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Archives for 2013

Capturing the Reader by Appealing to their Primitive Mind

panning-for-goldYour reader can, at best, process 7 pieces of information at a time. But did you know that at any given moment, they’re being bombarded by over 11,000,000 bits of information?[1]

The conscious mind cannot even begin to process the remaining 10,999,960 but their subconscious can  – and does so as every minute passes.

When reading your content, the subconscious mind is submerged in a flurry of processing – identifying, processing, and filtering out information of no importance. They are not only filtering out what’s not important, they’re also determining why it’s not important, and deciding what the reader needs to do about it.[1]

As the subconscious mind busily pans for cognitive gold, your reader’s conscious mind is free to concentrate on the words you have so carefully crafted on their screen.

But, only if you capture their attention – which research says you must do within 8 seconds.[2]

So, how can you make it past the subconscious barricades, capture the conscious mind, and do it all in 8 seconds? 

You must write compelling content.

In order to write compelling content, you must first understand how the subconscious determines what content is worthy of their attention, and which content is cause for bouncing off the page.

The first question to address is this:

If 11,000,000 separate stimuli are demanding the attention of the conscious mind, then why do people still take the time to read?

The explanation has evolutionary roots. The goal of the subconscious is primitive – survival. Therefore, when scrutinized from this perspective, the subconscious mind is responsible for making the types of split-second, life-saving decisions that your (rather overrated) conscious mind is too slow to make.

That being said, the origin of reading has evolutionary roots. Humans rely upon story for survival.  In fact, our conscious mind thinks in story format. We learn from our own stories (e.g. personal past mistakes) and from the stories of others (e.g. the past mistakes of others). [1] Our ancestors knew that the saber tooth tiger was not friendly because they had heard stories about the encounters of others, or they had experienced encounters of their own.

Armed with this knowledge, content creators must heed to the fact that the reader is craving a story, not to mention expecting a story, at all times (even when reading website content).

So, your content must tell a story.

Research shows that a narrative presentation of an advertising message is exceptionally effective. [3]. Therefore organizing your content in somewhat of a story format is wise.

Narrative content formats work through blocking the counterarguments of the reader. Every reader is in some way resistant to the persuasive pressures that are inherent in any form of advertising, and they naturally create counterarguments against them.[4] However, if the audience can identify with the storyline of a message, they become enthralled – and all counterarguments go out the window.[3]

Testimonials

This highlights the importance of testimonials. When testimonials are created in story format (problem, climax, resolution) they are especially effective

Blogs

Blogs provide ample opportunity to create a story for the reader. Surely you can find a story to tell with your product. ‘If/Then’ statements encourage the reader to create a story of their potential experiences with your product.

When creating content in story format, remember the importance of relevance. The story must strike a chord with your reader. This stresses the need for audience research and analysis.

By capturing the attention of the primitive mind, you can entertain and sway the conscious mind – all with a simple story.
 

References

[1] Cron, L. Wired for Story

[2] Nielsen, J., Molich, R., Snyder , C., & Farrell, S. E-Commerce User Experience

[3] Dal Cin, Zanna, & Fong. Resistance & Persuasion

[4] Petty and Cacioppo. Central & Peripheral Routes to Persuasion

 

Social: Mercedes Benz Media Matters

mercedes-benz-social-pub-sMercedes Benz has added a new online multimedia platform, called Social Publish, to their website. This revolutionary new feature provides material to serve as inspiration for online journalists and bloggers. The page itself offers various topics relating to Mercedes Benz and the automobile industry. Topics are displayed in a collated way to maximize visual appeal. Users are able to filter the posts that they see using an interactive sidebar.

Social Publish benefits Mercedes Benz because it enables visitors to cross-link with articles or blogs with ease. Also, the interactive sidebars and high levels of customization within the page generate user interest, and make the page much more likely to be shared and garner in-bound links.

The Goldilocks Theory and Investor Relations

goldilocks-three-bearsThose that are involved in investor relations recognize that in order to do it right, you need to combine skills from the disciplines of finance, marketing, law and communications. Underpinning these disciplines are a deep understanding of the company you represent and knowledge of how the capital markets work. So there are a lot of factors at play. Combining these factors in a coherent message can be a tricky business, because if one chooses to emphasize one factor over another the entire message can suffer.

