This is your brain in print!

Here's an interesting study from across the pond. The United Kingdom's Royal Mail Service wanted to understand the differences between how readers process direct mail messages  versus ads viewed on a screen. They asked the firm of Millward-Brown to look into this issue. Working with Bangor University Millward-Brown conducted a rigorous study of the issue using fMRI technology.

Their study found that readers presented with information in card format (physical ad) were much more engaged with the message than readers presented the material in a digital (virtual) format. They found that the physical were more engaging both intellectually and emotionally. This lead them to surmise that the brain would be better able to recall the printed ad over a similar digital one.

Here is a link to a brief synopsis of the study in PDF form:

e-studies/MillwardBrown_CaseStudy_Neuroscience.pdf

This study is a good justification for print advertising as well as for direct mail.

Thanks for reading.

Jim Busch

David Ogilvy's vision of a good leader

Thirty years ago when I got into advertising sales, I wanted to educate myself about my new industry. I hit the library and discovered "Confessions of an Advertising Man" by David Ogilvy. Since that time, Ogilvy has been one of my heroes. He was that rare person who excelled in all aspects of the business. He was an incredibly creative copywriter, a great sales person and an excellent manager/leader. His thoughts are as valuable today as they were back in the "Mad Man" era when he helped shape modern advertising. Here are his thoughts on what it takes to be a leader from the book : The Unpublished Ogilvy :

The qualifications I (David Ogilvy) look for in our leaders are these:

1. High standards of personal ethics.
2. Big people, without pettiness. 
3. Guts under pressure, resilience in defeat.
4. Brilliant brains--not safe plodders.
5. A capacity for hard work and midnight oil.
6. Charisma--charm and persuasiveness.
7. A streak of unorthodoxy--creative innovators.
8. The courage to make tough decisions.
9. Inspiring enthusiasts--with thrust and gusto.
10. A sense of humor

Not a bad list to look for or aspire to.

Thanks for reading!

Jim Busch

Is this the next "disruptive technology" that will change advertising

I just watched an extremely interesting Charlie Rose interview. Charlie's guests were the founders of SPRITZ. Spritz is a new digital reading system. Since the Sumerians first starting making marks on a clay tablet thousands of yeqrs ago, text has been presented as groups of words covering a page. This was the only way to deliver complete messages on a clay tablet or...on a tablet computer. SPRITZ presents words one of a time in a rapid sequence. To facilitate reading the letter which is the focal point of each word is shown in red to draw the eye quickly to the message. I tried this system on their website ( http://www.spritzinc.com/ ) and it is amazing how quickly one can absorb printed information using Spritz. Spritz claims that it is possible to read a 1,000 words a minute using their method.

The question is, "How does this impact advertising?" Typically people would be attracted by the content of a page and would stumble upon the advertising sharing the page when they are reading. With Spritz, one only see the desired content one word at a time. If this system catches on, which I think is a very real possibility, it could change web and mobile technology. This will be an interesting innovation to watch, a potential game changer.

Thanks for reading.

Jim Busch

The "one-two punch" technique for cold calling

It is estimated that some 80% of business calls end up in voice mail. I would not be surprised if a similar percentage of business e-mails end up in the "junk mail" or "deleted items" folders. I heard a technique today that should increase your chance of getting through to a decision maker.

The technique starts with a phone call. When you get voice-mail, leave a message something like this: "This is Jim Busch from Company Name,  I know you're busy so I will send you a e-mail detailing how businesses like yours are attracting new clients. Look it over and if you're interested, give me a call. Thanks."

this low key approach doesn't sound overly "salesie" and enhances the chances of your e-mail being read.

Follow this up with an e-mail using the subject line: "Per my e-mail"

In your e-mail use a customer testimonial and tell the prospect you'd like to give them some information that they will find valuable. Do not give them all the details. Include your number and ask them to call or e-mail you.

If the customer calls back be prepared to share some research or ideas with them to make good on your promise. If they do not call back, follow-up in a few days leaving a message that you are following up on your voice-mail and e-mail messages. This will tell the customer that you have made an effort to reach them and they may feel obligated to call back.

Will this work? I'm not sure but this is a good idea to experiment.

Thanks for reading

Jim Busch

Double your pleasure

Many customers look at advertising as an "either/or" proposition. They will advertise either in the daily or the weekly paper. They will do cable or print. This attitude stems from a desire to save money and they see reaching the same consumer twice as a waste of money. There are two reasons why this is penny wise and pound foolish. First, each media attracts a unique readership. While many people may access multiple media, few are touched by all the available media in their area. By leaving your paper out of the mix the "thrifty" advertiser misses readers who may be the ideal customer for the product or service they sell. The best way to ensure the success of your business is to reach as many potential customers as possible. The customers that they reach in one media that they do not reach in another represents their unduplicated reach.

