [insert name of forward thinking airline here].

Sure this idea is "out there" but the best ones always are!

-saul

My Birthday just past and someone forgot to wish me Happy Birthday!

The past Friday was my birthday and a bunch of people in my life forgot to acknowledge the day......I got a bunch of nice phone calls/emails and a whole whack of friends wrote nice things on my Facebook wall but I didn't any thing from Facebook itself.

....or Amazon, Ebay, or even a credit card provider.

Every year around my birthday I wonder if any of the sites or services I willingly give my personal information too will make me feel special and win me over as a loyal fan/customer for life.

......and every year I sit scratching my head wondering why people miss this obvious opportunity.

It would be embarrassing for me to mention how much money I have spent (happily) at Amazon and I will continue to do so but a simple email from someone like them would go miles with me to make me feel like I am not just a nameless faceless customer. I am not a computer programmer but I imagine setting up a automated email to kick out a letter on your birthday would not be too hard but the value of it would be worth much more them the cost!

You may be reading this and thinking I am making a big deal about nothing.....and you may be right BUT small gestures make BIG impressions and can secure or loose future business.

...and in case anyone was curious. Out of the thousands of places I have given personal information to I only received 1 electronic Birthday greeting....it was from a comic book message board called Jinxworld........and that is where I am going right now!

saul

An interesting thing I saw in a book store the other day.....

As I type this, sitting in the Smartest Man in the World Headquarters, I am surrounded by more then 2000 books (and I have read all except 4 of them). I love to read and book stores give me a weird thrill that for me can only be duplicated by dvd stores....but I digress. I was in a major Canadian book chain the other day and overheard an interesting argument.

At the check out area of this store there was an agitated guy raising his voice demanding a discount on his book since the price of the book was $24.99 us$ or $34.99 can$. His argument was that since the value of the Canadian dollar is at par (or worth a few pennies more then the US buck) then he should be able to purchase the book at the US price or that they should be the same price.

I am not sure if he spoke to the store manager but whoever he did speak to explained that there was nothing he could do and the customer stormed out.....without purchasing anything and at the same time he freaked out some other customers.

This was a HUGE missed opportunity.

Now I am not going to pretend to understand if this manager has the authority to discount anything and she probably handled things exactly as she should have. She was polite and respectful she just didn't give in to the demand.

The opportunity that is being ignored is a way to inject some personality into this brand by being a little self effacing and saying "Hey we noticed this disparity and we are going to do something about it". Have a company wide sale or promotion would boost the good feeling of the company as well showing a little humility by recognizing that there is something wrong.

(This post/idea can be co-opted to just about any store or business so when you think about this later don't get caught up on this just being about book stores.)

Companies need personality because people connect to people. People like when someone can say "we were wrong" and actually do something about it so by following my little idea is a great example of doing both..........and I would bet $20 that the first to do this would steal a whole wack of market share.

Now some of you are probably saying to yourself "This guy is foshizzle...don't he know that the cost of them things are determined by when they is bought and the Canuck buck has only been powerful for a short time" (That is how I imagine people who disagree with me sound) and yes I agree that there would probably be some money being left on the table but if you get 20% more business going into the holiday shopping season I am pretty sure you would do OK and continue with new business into the new year.

Trust me....I am The Smartest Man in the World!

-saul

Thoughts on Great Ideas

Ideas Ideas Ideas!

Lets ask David Lynch what he thinks of them!



Thanks to Yves Van Landeghem for finding this!

saul

David Caruso wouldn't be a good marketer.....

I have a lot of guilty pleasures.

One of them is CSI Miami. I am not sure why I still watch the show since it doesn’t captivate me in the way a really good show should but there are a few things that keep me coming back for more.

One is that I love that we are to believe that at a crime scene all a CSI needs to do is spray an aerosol can of stuff into a car and they will magically get the height, weight, age, skin tone and annual salary of the person who was driving......and the other is David Caruso and his magic sunglasses.

I was thinking about David Caruso’s magic sunglasses last night and how they relate to Marketing. I admit this is a bit of a stretch but bear with me till the end.

