Why the Big Picture Matters

Popular major studies among individuals whose planned careers include advertising (or, more broadly) marketing are communications, business or marketing. Naturally, if marketing research has its own methodology, why was precious time and tuition money spent studying anything else? After all, isn’t preparation and qualification for the working world the primary reason for matriculation at any university?

These pre-professional disciplines, I feel, are deceptive, but without malicious intent. I think that learning about marketing statistics and research methodology are great, as is learning the functions of capitalist enterprise and communication strategy. But I feel that there is something broader and more universal that drives those phenomena that is well worth understanding.

Read this as you will: an argument for bring the ivory tower to the workplace or an argument for the intellectualization of the everyday professional. Probably the worse interpretation of my entry here would be that this is a veneration of myself and vindictive condemnation of my competition. I am not really advocating any of those things but, rather, showing that thinking outside the box when hiring can prove beneficial.

Let’s begin with functions of the capitalist enterprise, something that any business major is required to understand prior to graduation day. Although businesses following business models are going to make up the body of clientele any agency has to work with, business models change and evolve and sometimes disintegrate. Economics – the discipline which explains how a lot of business actually works – is less wavering in its veracity and versatile application.

The business cycle moves in a cyclical fashion … duh. But who can explain why the business cycle may experience an irregularity? Only individuals who are well-versed in the principles of economics and its driving forces, supply and demand, will be able to investigate, analyze, and creatively problem-solve when it comes to a change in the “business truths” that are no longer valid.

And what about understanding communication strategies: the goal behind the communications program at every university? Granted, there are specific techniques that are useful in marketing, but once again, how long will these last? Tag Ideation, a company in the McCann-Erickson agency network has started experimenting with new methods of communication that go outside the traditional media (radio, TV, billboard) and have started putting post-it notes in taxi cabs and using other more shocking and unorthodox methods. Will a communications (or even more dangerous, advertising) major understand which divergences from the path most taken are going to be effective and which are not? Unlikely, since the topics of study in a communications program are the existing methods. A student of psychology, on the other hand, can most likely understand social phenomena such as upward social comparison, the health belief model and other motivating factors that encourage behavior change. And isn’t behavior change the final goal of ALL marketing endeavors?

In the end, it’s pretty hard for agency principals to select the best candidates for a job based on academic background alone. I still believe that experience is a better teacher than any class, be it social psychology, macroeconomics, or managerial accounting. I think that we have to pay attention to the direction of the industry, and stay aware that things are always changing. Successful agencies in the future will be those that have learned a great deal about the industry, but which can also bend and re-define the rules to match shifting markets and modes of message communication.

Aaron Finegold

Johnson Direct LLC Account Services Intern

800-710-2750

The comments expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of Johnson Direct, LLC.

Marketing is Marketing … Social or Otherwise

Social marketing is hot, hot, hot!  I should be able to get my outdoor grill to heat up so fast.  Everywhere you look, everybody is talking about social marketing, and why not?  It can be a great thing to do.  IF you do it right.

And there’s the rub.  Some social marketing campaigns, like the ultra-trendy (RED) campaign, do good … but could do a lot more.  Some of the most famous brands in the world have teamed up with the (RED) campaign to produce (RED) branded products, with the idea of giving a percentage of each sale to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.  What finer cause could there be?

Unfortunately, this can also be where social marketing goes awry.  In the case of the (RED) campaign, it fails because it draws focus away from addressing the very issues it wants to impact by becoming a distraction from the causes of those problems.  Instead of selling products, would it not make more sense to work towards helping bring African countries out of poverty, as well as provide treatment for disease?  No one can argue against the need for treatment … but neither should one forget that the plague of poverty will just keep the diseases coming, new case by new case, long after the funds available for treatment are exhausted.

At the root of good social marketing is good marketing.  Principles, principles, principles!  And a good marketing campaign begins with solid, fact-based research … the kind of research that reveals the actual causes of the problem to be addressed.

Don’t get me wrong.  I admire the folks at (RED).  At least they’re trying to do something.  They’ve raised $11 million.  Of course, their goal is $100 million, so the jury is still out on how effective they will be in the end.  But one thing is for sure: whenever they reach the end of their campaign, the problem will still be there.

If you’re going to get involved in a social marketing campaign, approach it for what it is: a campaign that you can either excel at, or get fired for not doing well.  Do it well.  Do your homework.  Do your due diligence.

Do it right!

Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

800-710-2750

News (???) of the Day

Here are some random musings about what Americans seem to want to know. These are actual headlines I’ve noticed today in the local newspaper and on various online news sites:

“Paris Hilton Speaks from Jail.” Frankly, I’m always surprised when Paris Hilton shows she can speak at all.

