It's easy to believe in the power of positive thinking when there's food on your table and heat in your home. Sometimes, in our effort to increase positive thinking in the world, our easiest place to begin might be to hand out some calories and some blankets.
It's important to be unique. But it's even more important to be useful. A Purple Cow gets noticed. It draws attention. A Purple Cow that glows? Even better! Except, of course no one wants the milk. No one wants a purple steak.
But imagine the first steam engine, chugging wildly as it belches smoke into the ...
We've heard the phrase many times, "fake it till you make it", and to me, that sounds an awful lot like lying. Sure, lots of people do it. But you're bigger.
Just be real. Be the person who cares about things you truly care about. go out and make stuff happen. Build solutions. Keep making them. With the tools you have.
Nobody cares how fancy the shoes you're wearing as you help them fix their computer, or their resume, or their employee engagement program.
Just keep building the things you care about building. This is what makes you so useful and compelling. Whatever "IT" is, keep making "IT". Make "IT" for as long as you care about "IT". It's after you quit caring that you have to start faking. The moment "IT" starts to feel fake is the moment you run.
It's been fun to see your interesting responses to our most recent podcast: "Could SEARS be Saved??" (available on iTunes here)
Some talked about always smelling, and then buying, fresh roasted cashes at SEARS. A few compared SEARS's issues to JC Penney's recent lurch into image confusion. Others remembered the tools and old school service. We even heard from an ex VP of marketing for Craftsman who had a very interesting perspective on their current problems. Thank you all for writing.
Here's a quick addendum to that podcast's story:
Stopping off the highway near Wheeling, WV last week we stop at a Kmart. Pulling up to the building, it's odd because the Kmart is attached to a mall and the parking lot is almost completely empty. It looks like this:
Worse yet, both sets of doors facing the road are closed up. Sealed! Even the door handles have been removed:
We figure the Kmart is closed and head around to the other side to see if anything else is open. And there, on the far side, the side facing away from the road, the traffic and the customers, we find a cleverly hidden entrance to a Kmart that is, in fact, open, despite their odd attempts to destroy their brand recognition.
In the podcast, you hear us talk about a SEARS store in Virginia that is obviously an old Kmart. Now I'm in a Kmart that clearly used to be a SEARS, but this time I have photos!
Check out this Google Earth photo
If you look closely, you can see the SEARS logo on this same building's side. Last time Google's cameras went by, this building was a SEARS.
Their solution is simple. But simple is rarely easy to create. SEARS (and Kmart too!) needs to show us what they stand for. Then stay consistent. Here are some simple steps:
#1: Know your values
#2: Put those values on display in every store (if a store can't hold up your values, close it!)
#3: Use marketing messages that reinforce and support those values (Jingle Bell underwear is funny, but tells us nothing useful).
#4: Keep those marketing messages and the experience of calling upon your store consistent.
Step #4 is why values are so important. In today's hyper-connected world of social media and prevalent customer review sites, consistency must pervade every aspect of every television ad, facebook update, and customer review. It's impossible to stay consistent without values to guide you.
Thankfully, you know your values. They're powerful and precious. We love you for having them. Keep those values at your core. Thank you for sharing your values with us every time we call. Thank you for keeping it so simple we know in an instant who you are and why we can like you.
I'm sure you all know "how to eat an elephant..." Conventional wisdom answers, "one bite at a time."
But what if you've got to get the elephant eaten on deadline, and that deadline's coming up quick. Then right after the elephant, you've got a brown bear, a donkey and a king cobra coming down the line.
You have two options. One is to simply chew faster. But this path leads to ...
Have you ever seen a treadmill presenter? The whole room is strapped in and forced to walk the powerpoint step by step from bullet to bullet to bullet to point. It's all very logical, efficient, and boring. We struggle to even care, much less learn anything.
Then you walk across the hall into another meeting room where everyone's smiling. The room is hopping. Ideas are bouncing around almost effortlessly. Time and space feel suspended for a moment. You've found a trampoline speaker, and launching you and the rest of the audience into a new frame of mind is almost second nature to them.
Treadmills force us to put in all sorts of effort without helping us move much. But a trampoline does all the work beforehand so we get to touch the sky without even breaking a sweat.
Thank you for choosing to be a trampoline, for giving us room to really bounce your ideas.
Ideas are like honey. You tip the jar, and nothing comes out. It's easy to get frustrated. Even easier to quit. But the ideas are in there. Sometimes you've just got to hold the jar upside down for a bit. Your arm may get tired. Just keep tipping. Suddenly, it's started and flowing too fast. big globs are spilling all over the place. You needed an idea, not a mess. But with the honey out of the jar, you can do anything you like with it. Push it. Persuade it. Polish it 'til the paper glows.
Just keep the jar tipped. It's the easiest part. Let the ideas spill all over. It's the way you choose to organize the mess afterwards that allows you to turn complete beeswax into the perfect idea.
