The 12 Basic Ad Formats

I’ve got some juicy projects I’m working on, and I want to give them my full, focused attention. So I’m going to make this short and sweet. And perhaps even more fun than educational.

Welcome to this edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

Thanks to graphic designer and colleague Tim Faragher for bringing this fascinating subject to my attention…

We all watch commercials. Did you know, according to author Seth Stevenson on Slate.com, that there are but 12 basic ad formats?

There’s:

1. The Demo
2. Show the Problem
3. Symbolize the Problem
4. Symbolize the Benefit
5. The Comparison
6. The Exemplary Story
7. The Benefit Causes Story
8. The Testimonial
9. Ongoing Characters and Celebrities
10. Associated User Imagery
11. Unique Personality Property
12. The Parody, or Borrowed Format

Check out this entertaining video to see what he means. Chances are you’ll be nodding along knowingly as you watch.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid988327350?bclid=1037705321&bctid=1119288350


Joel Kweskin

Publications

When was the last time you read “Piedmont Lakes Pilot?” How about “Amps 11?” Or the “Charlotte Hospitality News?” Perhaps you’ve curled up lately with “Apollonaire?”

It might just behoove you to take a closer look at these Charlotte-area magazines (or any metro-area group of pubs, depending on where you reside). Even if you’ve never heard of them before…

Welcome to another edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

“Piedmont Lakes Pilot” is for boaters and lakeside dwellers along Lakes Wylie, Norman and other Piedmont-area lakes. “Amps 11” surveys the area music scene in a funky format. “Charlotte Hospitality News” takes a look at the hotel and catering news around town. And “Apollonaire” describes Charlotte’s dining and party scene through the lens of wine aficionados.

Why these publications? Why ANY publications you may not be familiar with? Because, apart from any personal interest you might have in the subject matter, these are opportunities with which to consider advertising your services. To be in a publication where your counterparts…aren’t. And thereby stake a claim in a place where you can target a particular audience. And likely for a lot less than you would have invested to advertise in a larger, more mainstream publication.

Maybe you do websites. Maybe you’re a wine enthusiast, as well. So maybe, while restaurants and their obvious industry brethren are advertising in “Apollonaire,” you can parlay your interests in trying to reach those readers with a service it’s not likely any other website developer thought to take advantage of.

The point is, there are all kinds of publications out there with a targeted reach of audience. Why not target those same folks with your services, even though at first it might seem a stretch. There’s a good chance that you could refine your own target market – at least for the sake of certain publication readers – to zero in on an audience that’s more receptive to you than were you to randomly network among strangers at a cocktail party.

When you consider going into any of these non-mainstream pubs, you’re doing two things: you’re reaching an audience with whom you can point out your shared frames of reference while offering them a service they can quite possibly use, and at the same time locking out your competition…because your competition has probably not even thought to be there!


Joel Kweskin

"Leatherheads"

What the heck is this guy doing in Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management?

Recently I discussed the importance of self-promotion. Through such tried and true methods as press releases, seminars, event marketing, trade shows and web content.

Why self promotion? Simply because no one else is likely to do it for you, and if marketing has any role in your business development mix – and, of course, it should – you need to let your audiences know about your product or service.

But it doesn’t always have to be about what you do for a living. Sometimes, it can just be about…you.

That is, if you’ve got something universally interesting to talk about. Have you been awarded or even nominated for a significant industry honor? Have you been on a charity mission to some other country? Have you been lifting a hammer lately for Habitat for Humanity? Have you decided to create a scholarship fund in your family’s name?

Then too, the nature of your story doesn’t necessarily have to be a lofty one. Just, again, something truly interesting.

For instance, about that guy at the top of the page… He is starring in and directing “Leatherheads,” a romantic comedy about pro football, circa 1925, portions of which were filmed here in Charlotte this past Spring.

And yours truly got the unique and rewarding opportunity to appear in it!

Want to read an 8-day journal all about it? Go to: http://www.jdkmarketing.biz/leatherheads.htm


And for those of you with your own unique and compelling story to tell…I invite you to send it to me at joel@jdkmarketing.biz If it’s got “legs,” I’ll try to get it into http://www.lifeincharlotte.com/, a new online compendium of news and features celebrating diversity and achievement throughout the Queen City.


Joel Kweskin

Rethinking What/How You Sell

I saw a parked truck the other day and did a double take. On the side panel, the big sign was for one of those marble slab ice cream products. Of course, that was “take” number one -- I didn’t know that they transported their product anywhere. The second “take” followed the caption at the bottom of the sign: “We Deliver!”