Advertisers should also ask themselves,  "is duplication necessarily a bad thing?" Customers assume that when a consumer sees their ad, it is love at first sight. That they will jump up out of their chair and head for the advertisers business as soon as they see their ad. This is a very unrealistic view of  how advertising works. Most people take much more convincing. The more often they see the customer's message, the more likely they are to recall their name. After a while the consumer begins to associate the business with the products they sell. The more often a consumer sees the customer's name and is exposed to their message, the more likely they are to patronize the advertiser's business. I argue that far from being an unnecessary waste of money, that duplicated reach actually provides the advertiser with a significant benefit.

I hope you found this post valuable. Please feel free to post your thoughts on this subject in the comments section and to pass this blog along to others.

Thanks for reading.

Jim Busch   

The Lazy Reader

Henry Ford once said, "Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably why so few engage in it." Henry was ahead of his time. Modern scientific studies have found that human beings naturally try to keep their thinking to a minimum. We seek "Cognitive Ease" because as Mr. Ford had guessed, thinking is the hardest work we do. Though it only makes up about 2% of our body mass, the brain consumes up to 20% of the energy used by our bodies. Because of this disproportionate use of resources, we have evolved strategies to conserve energy and limit our processing of information. This is why it is so important to make sales presentations and ads simple and easy to understand.

Using laser technology researchers can precisely track where a reader is looking on a page. These studies have shown that readers will skip over an ad that is crowded or too complex. Readers prefer an ad that is easy to follow and clearly offers them a benefit. The same is true of a sales presentation. FMRI studies, which track brain activity, show that most people  "zone out" when presented with too many facts or if the presenter is too hard to follow. Salespeople who present only one or two ideas at a time and who use analogies and other tools to help the prospect understand their message will be far more successful than someone who buries them in information. In presentations, more is certainly less.   

Obviously we need to get our customers thinking about our products. The best way to do this is stay completely focused on the customer's needs and desires. If we can use simple presentations to demonstrate how our products can help the customer, they will be more than willing to invest the energy required to consider our proposals.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post or found it useful please feel free to pass it along.

Jim B.

Time Warp Questions

I am a powerful believer in the power of questions. A skilled sales person can use questions to steer the direction of a conversation and to reveal the prospect's "hot buttons." Great sales people prefer to ask questions rather than make statements. Research has shown that the more the customer talks, the more likely they are to buy. Questions are the tool that gets them talking.

In addition to revealing the customer's business situation and needs, questions can be used to reveal the customer's motivations and their purchasing patterns. For this purpose I like to use what I call "time warp" or "origin" questions. These are questions that ask the prospect to go "back in time" and tell you why they did something. When I meet a prospect for the first time, I like to ask them, "So, what led you to get into the whatever business?" Their answer tells me a lot about their personality and their goals. If they say, "I like being my own boss, the guy I was working for was doing shoddy work and I like to take pride in what I do," I know that I need to talk to them about promoting quality rather than price. If, on the other hand, they say, "I knew I could beat any body's price," I know to go the other direction. What led them into business, reveals a lot about the prospect and how to sell them.  

In competitive situations if you ask a customer why they are advertising in a competitive product, they may see this as a personal challenge. They may think you are attacking the competitive media and therefore attacking their decision to go that route. I find it is far better to say something like, "I'm glad to hear that you see the value of advertising, many of my customers also advertise in the XYZ. Can I ask what led you to go with XYZ?" This accomplishes several things, I defuses a potentially tense situation, it tells the customer that there is no reason that they can't advertise in both media and helps you to uncover their advertising goals. This is a way to gain insight into the thought process they use when purchasing advertising. I often use a follow up question like "You said that one of your goals was to increase your carry-out business. Have you accomplished this?" Rather than challenging the competitor directly, this gets the prospect thinking about the other media's performance.

"Time warp" questions are non-threatening because they take the issue out of context. They force the customer to step back and look at their situation from a distance. These questions can be used to remind customers of their goals and their dreams. Putting them in this frame of mind makes them much more receptive to you ideas on how they can achieve their objectives.

On another note, I recently started a new blog featuring some of my favorite quotes. You can check it out at http://theapothegmatist.blogspot.com/ The first post will explain this blog's rather "geeky" tile.  As always, I welcome you comments, feedback and ideas. Thanks for reading.


Jim Busch