A Little Tug at Your Heartstrings

One of my favorite new commercials is sweet, simple and fun. A family is celebrating Father’s Day –two young daughters give their dad a new shirt and cologne to make him more fashionable and improve his image. His son comes up and gives him a Hallmark card with the son’s voice saying “I love you just the way you are, Dad!” and then “I Wanna Be Like You” from Disney’s The Jungle Book plays. The whole family laughs and raves about what a great card it is, and everybody’s happy.

It’s more than a little sappy (how many families dance around a table in the middle of the afternoon to a 30 second song clip coming from a card?) – but it showcases everything that Hallmark has to offer.

They have other commercials focusing on how you can give your daughter encouragement for less than a buck, and how you can bring your whole family together with the voice recording cards, even if someone can’t really be at the birthday party.

It’s a fun, positive message and it really appeals to people who want to do something extra for the ones they care about, without having to spend a lot of money. Every company is focusing on value these days, but it’s really nice to see one showing what you easily can do for others.

The main reason for this effectiveness is the emotional connection being created. At their core, people want to be able to feel “warm and fuzzy.” Hallmark knows how to appeal to that desire in a positive way. People buy things from brands that give them those good feelings.  The companies who become associated with positive feelings win.

When creating your next advertising campaign think warm and fuzzy!

Customers Have Evolved – So Should Your Business

If you’re a business owner, you  may have noticed some changes in the past few years.

Customers are behaving very differently than ever before. They’re more educated, with access to information from their phones at their fingertips virtually 24/7. They’re harder to reach, as programs like  TiVo make commercials feel as relevant as a drive-in movie theater, and iPods replace radio stations in most cars.  They’re constantly in touch with their peers, with sites like Facebook and Twitter, and blogs allow them to express their opinions to anyone who will listen.

All of this can be disconcerting if you’re unfamiliar with these developments, but ultimately they can help every business become more successful.

Educated consumers can find out about your business by searching for what they need and what you provide – if you make sure you have a website that represents your company well. The changes in traditional media can lower your profile – unless you take other steps to raise it, like hosting events in your community instead of commercials. And of course, a social customer is your best method of advertising. Having satisfied customers with Facebook or Twitter accounts means you have free promotion from a source that potential customers already trust.

Some companies improve information searches – like the new search engine Bing -  and some benefit from them – like Nationwide’s car accident application for iPhones. Product integration is one of the ways big companies advertise without commercials, but for local businesses something simple like sponsoring a youth team or a community charity run works with the same principles. Businesses can use Facebook and Twitter, but it’s also useful for researching consumer behaviors and getting a sense of customer interests.

If you’re able to provide your customers with something they need or want, and can do it as well as or better than everyone else, your business will benefit from today’s evolved customers. Find the strength of your business – a product, customer service, a unique experience, maybe all of the above – and make sure today’s customers know it. It’s just a matter of time until tomorrow’s customers will want to see what the buzz is about.

I just had to share this design…

From the Mary Kay Website

Ding Ding Caching!

Walmart has quickly been hitting the mark with their latest ad campaign. The new image they are trying to portray has been working quite well. The latest offering, a holiday ad featuring “Carol of the Bells,” ties Christmas with shopping & saving and most importantly CONVENIENCE! What is the number one thing everyone hates about holiday shopping? Standing in line! Walmart covers this issue with finesse. The TV spot caught my attention and drove home a very solid message: shop here, save here, spend time wisely here. Happy Holidays.