For example, if a press release is written where legal factors and accounting dominate, the result is a stilted document that reads like a regulatory filing, a lawyer’s brief or worse yet, an accountant’s statement. In other words, something that’s deathly dull and uses language to obfuscate rather than clarify. Similarly, if the marketing and communications disciplines dominate, what you wind up with is a document that is more hype than substance and is bound to turn off your audience of sophisticated investors. The key to getting the message right is to balance the various factors.

You start with the key message you wish to convey (communications). Then you consider your audience and how they may view and react to the information you are giving them (marketing). You bolster your message with a discussion of how the business operations either supported your message or will be impacted by the information you are conveying (finance). Finally, you run what you intend to say through the legal filters to make sure you are complying with the appropriate regulatory scheme (law).

One of the things I have learned from combing through business textbooks in preparing for my class on investor relations is that a catchy graphic helps to explain complex relationships. Couple that with the fact you almost can’t give a talk nowadays without PowerPoint slides and I simply had to create a graphic to illustrate this point. So here it is – my attempt at capturing the need to combine all four disciplines in your investor relations message.

goldilocks-investor-relatio

Of course, it’s one thing to understand the theory, it’s another thing entirely when you are trying to incorporate comments to your press release by the CEO, CFO, the General Counsel, the outside auditors and the communications department.

This is where investor relations officers should think back to the Goldilocks story and say to themselves, “Not too much law, not too much marketing, but just right…”

It’s at times like that I recommend you pull out the graphic to remind yourself what it is you are trying to achieve.
 

Email Marketing Opportunities and Challenges

email marketing keyboardEmail marketing has been regaining popularity in recent years as marketers realize that an email opt-in is often more valuable than a social media connection. However, email marketing doesn’t just offer opportunities to connect with pre-qualified audiences. It also has some real challenges for brand marketers.

Emarketer reports that research from Ascend2 and Research Underwriters conducted in June 2013 identified the most effective email marketing tactics and challenges according to B2B and B2C marketers. Survey participants were given nine email marketing tactics and asked to identify the most effective and the most challenging overall. Interestingly, the same tactic landed on the top of both lists. Both B2B and B2C marketers said that creating relevant and compelling content is the most effective and the most challenging email marketing tactic.

Following is the breakdown of the most effective tactics to achieve email marketing objectives as identified by both B2B and B2C marketers around the world:

  1. Creating relevant and compelling content: 71% B2B, 65% B2C
  2. Segmenting email database: 42% B2B, 36% B2C
  3. Integrating email with other tactics: 37% B2B, 31% B2C
  4. Personalizing email messaging: 36% B2B, 28% B2C
  5. Testing and optimizing email messaging: 31% B2B, 47% B2C
  6. Testing and optimizing landing pages: 16% B2B, 22% B2C
  7. Delivering autoresponse and drip campaigns: 16% B2B, 17% B2C
  8. Optimizing email for smartphones: 12% B2B, 16% B2C
  9. Engaging subscribers via social media: 5% B2B, 10% B2C

I’m actually very surprised to see optimizing email for smartphones so low on the list of effective tactics for achieving email marketing objectives given the fact that in 2013, one out of two U.S. consumers make mobile purchases and two out of three U.K. smartphone owners are mobile shoppers. Perhaps the respondents to this study survey weren’t using mobile marketing yet (or enough) and skewed the results. Participants included B2B and B2C marketers around the world, so the statistics are intended to be representative of a global sample.

Participants ranked the most challenging email marketing tactics to execute as follows:

  1. Creating relevant and compelling content: 52% B2B, 55% B2C
  2. Testing and optimizing email messaging: 29% B2B, 40% B2C
  3. Segmenting email database: 29% B2B, 25% B2C
  4. Engaging subscribers via social media: 26% B2B, 22% B2C
  5. Integrating email with other tactics: 25% B2B, 27% B2C
  6. Delivering autoresponse and drip campaigns: 23% B2B, 22% B2C
  7. Personalizing email messaging: 19% B2B, 17% B2C
  8. Testing and optimizing landing pages: 17% B2B, 12% B2C
  9. Optimizing email for smartphones: 13% B2B, 20% B2C

Do you agree with the rankings above? Again, optimizing email for smartphones comes in low on the list, and I have to question if the reason is simply that the benefits of optimizing mobile email marketing messages simply isn’t a current priority for brand marketers.