“Amanda Beard Poses Nude for Playboy.” Who’s Amanda Beard?

“TomKat Attend Multi-million Dollar Wedding.” Who cares?

“Is VP Too Secretive?” Yes.

“Pro-lifers, Progressives Miss Rendezvous in DC.” Just what were they planning to do when they got together?

“Is Video Game Addiction Real?” Apparently this was meant for the “everything’s an addiction” crowd. Admit that I’m powerless over a video game?

“Spice Girls to Reveal Future Plans.” Aren’t they dead?

The point is a simple one. For those of us who want real news, we have to face the reality that most Americans seem to want Brittany, Lindsey, TomKat, etc., much more than we want the NEWS of the day. I used to blame the media. Not anymore. It’s our fault, because the media are only responding to what readers, listeners, and viewers clearly want. The immoral majority seem to be in control these days.

Let’s just hope they don’t figure out how to vote!

Johnson Direct LLC

800-710-2750

The comments expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of Johnson Direct, LLC.

Tricking Kids Won’t Prevent Teen Pregnancy!

Right now, several people in the Milwaukee area are enthusiastically patting themselves on the back for a campaign that is supposedly designed to get kids to avoid becoming pregnant. That’s a noble goal in a city that is plagued with a reputation for being among the nation’s worst when it comes to teen pregnancies and diseases that are sexually transmitted among teens.

A noble goal … and a “marketing” approach that is totally out of touch with reality. Kids are being asked on billboards if they want more cash in their pockets. If so, they’re instructed to call a certain phone number. When they do, surprise! There’s no job waiting for them on the other end … just a message about teen pregnancy. Oh, isn’t that creative? Sponsors of the campaign say they have received 11,000 calls in just over a month. Of course they have … Milwaukee has done a bad job of addressing the need for jobs, so many young people (and adults for that matter) are dying to find a job. I can’t help but wonder how many of those callers remained on the line when they realized they had been deceived.

The trickery approach was tried here last fall, too, when the United Way of all people (sponsor of the current campaign and generally a nice group of folks) plastered signs on bus stops and other places that said “For a Good Time, Call xxx-xxxx.” What’s wrong with that message? Well, where do I begin? For one thing, once again most callers probably hung up when they received a teen pregnancy message. For another thing, how many callers were degenerate adults looking for a “good” time?

And just for good measure, the current campaign has bus ads and billboards featuring a boy with an apparently pregnant stomach. The message is “Shouldn’t it be just as disturbing when it’s a girl?” Well of course it should. But the fact is that we at Johnson Direct considered the same approach two years ago for a client that promotes abstinence, and all involved agreed that all it would do is make kids laugh. Not pay attention. Not get the message. LAUGH!

Battling teen pregnancy should involve helping the kids to develop the coping skills that will enable them to deal with intense peer pressure and highly confusing messages from the media and the entertainment world. It should involve helping them to build self esteem and understand how their bodies work.

The comprehensive sex-eders in the area love to say that abstinence programs don’t work. Well, neither does the kind of trickery that is being foisted on our kids by the United Way and its partners in the sneaky, totally misdirected, but highly creative campaign being conducted now. While the creative will probably win awards, I’ll bet the kids will laugh or become angry, and won’t change their attitudes at all. Why should they? The campaign depends on trickery and messages targeted to adults, not kids. What’s creative about that?

It’s not wise. It’s definitely not nice. It’s insulting to our kids.

And it’s certainly not any kind of meaningful, measurable marketing.

Johnson Direct LLC

800-710-2750

The comments expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of Johnson Direct, LLC.

Warm Cookies and Cold Milk are Good for You!

Today is my kids’ last day of school before summer vacation. My daughter is in 4th grade and my son is in 2nd grade. How I yearn for the days of 9 months of work followed by 3 months of vacation! That was the life!

We live in the age of the “Me First” culture. We also live in a world in which higher education and MBAs are admired and looked up to. But, if getting your MBA makes you such a better person, why are all the “educated” people making such a mess of the world?

I’m always reminded this time of year of Robert Fulghum’s book “All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten.” Here is an excerpt from the book. I think if we all adhered to this advice, the world would be a much better place to live.

Share everything

Play fair.

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced live … learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the styrofoam cup — they all die. So do we.

And then remember the “Dick and Jane” books and the first word you learned — the biggest word of all — LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it for your family life or your work or your government or your world — and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all — the whole world — had cookies and milk about 3:00 every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all the governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it’s true, no matter how old you are — when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Amen, Brother Fulghum!