Good/Great marketing or advertising happens when people take the time to really understand their target market. This involves going beyond just the statistics but to do some real world talking to folks and getting real opinions. I have written about companies in the past who employ celebrities to endorse their products even thought the celebrity is a bad fit...well this wouldn’t happen if people just took the time to talk to people. Personal connections and networking is such an important tool in career development so why wouldn't you use the same concepts to gather information. Asking people in casual conversations what they like and what they don't like is IMHO a far more honest and valuable tool to get real world information to what people want....since....well....you are asking real people.

Some marketers rush to judgement, make quick decisions, and walk away. This is not different from when David Caruso’s character (and yes I realize it is a TV character) Horatio Cane delivers one of his snappy one liners, puts on his magic sunglasses and walks away....heck an even further comparison can be made to the fact that Horatio never really looks at people but rather squints and looks over your or past you.

For really great marketing to happen people need to step back, look people in the eye and get to know who they are and how these people want to be spoken to and marketed to.......because if you made bad assumptions you will not only create marketing that doesn’t work but you may also find yourself in a car with a guy who is pointing a gun at you because you thought he was someone he wasn’t.....just like on the last episode of CSI Miami!

Still not sure what I am talking about?

Well then watch this.......



-saul

Twittering for good and not just to report bathroom visits...

If you read this blog or my twitter entries you probably know I have been sick the last few days.....well I am feeling much better now and figured it as time to get back to my blog. Holed up in bed I read a lot of blog entries and followed my twitter subscriptions. One of the twitters that caught my eye was from C.C. Chapman recounting that someone asked him to name a company that is using Twitter in a great way and he came up blank. I was determined to find someone so I could post about it and look like a smartie pants but alas I came up with nothing as well.......But I did come across a website that is using Twitter in the smartest way I have seen so far!

Bargainista is a great site that discovers and announces "sales" from retail stores in the Toronto area. The site is jammed packed with entries and each "sale" also gets its own Twitter posting so if you are not signed up for the RSS feed you can still get a reminder (in a line or two) about the newest discoveries.

I see a lot of people use Twitter to announce a running account of their every move.....and that is cool if you are into that sort of thing but the more people figure innovative ways to use this powerful tool the more important it will become!

-saul

Disclosure : The lady who runs the site is a friend of mine and very attractive but neither influenced my decision to write this post :)

Celebrities can kill a brand.........

I had a interesting conversation last night at Ad Lounge about a company I used to consult for. A friend mentioned that this company is trying to build buzz by getting paparazzi pictures of celebs wearing their company t-shirts.

Disclosure: I love Celebrities and one of my guilty pleasures are Celebrity Gossip sites like TMZ so I am not poo pooing the idea of Celebrity endorsements just saying you need to think about who you use!

I am not going to out the company in question because they are good folks but I will comment about the idea of creating buzz in this way. In the case of this company they got Paris Hilton and you would think that is a BIG DEAL but (and I have written about this before) if you are going to go down the road of having a celebrity "speak" for your company you should choose a celeb that fits into your demo (I know that is probably not possible since Celbrities live in another world) or at least may seem like they would/could use your product.

The company that I am carefully blogging about is a company that boasts economic value and heavily promotes cost savings over their competitors.........this kinda screams "everyman/everywoman" and not a child of privilege that would probably be embarrassed to actually support such an initiative.

For a small to medium sized company, (and this company is) spokespeople should somehow resemble the target market if you are looking to create a feeling of community and acceptance. The thrill of a celebrity pretending to use your favorite product wears off pretty quick if it isn't authentic.

just my .02!

-saul

If I was in charge of marketing for the CBS show "Cold Case" I would........

Get people to buy music!

Marketing plan over.

Thanks for coming..............er......you look confused.

OK I should explain. Cold Case is a detective show featuring a bunch of foxy police solving "unsolved cases" from years past. It is a good show and one thing that they do so well, maybe better then any other show, is work music in each episode and the songs featured in each episode is specifically from whatever time period that the "case" took place.

Music is another character in this show since it sets the time and mood of the episode. CBS understands the important role it plays since it has a whole section of the Cold Case website listing the songs featured in each episode.