They do?

I didn’t know that!

Welcome to another edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

The fact that an ice cream product usually associated with a forearm-rendered and molded concoction on a cold metal surface at the ice cream product’s place of business is now taking that product off the cold metal surface and somehow transporting it to someone’s home or business is, well, news to me.

Is it news to you, too?

Does it make you rethink that ice cream product…and contemplate using them in that manner sometime in the future?

Recently, I saw friend and networking colleague Justin Lowenberger give a presentation at a business networking group to which we both belong. Justin is an attorney with Ted A. Greve & Associates --justinlowenberger@mydrted.com and http://www.mydrted.net/ -- which primarily specializes in personal injury/accident cases. We all expected him to talk about his role as an attorney. Instead, he talked about un-insured and under-insured motorist coverages and how it pays – quite literally – to have the proper coverage yourself in case you’re ever involved in an accident with another motorist who either has no coverage or not enough coverage.

Here he was, lending his expertise on a subject most people would have thought better served by an insurance agent. But to his credit – and expertise – the subject was actually better served by…himself.

I didn’t know that!

What do you know about any field tangentially connected to your own? Can you write about it, lecture about it, “schmooze” about it? And then connect it, even understatedly, to your primary business? If you can, your perceived value increases to clients, prospects and colleagues and becomes yet another way to market yourself or your business.

(All together now: “I didn’t know that!”)


Joel Kweskin

Chochkes

Welcome to this edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

We all know what they are and we all know what their role is in the marketing mix. But sometimes these chochkes – ad specialty, or promotional items – are taken for granted. And by that I mean too often they’re selected by the marketer without significant thought given to the relationship to either the marketer or the intended recipients.

Friend, colleague, neighbor and ad specialties guru Matt Coben, president of Thunder Road Brandworks, Inc. -- http://thunderroadbrandworks.com/ (704-335-9956) -- takes these trinket doo-dads seriously.

As well he should; according to Wikipedia, it’s an industry with sales in excess of $17 billion. In just a couple of examples noted in the online Business Odyssey Chronicle, 39 percent of people receiving a promotional product could recall the name of the advertiser as long as six months after they received it according to a study. And promotional products used in direct mail solicitations were found to boost response rates by up to 75 percent, in another study.

“Trinkets & Trash, Swag, Chochkes, call them what you will,” says Matt. “Most people think of tee shirts, golf balls, pens and coffee cups. At the end of the day, it is still the representation of your company’s brand. It comes down to this: more time should be spent on how to display your brand than goes into choosing the brand of toilet tissue for the corporate wash room.

“How many times have you expectantly waited while you watched your client/prospect take your gift pen and scratch on that piece of paper until the ink started flowing. Kind of makes the sweat start on your forehead just thinking about it, doesn’t it?

“Why not work with an expert who has taken the time to research who not only makes the pen, but the cartridge as well. If it’s only about price, you may end up being penny wise and pound foolish. After all, everything you put out into the world with your name or logo on it speaks to the quality and integrity of your business.

“But once you’re committed to producing a promotional item, are you prepared for some rep to come to your office, drop a pile of catalogs on your desk and say ‘tell me what you want’..?

“Or, would you rather consult with an industry professional who will present ideas that match your marketing goals? Do yourself a favor and stay away from the ‘trunk slammers,’ and talk to a pro that will take the time to get to know you, your product/service and the marketplace in which you conduct business. A pro who goes to trade shows and stays on top of the latest products, gadgets and trends.”

Words to the wise. Worthy of inscription on a coffee mug.

A very large coffee mug, of course…

Yours truly, for instance, has been sending out annually for the past five years a nifty, compact adhesive calendar, ostensibly for the computer keyboard or atop the monitor, which places my name and company name in front of the recipient on a daily basis. Every time that person sits down at the computer (that’s pretty much every day, and throughout the day, isn’t it?), he or she sees my mini “advertisement.” Along, of course, with every day of every month for ease of scheduling.

Joel Kweskin

Self Promoting

No, it’s not a cityscape from Paris. Or London. Or Brussels. Or any other place in Europe.

It’s the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where my wife and I visited our daughter recently (she worked for PriceWaterhouse down there for a year).