Rob Trecek

Johnson Direct

800-710-2750

The comments expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of Johnson Direct, LLC.

Alan Rosenspan – A Class Act

I am privileged to call one of the greats of our business, Alan Rosenspan of Alan Rosenspan and Associates, my friend.  Recently, in accepting the Caples International Andi Emerson Award, Alan made comments that should make us all stop in our tracks and think, really think about what it is we do.  Here are the words of Alan Rosenspan …

“When you receive an award like this, there’s a real temptation to thank all the people who have helped you along the way … but if I did, we’d be here until breakfast tomorrow morning.  So, instead, I want to thank all of you.

“Not for what you did.  But for what you’re going to do … next month, next year, and beyond that.  You may think you’re going to do direct marketing, but that’s not what you’re really going to do.

“What you’re really going to do is help businesses stay in business, grow and prosper.  You’re going to raise money for worthwhile causes and issues you believe in.  You’re going to help people appreciate life, add richness and meaning to it, and even inspire them.

“You’re going to help build better products, great companies and enduring brands.  And you’re going to help your clients make money, build their businesses, feed their families, pay for their children’s education, take great vacations and become even more successful.

“And, of course, you’ll also be helping yourself to do the exact same things.

“I have always been so proud … to be part of a business that is constantly improving … that measures what we do … and is always trying to do better than we did last time.  I’ve always considered myself so lucky … to be friends with and work with some of the best creative minds in the world.  Some of you are here with me tonight.  And I’ve always considered myself so blessed … to love what I do and and to enjoy sharing it so much.

“So let me thank you all for this wonderful award — and for helping make this such a rewarding and stimulating and creative business.”

Alan Rosenspan is a class act.

Grant Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

800-710-2750

The “Next Big Idea”

Over the holiday weekend, in between mowing the grass, planting flowers and washing outside windows, I had the pleasure of reading an interesting book I thought I would tell you about.

When you say the word “improvisation,” one may conjure up images of Chris Farley dancing in his Chippendale outfit on SNL or Wayne Brady making you laugh out loud on “Whose Line is it, Anyway?” Locally, one might think of a hysterical night of laughter at ComedySportz.

Few would think of Improv as a way of improving business practices. John Sweeney finds a way in his book, “Innovation at the Speed of Laughter.”

It’s no secret that new ideas fuel profitability. Even when companies hire top talent and teach best skills, few are able to affect the bottom line unless their employees can generate and execute new concepts. It sounds like a simple principle, but finding new ideas can become a company’s greatest challenge. What if we were to tell you that a little comedy theater in Minneapolis has created an incredibly effective idea process to help businesses generate more and better ideas? In fact, the owner and executive director of that little theater has used this breakthrough process to help companies like 3M, Altria, Medtronic, Best Buy, Disney and hundreds of others achieve greater innovation.

Born from the formula used for more than 45 years to help write outlandish satirical comedy, Sweeney’s book describes eight principles that guide companies, leaders and individuals to generate more and better ideas. Using client case studies, individual testimonials and a lighthearted writing style, this book is especially appealing to business leaders, team builders and companies seeking to find the “next big idea.”

According to Sweeney, “Perhaps the most beneficial part of our process is the practical application portion, in which the idea gets fleshed out and prepared for implementation. The only way an idea can become profitable is by taking it from the individual mind and the brainstorming session to the company conference room and the factory floor. Our process explains how and when to implement constraints into idea generation in order to bring true gems to fruition.”

Here are a couple of testimonials taken from the book:

“Improv principles such as honesty, trust, listening and staying in the moment have really helped my work and personal life. I find it easier dealing with change. Improv helps me to deal with events that don’t go according to the master plan and “surprises.”

“I believe as we age, the ability to be spontaneous becomes less and less. Also, to trust one’s own intuition becomes more difficult. We develop filters, screens, bias and prejudice. These all play out in the workplace as we navigate the political landscape and manage and supervise employees in which a variety of supervisory styles are needed to get the work done. For me, the improv classes created a new awareness of my rigidity and stiffness, and I also came to realize that through practice of improv techniques there is a way to loosen yourself up. As this new awareness followed me to my workplace, I could see humor and spontaneity in every interaction. In turn, trust and motivation occur with my peers and those who report to me.”

Reading “Innovation at the Speed of Laughter” is a great way to be entertained, educated and inspired. Recommended reading for everyone in business who wants to develop a smooth running team!

I also personally endorse John’s blog at http://www.speedoflaughter.blogspot.com

Rob Trecek

Johnson Direct LLC

800-710-2750

The comments expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of Johnson Direct, LLC.