Marketing comes in more than one flavor! There’s a new revolution going on in a small Russian town. Pskov, a city of 200,000 in northwest Russia, has declared itself the home of the Czar Pancake. The townspeople are on a quest to show the world that theirs is the place to be for Lenten festivities known as Maslenitsa or Butter Week.
In the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde, when protagonist Clyde Barrow says, “We rob banks,” it’s more than just Warren Beatty’s braggadocio that stands out. It’s the simply clarity and outrageous truth of that brief declarative sentence. When it comes to message development, most people think they know what their message is. They’ve undoubtedly said or written it many times.
While watching the gang on MSNBC’s Morning Joe last week, I thought Bob Woodward had one of the best descriptions ever for the dysfunction in Congress. He likened it to “permanent divorce court.” Such is the essence of great message development.
E. B. White’s masterpiece, Charlotte’s Web, recently turned 60. This children’s fable about Wilbur the pig and Charlotte the spider, who saves him from becoming Christmas dinner, honors friendship, ingenuity, love, and loss.
Last week the Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell backed away from a controversial abortion bill that only a week before seemed to be gathering steam. The bill would have called for an invasive ultrasound to be performed before any abortion could occur. What started out as a debate about limiting the access to abortion and fetal rights within a week became a discussion of government intrusion.
Many clients ask why positive news about their organization or company doesn’t seem to get much attention. The answer is simple. In public relations, message development, and elsewhere, negativity is more memorable. And that’s why we are seeing so much of it in this political season.
In this day of smartphones, 140 character messages, if your marketing message doesn't get to the point right off the bat, you risk losing your audience. Too many people, as journalists like to say, bury their lead. In other words, people begin their communications in the middle with the details, the facts and then eventually get to the point.
Were William Shakespeare to come back today, he might find it oddly amusing the care and marketing attention companies and organizations pay to find the right name. Companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours coming up with THE name–one that will help them earn big bucks, cement customer loyalty, get them attention and, in many cases, reinvigorate their brand.
Earlier this week, I did a training for a company’s research and PR staff on how to improve their writing. In that presentation, I included my 10 Commandments of Good Writing. Number Six: Thou Shalt Show ‘Em Not Just Tell “Em.
Ecclesiastes tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. Each generation thinks that it has discovered something for the first time. That is the perception of many about social media. But is social media really a new phenomenon?
