Oceanographer was his name-o

It's Saturday again, and that means a little more underground for your listening pleasure.

Oceanographer, a New York via Denton quintet, is reminiscent of a more down-tempo The Sea and Cake, and is texturally similar to The Postal Service.  Their music is probably most often described as simply pretty.  It's atmospheric and sad, folky, and uplifting. 

In early 2006, On Leaping from Airplanes was released. Mostly, it's a melancholy work, but also eager and optimistic. I recommend you head over to MySpace and start with "Stations."  You'll be hooked.

MySpace
Home

Side Note:  I'm going to see Midlake and Robert Gomez tonight.  Midlake's first widely distributed US release (The Trials of Van Occupanther) comes out on Tuesday.  Look out, It's THE album of 2006. 

The Fix is In

The fire is raging in our industry. Advertising agencies have turned from respected grandfathers to shifty teenagers, searching for their place, but remaining head-strong, regardless of consequence. 

The first step to upheaval, then rejuvenation, is finding those things that are most detrimental, and then using that opportunity to improve ourselves. Over the next few days, I'll talk about a few afflictions that plague our industry, and how to fix them.

(1) Lack of Conversation
We simply aren't connected enough.  We are not the connoisseurs of people and culture we like to pretend to be.  We barely listen, and more often that not, become more caught up in our own dogma than our responsibility to the consumer. We work harder to preserve our way of life, rather than understanding what the consumer values most.

The Fix:
Believe me, actually listening to, and more importantly, adapting to consumer wants is something we, as an industry, are worst at implementing. 

We change this by becoming a part of their communities, reading what they write and hearing what they say, and interacting and engaging with them.  That means talking, not only to your fans, but your enemies, and everyone in between.  It's about using our ability and resources to recognize what can make our clients greater, and their customers greatest.

photo from wild wood gallery via flickr.

Deep Discouting is a Way of Life

If you're not careful, deep discounting can become a way of life.  Mediocre and dying companies rely on deep discounting like a co-dependent lover, continually getting beat up when they should have just walked away.  In an all out price war, no one wins.  Not you, because you just lose profits, and not the consumer, because they lose in quality.

Before you get caught up in some vicious price war, you might want to consider a couple things.

How much better would the product experience get if, instead of discounting, you redirected that money into making it exceptional?

Let's face it, sometimes you have a dying product, and to move it, you have to discount.  If you don't feel that way about your product, how else do you raise demand?  By surprising the customer with an experience they didn't expect.  That means remarkable customer service.  That means serving steak when everyone else is hocking peanuts.  It means giving treatment that consumers deserve, and at a reasonable price. 

Instead of giving the customer a lesser product for less dollars, give them an amazing experience that they can't forget, and they can't help but share.

Have you made the product experience valuable enough so that the customer not only feels like it's worth more, but might even be willing to pay more for it?

The word "value" may be overused, but intrinsically, value can't be.  Marketability is found in a product that someone is willing to pay more for than you charge because of the way it makes them feel, not necessarily based on the cost of production.  Your company's life expectancy lies with providing consumers with real satisfaction in buying a product that's right for them.  Help confirm their good decision.

CBS Gets Egg on Their Face

As has been widely reported, CBS has plans to launch what their copywriters have dubbed "egg-vertising."  My head is throbbing just thinking about it.

At first glance, CBS gets a subtle plus or two.  They're doing a couple things every marketer should.  (1) They've gone to a place where people are, but advertisers are not.  (2) They did something that got people talking, and got them a ton of free PR.

I'll leave the congratulations at that point. The president of CBS marketing was most pleased with the promotion's inability to be avoided.

Newspapers, magazines and Web sites are so crowded with ads for entertainment programming that CBS was ready to try something different, Mr. Schweitzer said. The best thing about the egg concept was its intrusiveness.

Empty space does not equal an open invitation to advertisers.  This is a sign of (a) irresponsibility with consumers' time (b) traditional-marketer reasoning run amok in a non-traditional space.  It is unabashed disrespect for the consumer.  Really, who the hell wants advertising on the food they eat?  Next, will they brand my steak with an A1 logo?

A few posts ago, I posed a decision we have to make as marketers.  Desperation or Revolution?

This is clearly DESPERATION.

Adfreak
AdJab
Chroma

Big Pimpin' with the Media Orchard

Scott Baradell over at the Media Orchard gave the hee-haw a gold old-fashioned spin doctorin' in one of his newest features "Pimp My Blog Post".

It goes like this, I wrote a post, Scott lays down the rims and the bass, and I pimp the pimped post.  (Alliteration kicks ass).

