July 30th, 2008
by Projectline

In catching up on my RSS feeds over the weekend, I found myself staring at a short New York Times article that suggested a long story left unwritten. How does anyone build a viral campaign that succeeds out of any force other than blind luck?

Believe it or not, there is an equation for just that purpose:

[Be Amazing] + [Act Amazing] = [Get Amazing]

Viral is really that simple – just be worth talking about and do something worth talking about. The only catch is you have to have both to succeed. Notice also that I’ve not mentioned timing anywhere. There is a reason for this: Great campaigns always make their own timing.

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tags: advertising, audience perception, Best practices, creative services, Digital Content, early adoption, marketing, marketing goals, messaging, new media, web 2.0

June 10th, 2008
by Projectline

Move to an edge. Declare your edge the center. Let the world reorganize around you.

The great misconception of marketplace leadership is that success comes from saddling up and blazing a new path for all to follow. Intuitively, we all know it doesn’t work like that.

People don’t connect with an idea because some commander inspired hearts and minds – they connect with an idea because it makes sense on a fundamental level. Something works better/faster/easier/cheaper. It’s more fair or honest or viable or responsible.  It’s more exciting, or makes them more exciting.

Modern leadership is about taking a fresh idea and committing to it – and allowing people to find their way to the best solution. It isn’t push. It’s pull. The greatest successes in this generation haven’t tried to drag a marketplace with them, rather they’ve focused on building mp3 players and social networks and powertrain systems that deliver more value than the status quo.

This truism applies in equal measure to brands and marketers as it does product designs and program developers. Unforgettable work requires establishing a center apart from old Madison Avenue, rethinking the rules for engaging your audience, raising a new flag and allowing people to find their way.

tags: advertising, audience perception, Best practices, marketing, marketing goals, messaging

September 20th, 2007
by Anika Lehde

Those of you who know me probably would not be surprised to hear me preach the value of empathy in business dealings and personal life, but you likely haven’t heard me rattle on about the importance of using empathy to help make good marketing message decisions. It always seems that I am pointing out the obvious, but if that were true in this case, we’d have a lot more resonant and genuine messages floating out there.

To be honest, I don’t think empathy is an area where most traditional marketers excel. Of course, we know how to analyze market research, review customer feedback, comprehend market perceptions and trends—but I don’t think we all explicitly ask, “How would I perceive this communication if I were in this person’s shoes?”

I posit that no matter whom your audience may be, this question should always be asked and answered. Your audience doesn’t have to be a mirror of you to make this processes work—that is precisely what the magic of empathy allows us to do—to consider how others will feel about something.

I can’t give specific examples of seriously faulty messages that were unleashed upon the world without (assumingly) having been put to the empathy test or I may inadvertently insult one or two of this blog’s readers. Instead, let me get right to the point and suggest this: next time you have any material, letter, message, mailing, headline, tag-line, advertisement, or email going into the hands of an audience you want to actually connect with, explicitly ask the question, “How would I perceive this communication if I were in this person’s shoes?” (Don’t forget the last part; if you only ask “How would I perceive this message?” you’ll only succeed if you are trying to reach marketers. Ha ha). See if your answer to this question prompts a response that you can use to improve, hone, twist, or completely transform your message. Or even better, maybe your answer gives you the confidence you sought to leave your message as-is. Either way, you’ll be less likely to be lumped in with the heap of marketing managers developing content that audiences find insincere and disingenuous (if not laughable and insulting).

What’s the worst that could happen? You’ll be branded the woo-woo hippy marketer? Yeah, that would be bad. But maybe also worth it.

tags: advertising, audience perception, marketing, messaging