So this got me thinking........(and here is where I tell you what I would do if I worked for them etc etc).....instead of just listing the music used on the show........why are they not offering the songs for sale?

I know there would be licensing and royalty issues but CBS doesn't have to do this on their own. Why not talk with iTunes and set up a section of the site as "Music from Cold Case" and when they choose the songs from the Cold Case spot (and not from the artist's location on iTunes) the album art would show up with the cols case logo and the words "Sunday at 9pm" or whatever.

Staying "top of mind" with multiple "touches" (and I mean good touches) is so important and marketers need to use every available tool to accomplish this.

If you ask me......it is a good thing I am hear to dispense these free ideas :)

-saul

A solution to the Time Shifting killing advertising problem....

I have been seeing more and more articles about Timeshifting TV Shows and how it is hurting the effectiveness of the traditional 30 second TV Commercial. I am probably in the minority but I like to watch commercials. Sure they are not all great but some are and I want to see those. I don't watch them to be "sold to" but rather to enjoy the creative energy that went into them....So anyway since I watch a lot of TV I tend to want to see shows that are on at the same time.

Yes I am "the" person Time Shifting was invented for.

I load up my PVR with all the shows I want to watch and if there are conflicting shows I just record them from other places at different times. This sometimes plays tricks on my mind when I don't recognize any of the local TV News people doing their interstitial's and such.

(anyone notice I am still not getting to my point? OK here goes)

The main argument against advertising and time shifting is that you are recording shows from another area therefor not seeing local ads.

This could easily be corrected (OK I have no idea if this is easy to do but....) by adopting the same model that the Internet uses by matching ads to isp's. When I log onto LinkedIn I see ads for my local phone company even thought it is a US based service and likewise when I go to NBC.com to watch a mistakenly deleted from my PVR episode of HEROES their site tells me I can't view the show because of my geographic location.

Since most people using time shifting are on a digital based televisions delivery system couldn't appropriate ads be substituted in for your location no matter where you watched the show? I know when I call my Cable company they can tell me over the phone if my individual TV is on and if there is a problem so why can't they "geo place" (a word I made up....I think) content to just me based on my location. Sure this could lead to demo based ads but lets start with this.

Sure there would have to be new compensation models for the local stations but at least then cable companies and networks could guarantee their advertisers that their commercials will at least get seen with the shows they paid to advertise with and could probably charge more then that are currently.

Now all you need to do is get PVR / Tivo users to watch the commercials!

saul

A good old fashioned amazing idea!

I love ideas!

The bigger/bolder an idea is makes it more attractive to me and I consider myself an idea guy.

Perhaps even “The Greatest Idea Guy Ever” (since I call myself The Smartest Man in the World is it really a stretch to say I am the greatest Idea person ever?).

I see ideas and opportunities everywhere and like Spider-Man's powers this is both a gift and a curse....in fact I have mentioned a few times on this blog that I am happy to consult people and give out free ideas because they come to me so quick and clean.

Just last week I got an email taking me up on my challenge and all it said was that he was looking for a character to attach to a mortgage company idea. I responded (in minutes) with a character based on a house who loves the people inside of him, his family, and wants to see them pay off their mortgage quicker so they can own him and not the bank! I have no idea if this will get used but if you see it around soon just remember where it came from :)

I was going through some old computer files yesterday and came across a folder of ideas I put together about 5 years ago to help bring the Comic Book Industry into the mainstream spotlight and deliver new fans from non traditional sources...or to recapture the imagination of people who grew up with comics but are now professionals and think it is just "kids stuff". The folder had about 20 or so ideas and while for the most part they still hold up and could be implemented today with great success there was one that I love so much I am determined to do this somehow (even for another industry but it just “works” so perfectly for Comics) for someone!

Before I post this I should let you know that this idea is an awareness idea with ROI but this idea is not about generating money per se but deliver new readers and instill new passion in folks who over time will become loyal customers.....also I considered editing it and giving it a modern day polish but chose to present you the idea exactly as I had conceived it half a decade ago. Looking at it now with fresh eyes I see ways to make even better and develop it into a yearly franchise that would pay for itself!