Anyway, you can find the original version of the post here,and see the pimped version below.  What do you think?  Upgrade?

+++

Three Cool Ways to Make Visitors Stop Coming to Your Web Site Forever

Anthropologists say that when humans name things, it is our feeble attempt to exert control over them. So it is with the term "user experience." Web site designers blather on about the "user experience," when the reality is, there is no such thing -- at least in the singular -- and designers certainly can't control it.

You can design a site, which is part of my experience. But there are other factors you don't control at all: Where I am, who I'm with, what I'm doing, what time it is, the specific information I want.

As a designer, you can't possibly know these answers. Therefore, like any enlightened person, you should embrace your lack of control -- by using your talents to anticipate the full range of experiences that I might have, and then working to accommodate these experiences.

Let's start with three features that you -- as a designer -- may think are cool, but that I -- as a user -- despise.

Cool Feature #1: Music that gets me fired. Your site may be super cool, but it's not worth getting ratted out at work. If your tunes start blaring through my speakers the moment I come to your site, I will never visit it again.

Cool Feature #2: A Flash intro that makes me long for a DVR remote.  Don't make me watch a commercial before visiting your site. If you do, I will never visit it again.

Cool Feature #3: Navigation that guides me into the rocks. Make it easy for me to find what I want -- not what you want me to want -- quickly. That means giving me lots of options -- primary, secondary, even tertiary navigations if you have a lot of content on your site. If you don't, I will never visit your site again.

Ultimately, successful design is about acknowledging that we're all individuals looking for different things on the Web, and coming to terms with that ambiguity creatively -- rather than force-feeding people something they don't want.

Very Zen-like, isn't it?

+++

Return of the Saturday Special

After spending last Saturday popping more pain pills than blogging, my Saturday special returns, featuring some of the best music that you probably have yet to hear, but I think would work beautifully in the marketing world.

I first heard about Denton's Robert Gomez through a couple of his other bands, Norte de Havana and Rob G and the Latin Pimps.  Both obviously latin music, tinged with jazz and pop, especially in the case of The Latin Pimps.

Robert Gomez as a solo artist is a total departure.  Low-key and intuitive, like a mellow Beck, Gomez quietly makes music that meanders, but surprises.  In his latest album, Etherville, he creates songs that are as perfect for Sunday afternoons as they are for candle lit dinners.

Norah Jones also makes an appearance in the album, lending harmonies to "Happiness Today". 

A new song from Rob G's upcoming record "Brand New Towns" is up on his myspace page.  If this is any indication of what we can expect, we should all be very excited.

Etherville is available on ITunes.

MySpace.
Home.

And now, it's time to build a website

My company website needs an upgrade.  Bad.  We've talked and talked and now it's time for action.

I'll give you a sneak peek into my side of the conversation.  These are the things we should be striving for when we get to building...

+Wear our personality on our sleeve.  Our business is seldom based on the work alone.  It's based on relationships and compatibility.  Don't sign up clients and then give them surprises.  In other words, don't sell neck ties and deliver cargo shorts.

+Stand for something.  An attempt to stand for the same things any potential client stands for would be a fool's errand.  Have a point of view, Be ferocious with our convictions and seek out clients on a similar plane.  Or better yet, make it easy for clients with similar beliefs to find us.

+Take the opportunity to build our brand.  Do what we should do, build a website that is only a part of a larger marketing mix.  Stay on message, and expand past home base. 

+Let our employees join the conversation.  Don't make this a top-down exercise.  A company is built upon the needs, desires, opinions, insights of the entire staff.  Give them a piece of the action through blogs, podcasts and community involvement.

+Don't be a business drone.  You can find a thousand agencies that will work to increase business efficiencies, ignore the status quo, push the envelope, and think outside the box.  Don't bullshit.  Find what makes us different and revel in it.

+Build buzz from the ground up.  Get involved with the community.  Don't recruit by accepting resumes.  Recruit by joining and assisting in learning and creation.  Open the dialogue and obsess about talent.

+Create utility for our current clients. How can technology make both of our lives easier?  How can we partner, discuss, collaborate with the most ease?  How can this website make our conversation easy?

+Design with simplicity and usability.  F THE FLASH INTO. 

And for repetitions sake, I'll say again the most important thing we can do for ourselves and our clients, find what makes us different and better and revel in it.  And talk to the people that we are different and better for, and revel with them.

There you go.  Sorry if I've gone list-a-rific lately.  But, I'm turning into a big fan of the list lately.  I'll try to mix it up a bit in the future.