Leave an opinion in the comments below and share your thoughts on email marketing tactics and challenges.

Image: T. Al Nakib

Gap Year Interns: The New Graduates?

gap-year-internThe gap year is a relatively new phenomenon and, despite a few strange years during the transition to the new tuition fee regimes, it’s certainly still the minority of students who take the opportunity to have a year off before going to university. For many students, the idea of a gap year consists of eight months bar-tending in the local pub and two bar-crawling in Australia. However, the reality is very much different and there are plenty of willing and extremely able school-leavers looking not just to make some cash, but to pick up some serious experience in a top company before they go to university.

However, the market for gap-year internships is incredibly competitive, not just because of the high demand for the top positions, but because of the low supply of serious placements available. Yet, a gap-year intern could make a massive difference not just to your long-term recruitment prospects but also could really contribute to your short-term business presence. Tempted? You should be…

Bright, Fresh and Flexible
Most gap-year students have no expectations, no experience and a lot of ambition. If you want to shape a particular role for someone in the short-term, it’s a perfect opportunity to take someone in, train them in the right skills and then there’s a fixed leaving date. Gap year interns see things from a new perspective that graduates just don’t and this can be a massive help on a short contract deal.

Happy to Chip In
Gap year students will expect to do their fair share of photocopying, tea making and number crunching and, provide you combine this workload with a healthy dose of productive and genuinely important work, you can really take the admin load off your existing staff. Those with a Masters degree in Business Finance may be less inclined to run off to the printers for an afternoon.

Ready Made IT Experts
It’s not too much of a generalisation to say that anyone born after around 1995 is going to be pretty savvy when it comes to Facebook, Twitter and social media, and almost all interns will be very comfortable. Their demographic and experience may well offer you some great ideas and a fresh perspective on your social media.

A Marketing Tool in Itself
Taking on gap-year interns shows not only to other businesses but to graduates that you’re serious about your workforce planning. Most gap year students will end up as graduates and, if the experience is positive, they will tell all of their colleagues about the great firm they’re going to work for. Nothing is stronger than word of mouth recommendations like that.

Undoubtedly there are risks involved in taking on gap year students, many of which can be mitigated by a strict interview process and ensuring you have very high selection standards. It might take your intern some time to adjust to the 9-5, but invest time and effort and you could be surprisingly rewarded.

Ernst & Young Rebrands as EY

EY logo old and newJuly 1, 2013 saw the demise of another of the “Big Four” global audit and advisory brands when Ernst & Young rebranded as EY. The new EY brand includes not just a new name but also a new logo and tagline, “Building a better working world.”

According to the EY press release announcing the rebranding (and the appointment of a new CEO, Mark Weinberger), the shift to EY will bring consistency to the company brand in the 140 countries it operates in around the world. The rebranding will also, “demonstrate clearly and boldly who we are and reflect the goal we have recently set ourselves to be the number one brand in our profession.”

The rebranding is also intended to reflect the EY corporate values. As Weinberger explains, “our values are the fundamental beliefs of our organization and remain the bedrock of our culture. They are one of the most important sources of our organizational strength. We encourage and expect our people to demonstrate integrity, respect and teaming, have the energy, enthusiasm and courage to lead and build relationships based on doing the right thing.”

Can EY live up to those bold statements? Only time will tell. There is no better time for a company like EY to seize the opportunity to prove it can act honestly and responsibly. The video below provides more information about the rebranding effort.


The new logo includes a beam icon that has already appeared in EY marketing materials but now is clearly the core of the entire rebranding effort. The beam certainly adds a sense of looking toward the future to the brand. When combined with the tagline, I’m reminded of Stephen Colbert’s Super PAC slogan, “Making a better tomorrow, tomorrow,” but I digress.

While the application of the beam works well in graphics, designers in the Brand New community believe it seems like a lost opportunity in the logo. I do have to agree that the beam seems like an odd afterthought tagged onto the EY. However, the logo design does follow the trend in creating simple logos rather than the highly stylized Web 2.0 logo design trend that dominated the early 2000s. That is a good thing.

To clarify, EY will be used to refer to any and all companies within Ernst & Young Global Limited. Each of those companies is its own, separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited does not provide any products or services directly to consumers in any way.