It’s an impressive, cosmopolitan city with beautiful architecture, trendy boutiques, lovely urban parks and fabulous restaurants. Closer to home, it reminded me at varying times of the best of New York and Chicago. In short, it’s everything we DIDN’T expect before we discovered it for ourselves.

Welcome to the international edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

I wonder why that is. Is it because Europe “promotes” itself better? Buenos Aires is no farther away than most European cities we’re already familiar with, even if we haven’t actually been there. And it’s in “our” hemisphere, not “theirs.” Maybe B.A. is still self-conscious over their recent economic woes. (But now’s the time to go – the dollar is worth three of theirs; pesos, that is.)

Anyway, it got me to thinking about self-promotion. And then I came across marketing guru Robert Middleton’s take on the subject. Here are excerpts from his recent e-zine:
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Too Proud to Market?

I was talking to my friend Patrick last week about his wife Renee’s band.

"They don't feel comfortable promoting themselves. They feel self-conscious, even embarrassed about it."They know they're a great band and when people hire them, they love their music. So I think they wish that people would hire them without having to promote themselves. Perhaps they don't want to come across as if they needed more work."

I pointed out to Patrick that a very large percentage of independent business owners (from bands to consultants, from artists to financial planners) struggle with this. People feel too proud to market themselves. It shows up in their thinking: - If I'm great, people will finally discover me - I'm lowering myself by self-promotion - Promotion is boasting and I'm not a boaster - People will think I'm like a used car salesperson - I don't want to embarrass myself - I don't want to put myself out there and be rejected - People already know what I do, so why push it?

But aren't these all pretty poor excuses?Imagine you were listening to Renee's band, and in the middle of the gig they did a fun and interactive song to promote themselves. Wouldn't you smile? Wouldn't you accept a card? Wouldn't you take it home and stick it on your fridge?Would you feel pressured, manipulated and coerced into calling them to hire them for a special event or party? Of course not.

You'd understand that they, like every other enterprise, need to promote themselves. You'd actually appreciate that they did it in a fun way that got you involved and gave you an opportunity to contribute. And I'm also willing to bet you'd think about them every time someone said they were looking for a band for a special event or party. You might even pull the postcard off your fridge and hand it to a friend or your boss.

There are a ton of things you can do that will bring you more business. Any marketing consultant could come up with half a dozen good ones in less than an hour.But your pride will stop you. I've seen it in my clients hundreds of times. "You're suggesting I do what!!??" And then, with some gentle persuading, I point out that they probably won't die if they give it a shot.

And they do.

More clients flow in very soon after. And happiness replaces pride.
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Joel Kweskin

E-zines

I figure why would you want to look at my mug when you can look at Alexandria Brown’s. Alexandria writes an e-zine about…e-zines. And it’s just one of the handful of marketing “tips” this tipster receives virtually, virtually every week.

Welcome to another edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

Years ago, when I wrote advertising copy at Royal Insurance, we created an ad for Royal to appear in a trade publication representing the insurance industry for recent college grads looking to break into the field. So I wrote the “twisty” headline: “Now that you’ve got your degree, come get an education.” The idea being that there’s nothing like the “real-world” know-how one can get on the job as opposed to the theory of the class room.

I’m reminded of that line as, thirty years later, I’m still learning stuff…even as I dispense my own pearls of wisdom from this lofty seat of experience.

No doubt many of you subscribe to your own industry-related electronic newsletters, but since this one is devoted to marketing…and, after all, regardless of your industry, you won’t get too far without marketing…I thought I’d share these resources with you.

Ms. Brown, as noted above, writes all about e-zines – how to write them, how to use them -- from her self-anointed website: http://www.ezinequeen.com/

The ClickZ Network “is the largest resource of interactive marketing news, information, commentary, advice, opinion, research, and reference in the world.” Which, for my interest, also deals with e-mail marketing. You can subscribe to their periodic info at: http://www.clickz.com/

Who in the Charlotte area hasn’t heard of Jeffrey Gitomer? For advice on how to score “the sale,” subscribe to him at: http://www.salescaffeine.com/

Perhaps my own personal favorite is the advice on a multitude of pertinent topics rendered weekly from Robert Middleton, a West Coast marketing guru who can be reached by typing in: http://www.actionplan.com/

Since I also get involved in publicity for clients, writing and placing press releases, I can still learn a thing or two from Joan Stewart’s http://www.publicityhound.com/

There you have it – not everyone in marketing, but a good enough cross-section to at least keep yours truly “dangerous.”

Joel Kweskin