Relationship Building : The New Advertising Environment

" For the times they are a' changing" sang Bob Dylan in the 60's and it's a tune which advertisers will need to become familiar. The days of print and billboards are drawing to a close. Television and computers will soon be integrated as simultaneous uses of both devices continues to trend upwards. The Outdoor/Out of house market will continue to be digitized and downloaded to mobile devices like phones and PDA's. Social Media sites ,like Facebook and Twitter, will become major advertising venues within the next five years. The public will finally get what they've always wanted : A feeling of control regarding the advertising content they'll interact with daily. Static, dead advertising is over ; enter the relationship era. This new advertising will be about trust, name recognition,and interactivity. It will almost be like a DJ, except this point person will be part storyteller,part barker, all trusted friend. Like a virtual concierge,assisting a person throughout the night, which restaurant ,bar,theater,venue and key nightlife destinations will they sample. Then the consumer will rate the experience in real time, the venues, shows, and the performance of the ad person. Big ratings will be very profitable ,but a bad night for our point person will erode the public's trust and while they may forgive an occasional slip,consistence will be important. The public will turn their buying power over to a virtual concierge, but performance and reputation will be key.

The Importance of a Tag Line in Business

Branding is a concept primarily used by large multinational corporations. Yet to small & medium sized businesses it's just as relevant. To me ,branding is about etching your product or service in the mind of the customer. We do that by a variety of ways,but one time tested way is: slogans or tag lines. I'll prove it works! Here are some famous tag lines,see if you can guess them,"The choice of a new generation","You can't drink it slow if it's...","The Real Thing","The Great American Chocolate Bar", "King of Beers". One tag line locally I really love is Steve's Septic Service : We're #1 in the #2 business. Beautiful !! In fact, good tag lines generally become more famous or well known than the company name,but it's the association that makes it count. That's why abstract thinking is so difficult for many people because it's hard to think of something that has no or limited relation to other things . That's why we have categories,groups, and collections.
I started talking about branding and branding is You ! You are the brand. So what kind of tag line will you use to go with your company name or corporate identity? Contact me, I can probably help you. I've seen people spend lots of money on names and logos and create no tag line or slogan. CRAZY!! In the examples above, the companies are: Pepsi, Quik, Coca-Cola, Hereshey, Budweiser. I'll close with one of my old time favorites,comes from the 50's: The best candy on Earth comes from Mars ! They make M&M's, they convinced me.

The neglected position

Far too long have ad agency neglected small,mom and pop,independent,and medium sized businesses. Oh sure,there is not that big payoff that large corporations pay. Actually I like to be creative and see others succeed ,even if I don't see an immediate payoff . Why? You might ask.The real answer is because I think it is possible for us to cast off this self doubt,fear,mistrust,sense of abandonment,disconnection, and work toward changing this world/reality . A big hero of mine,Mohandas K. Gandhi once said "Strength does not come from physical capacity,but from an indominable will ". Now how does this relate to advertising you may wonder ? It relates in knowing that the power of all is the mind.Advertising is nothing apart from mind.This is why I am DOA-Disciple of Advertising. There are no masters in this game only students and disciples. Arrogance is a real hindrance to creativity. No one walking the Earth has a monopoly on creativity for it flows like water and one must let go completely to receive it. When the student is ready the teachings appear--How open are you ? Those who say do not know and those who know do not say. Hang on the ride may get a bit bumpy.The comfort zone is not near the target. When you are mocked,laughed at,ridiculed,and discredited you're almost home. Now help some other folks and be creative because you've got NOTHING coming. Have a nice day !