ONE FINAL THING* You will see the name DC COMICS all over this idea. Please remember this is just a concept and DC COMICS is a great example of who could pull this off but this can be executed with Marvel Comics or even a large group of Independent Comic Publishers on a smaller scale.

OK enough build up........here it is..........and please let me know what you think!

Idea #1 – Awareness through Art


The following idea is not intended to make money per se (but is designed not to lose money either). This idea is more of a cultural event designed to stimulate interest in the characters and open up comics to people who would never consider entering a comic book shop.


The idea is to create art exhibits in local art galleries featuring local artists painting DC COMICS iconic art.


To make this a unique experience it needs to follow the following structure.


The artists have to be local and have to be relatively unknown (possibly never having a gallery show before) Artists will need to be screened well but can be found at local art schools or art shop recommendations/open “casting” call. By avoiding "famous" artists there will not be an issue of releasing copyright to the art. It is important for DC to have the rights as you will see at the end.


The gallery must be a "hot" gallery that will bring people in and help promote the event. I called a few places for research purposes (asking general questions and not claiming to work for DC etc) and how the Gallery system works is that they do not charge for the space but take a small percentage of the sale of the art. This works fine as the art will be for sale. This also creates a "benefit" to the artist to participate.


I see the show running from Thursday to Sunday with Thursday open for schools to visit. The rest of the weekend will be open to the public with a very small entrance fee (maybe $1.00 to 2.00) and this fee gets donated to a local literacy foundation. Each person will receive a DC Comics "goody" bag as they leave with books and information on ordering more books.


Saturday night of the showing will be a (insert appropriate price here….maybe $100 per ticket) charitable viewing with socialites and celebrities all invited. There are many celebrities interested in comics, like Sean Combs, Samuel L. Jackson and Shaq O'Neal . Saturday night should be covered by local and entertainment media giving even more exposure to DC Comics as well as the artists participating.

One must is that all the art and the Saturday Night party must be professionally photographed but I will get to more on that in a minute.

Sunday returns to the same format as Friday and Saturday (daytime) with the small entrance fee.

These events need to have a local feel to them and the "Celebrities" invited to the Saturday night should be local as well.

Here is why this works and is "win/win" for all parties concerned.

-The artists get major exposure for their work with the only stipulation that they draw DC Iconic Characters doing whatever they want (just no nudity or excessive violence)
-The Appeal to the artist would be they get to work to their strength. If they work in a POP ART style then their piece will be POP ART. If they work in Sculpture then their piece will be a statue etc.
-The artist have an opportunity to sell their work with the understanding that will donate a small percentage (maybe 3-5%) to the local literacy charity chosen for this even.
-The Gallery gets a high profile show that will bring a lot of people to the gallery to possibly buy works of art.
-The Charity receives a donation plus exposure.
-The whole event will cost very little (just the cost to promote it) and even that cost can be underwritten by a corporate sponsor. I.e.: Coke, Playstation etc or a DC Comics Parent company movie tie in.
-DC COMICS gets good press for the event and the donations as well as needed exposure for comics and extends the perception of them as a leader in the industry and community.
-DC COMICS hands out a goody bag to people therefore actually getting product into people’s hands.
-The first event would be held in New York with additional events held every 4-5 months in other cities (Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Toronto) and can be planned to co-inside with existing comic conventions.
-Since DC COMICS will own the copyright on the art (and has photographed and documented the whole event) it can then publish a coffee table book and market it to comic fans as well art lovers. This book would also have a built in audience for anyone who attended and this is how DC Comics makes money on this idea.


Final Thoughts on Idea #1


I understand this is not the type of thing DC Comics does or gets involved with but that is the exact reason to do it. I did an informal market survey and concluded that the type of people that look down on comics did find this idea intriguing. As with all ideas and plans targeting to the mainstream and not just the direct market you need to remember who buys your books and not alienate them. This would open new worlds to all people attending and be welcoming to all parties.

I know I am repeating myself but I love this idea! Sure it lacks the boldness of my current thinking but this is a good old fashioned nugget of gold!

I gotta do this someday.

Happy Wednesday

-saul