| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Cave Paintings, Baseball and Connecting
There's no such thing as a captive audience--any of us can tune out at will. It may surprise you, then, to know that keeping people's attention in this high-tech age takes the same know-how we had in neolithic days. The evidence of cave paintings points to our ancestors' grasp of the power of image and symbol. Their striking use of imagery was likely matched by equally powerful storytelling. To explain the nature of their business, many consultants create information packages. However, communicating is not simply the act of sending information to an audience. Picture this: You're in a park and, unexpectedly, you're hit by a baseball. That baseball is information, but you weren't expecting it, so you don't know right away what to do with it. Had you seen it coming, you' be at home plate waiting with a bat--but connecting with it also depends on how well the ball is pitched. Most, if not all, of us are stressed out by information overload--a lot of unexpected or badly thrown baseballs hitting us all the time. And we don't know what to make of them. That's something we often forget when we're at the throwing end. To communicate effectively, we must find a way to encourage the other person to join us, to involve them in the game. First, we must get their attention, bust through the clutter, open their eyes and engage their hearts and minds. Our chance of success is greater if we use symbols, imagery and metaphor--verbally and visually. Humans come equipped with an amazing ability to interpret visual communication. Our brains are pre-wired for associative thinking, a ton of information is rapidly compiled from the almost overwhelming onslaught of raw data sent to our brains by our senses. By early childhood, the human brain already has already built a vast database of memories and powerful, evocative associations from which to draw. Connecting abstract concepts with concrete images (making the intangible, tangible) is the work of an instant. Most of us are able to grasp complex concepts once we think of them in terms of images. (Do you know anyone who did not understand, in the twinkling of an eye, just what Faith Popcorn meant by cocooning?). The amazing thing is not that a picture is worth a thousand words; it's the speed of light with which we assimilate that picture and understand those thousand words. And it's this speed that we want to take advantage of in our marketing communications, because our audience is only going to give us the briefest fraction of time before they mentally "channel surf" out of reach. One word of warning about the power of metaphors--don't explain them; let your audience make the link for themselves. The power rests in the delight of making the link; to have it explained would belabour the point. (Much like having a joke explained, if it didn't get a response, it wasn't well presented and no amount of explaining will help.) If you recognize and use the power of symbol, image and metaphor to your advantage, you stand the best chance of triggering the response you want from your audience. Keith Thirgood, Creative Director Capstone Communications Group Helping businesses get more business through innovative marketing Markham, Ontario, Canada 905-472-2330 Subscribe to Thrive-on-line http://list.capstonecomm.com/mail.cgi?f=list&l=thrive_on_line
MORE RESOURCES:
marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Good Vibes/ Bad Vibes Have you ever walked into a store or business and felt uncomfortable there for no apparent reason? Have you ever walked into a store all happy and left quite frustrated? Have you ever wished your house could feel happier? The process called energetic clearing can make a significant improvement to any location.There are many kinds of energy all around us. Marketing Manual Sample Outline The key to success in any business relies a large part in your ability to market your product or service. Often MBA students spend years studying marketing as it encompasses and relates to nearly all business operations. Catalogs are Selling Machines If you've got a mailbox, you're no doubt aware of the popularity of catalogs. People love to look through catalogs, and more important, they love to buy from catalogs. Grow Your Business By Getting Your Customers Buying From You More Often - 35 Ideas 35 Ideas to Spark Your Creativity:There are 3 ways to grow any business. Just 3:- Get more customers- Get more from each sale- Sell to each customer more frequently. Ten Easy Marketing Tasks You Can Do NOW Who says scientists can't market? Here are 10 easy marketing ideas that a group of folks at the National Institute of Standards and Technology came up with today during our monthly Marketing Action Group:1. Listen to (and write down!) the questions your clients ask. Earning the Right To Sell With Stats - 10 Steps to Greatness We could learn a thing or two from pro sports.Baseball players use stats to tell the story of their season and their career. Getting Paid to Promote Yourself We all know we can pay a magazine or a newspaper to run ads for us. Businesses do it all the time. Creative Emulation In business we have a number of ways or tools that we use to stimulate improvement. Most of us could recite these in our sleep:? Brainstorming? Benchmarking? Problem solvingWhen these things fail, or we realize that perhaps there are better ways to do these approaches, we do the next likely thing and hire a consultant. Do I Need an RSS Feed? RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS provides headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way. Commercial Collections By Telephone The telephone enables a credit manager to make many contacts in the shortest period of time. A call permits you to present your case to the debtor for immediate response. Do You Know Where Your Marketing Dollars Are Going? We all know the importance of marketing to increase sales and bring in new business.But, do you honestly know where your marketing dollars are being spent most effectively. The Death of Product Packaging as We Know It. It used to be you that if you had a great product you put it in a package and voila! . . 5 High-Impact Marketing Tips Here are 5 high-impact marketing tips you can use to boost your sales quickly. All are simple to implement and they involve little or no new expense. 20 Power Marketing Tips Use these powerful yet simple tips from the national best-seller, "Secrets of Power Marketing: Promote Brand You" - the first guide to personal marketing for non-marketers.Create and grant an annual award. Ready, Fire, Aim! You probably read my headline and thought, wait a minute, isn't that backwards? Isn't it supposed to be "Ready, Aim, Fire?"Well, a year ago I might have agreed with you. But not anymore. Comprehensive Marketing Details Not Found in Beginner Books If this is the first marketing article you are reading, go find some other more basic articles that I have written and then come back. This data is for the intermediate to advanced marketers. Importance of Endorsements And How To Use Them Customer endorsements are an inexpensive and easy sales tool, particularly for someone just starting out. Here are some tips on how to get them and use them: Send follow-up letters. A Complaint? It's a Compliment! - 7 Tips for Dealing with Complaints at Trade Shows A Complaint? It's a Compliment!What made you mad last week?In the past week, how many times were you upset by something? What action did you take? Complain to the neighbors, make a snide remark to a co-worker, post it on a list or email a group? Did you just gossip or did you try to make it into a positive experience? They say we complain to ten people for every one compliment about a product or service.Did you call the manager of the company, write the company president, email a suggestion for improvement? Probably not. Marketing Operations Elevates Public Relations and Communications Professionals Is your marketing department taking advantage of MOM and MRM? Do you have BAM and DAM systems in place? Do you know how to measure NPV? Do you even know what I'm talking about?If so, you may not be a "Quant" (a marketing scientist or specialist in marketing analytics) but you're certainly ready to seize a leadership role and spur your company into the new world of Marketing Operations.Marketing Operations (AKA MOM or Marketing Operations Management) seeks to improve performance and measure ROI through sustainable processes, best practices and clearly-defined metrics. Like Brushing Your Teeth What do the following things have in common: brushing your teeth, regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, paying your bills on time, cleaning your gutters, spending quality time with your spouse and kids??They're all forms of regular "self-care" that, if you neglect them for a period of time or take the wrong approach, there will be costly negative consequences.The same goes for marketing.
|
| Article List | Index | Site Map |
|
All logos, trademarks and articles on this site are property and copyright of their respective owner(s).
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest is Copyright © 2006 CanadaSEEK.com - All Rights Reserved. |