Happy Friday!

Desperation or Revolution.

The results are in.  Last week was officially the worst week the broadcast networks have ever had.

(I'll pause for Jaffe to let out a quick woot and an I told you so)

So, what does this mean for us?

Well, nothing we didn't already know.  It's just one more in a long line of omens proving we are marching down the path of the righteous.

Get back to the consumer.  Let them live an authentic experience.  Treat them as humans, and individuals.  Talk with them, and don't insult their intelligence.

Don't shout, just be there when they need you, and become a good listener. 

If you want to say something, make sure you have something to say.  Then say what you mean, and follow through.  If you want them to be there for you, be there for them, long term. 

Does the waning influence of television necessarily equal the newly empowered consumer?  Well, no. 

But it does mean we are faced with two clear choices...

Desperation or Revolution.  How about we have a little revolution...

The Ego Experience

Please realize that the experience I have with your website is mine and mine alone.  I don't need you to define it for me.

The physical websites you build are only part of my total experience.  It also has as much to do with where I am, who I'm with, what I'm doing, what time it is, and on and on.  You can't possibly know all these answers, so what you should offer me is the experience that I need at that time, at that place.

And here's what that means to you.  No more blaring music through my speakers without asking.  Sometimes I'm at work, and that catchy tune you thought was so cool just rats me out to my boss. 

I don't want to fight through some gaudy flash intro if all I want to do is find some directions. Especially if you're primarily a brick and mortar, why would you ever make me wait to find out your address and phone number?  You should be removing any possible obstacle from me getting to you.

The web experience you build is not for you.  You don't own the time I spend on your site.  Your job is to make it as easy as possible for me to get exactly what I need, when I need it.  If you want to add fluff, fine, sometimes I like fluff, but give me the option, don't shove your fluff down my throat.

So, here it is:
NO MORE STARTING SOUND WITHOUT ASKING FIRST.
NO MORE FLASH INTRO, WHEN ALL I WANT IS CONTENT.
NO MORE BARRIERS FOR ME TO FIND WHAT I WANT.

USER EXPERIENCE DOES NOT MEAN MY EXPERIENCE IS YOURS TO USE.

If you can't follow those simple rules, rest assured, there is always someone who will.  You don't have to waste much of my time before I'm done with you altogether.

The Art of Timelessness

Why is Seinfeld still so funny, when Dharma and Greg seems like a blast from the past?   Why can I watch Tommy Boy 30 times in a row without getting bored, but Black Sheep was funny once, back in the 90's?

The answer is in timelessness.  It doesn't necessarily mean one thing is good and another thing is bad, it just means one thing lives on, and often grows stronger with time, while the other might be good once, but simply gets tiresome or loses its cool.

If you're out to make something timeless, there probably is no set rules you can follow, and luck probably plays as much of a part as any, but here are my thoughts for getting started.

1.  Tap into the Human Condition.  Feelings, irony, and life milestones aren't necessarily products of the language of the day.  They are unifying characteristics that run through any community, country, gender, race, whatever.  Talk about things that helps us to identify commonality.

2.  Be Relatable.  Allow people to derive meaning in their own lives from the stories you tell.

3.  Don't Go Out of Your Way to be Cool.  Just be yourself.  The cool thing continually changes, usually faster than you'd like.  It's really more about attitude than the clothes you wear, anyway.

4.  Be Consistent. And consistently great.  If you allow one portion of your image to not live up to the expectations created in others, you're dead already.  And you can't be timeless and dead.  Not literally, anyway.

5.  Take Risks.  Nothing bland, and nothing that looked, sounded like, or felt just like everything else will be memorable.  And you can't be timeless if you're not memorable.  But,...

6.  Be Familiar.  Do things that feel familiar, things that make someone feel comfortable and draw them in.  Then surprise them by doing something they didn't expect.  Be remarkable.

7.  Be Conversational.  And I mean this in two ways, be conversational in your tone of voice, your gestures, your appearance, and be conversational by telling stories that allow other people to be conversational, too.  Tell stories that are easy to tell.

8.  Be Something to Somebody.  This is about as cliched as it comes, but true.  If we try to be too many things, we'll just become dull. If we can be something special to just one person, it's that much easier for that person to spread our story to other people who are of like mind.

9.  Ignore the Rules.  Rules change with time.  Disregard them because following them will date you.

10.  Don't Be a Slave to Technology.  Use it, but don't abuse it.  Technology can distract, and be a barrier to entry.  Only use technology that adds tangible value to those with whom you're talking.