When I was 16, I loved to brag. For instance, I'd go to McDonalds, and order the value meal with an extra Big Mac. I did it more often when friends were along. I needed them to see me do it.
And McDonalds knew how to facilitate my efforts. The sandwich really isn't that big. The two patties are only one twelth of a pound each. That's less beef than a quarter pounder! Then they slather thousand island inside, sweetening it up for immature palates. Their biggest bragging point really is just the extra bun.
But McDonalds is smart. They don't call it the sweetburger, or the breadburger, or the 1/6th pounder... They call it the Big Mac, and eating one made me feel grown up. Eating two made me feel like a king.
And if I'm completely honest, I must admit, although I'm down to just one sandwich, I still order the Big Mac every time I'm there.
There's such power in a name. You've taken the time to build the best products & services in the world. You know the patience it takes to find the right name. Thank you for doing what it takes. Thank you for putting Power in Your Name.
What's it mean to sell it like a rock star. And what is it you truly want to sell. Maybe you have products. An idea. A song. A new direction for the school PTA. Or maybe you'd just like to sell your kids on a bit more reading time.
Where's the rock star bit come from. It could be the image. Maybe you do it with inimitable style, giving your products the red carpet treatment.
Perhaps it's outlandish, like making your products party till they puke.
Or you could just set them in the spotlight. Let their inner light shine. Watch the customers coming to see something real, and leaving a fan.
It's when your customers find reason to tell someone else, that's when you move from marketer to rock star, from sales to the stage.
There's something in the air when you near the sea. It's hard to describe. The air doesn't really smell, but it's different. You can practically sense the ocean. You know you're close.
Finding the right product for a good prospect works much the same way. As the conversation starts, you're not sure exactly what they need and have no idea what they want. Finding a beachhead seems impossible. There are so many buildings and sand dunes built up alongside, you can't even see the ocean from the road. But when you get close, you can feel it in the air.
So keep listening. Make sure you can feel that something in the air before you talk solutions. Wait to know you're almost there. That's the moment you start to guide the conversation, to point out a possible path.
Let them drive the conversation as long as they like. Wait for the moment you can feel that salty air. Do the heavy listening first. Keep their walk short.
A snowstorm and wickedly low temperatures (40 below) kept our kids and ourselves in the house for 3 days. Confined within these 4 walls, you'd think we must go mad.
Instead we found intense freedom. With work, school, errands and so many other options eliminated, we were suddenly free. Stuck inside this house, we found options we'd never seen before. We painted, played an impromptu game of musical chairs, and taught the kids how to win at charades.
The weather offered a new set of rules we'd never dealt with before, and helped us find freedom we'd not before seen.
Freedom is funny that way. To gain freedom to innovate, you must first find new rules. And we need rules. Unlimited options make focus impossible.
But the rules provide focus to help us run far. And when we find ourselves standing among sights never seen, we see how new rules somehow offer strictly freedom.
6 Hooks 2 Grab their Attention part #4:
THE IMMACULATE CONNECTION
ENGAGES: Love, Affection & Camaraderie (One of the most long-last hooks)
EXAMPLES: Coca-Cola's Polar Bear commercials, McDonalds' "I'm Lovin' It!" campaign, Google's "Homeward Bound" advert.
It's Christmas break. I'm home from college, at the movies with my girlfriend. As the curtain opens, we hear the projector fire to life. Then a polar bear walks across the screen. This is curious.
The bear walks up to a group of friends. All huddled together, they're watching the Northern Lights.
As the camera angle changes, we notice they're all holding little bottles. They all drink together. The camera zooms in on a single bear. He's immensely enjoying a Coca-Cola. He admires the bottle for minute, then looks out at me, my girlfriend and everyone else in the crowded theater. He smiles at us as Coke's logo flashes to life beneath his grin.
I can't remember which movie we saw that day, but I'll never forget that ad. Mostly because I was confused. It seemed the oddest commercial I'd ever seen. There was no effort to persuade us. We were told nothing about the product. I recall leaning over to my girlfriend and whispering, "was that supposed to make us want a coke?"
The next week I'm back at school, knocking snow off my boots in the student lounge. I notice a Coke machine across the room. Suddenly, my imagination flickers to life. The polar bear's smiling. The theater's dark and comfortable. My girlfriend's warm hand is holding my own. I'm back in that moment, feeling love.
I bought a Coke that day, and it tasted perfect.
Coke succeeded in drawing a connection between their product and my feelings. They successfully utilized one of the world's most powerful hooks. I call it, "The Immaculate Connection." It's a hook that never criticizes nor tries to compel. It simply connects. It doesn't persuade, but serves as a gentle reminder. It creates no divisions and appeals equally to everyone. The Immaculate Connection reminds us of the best part of ourselves, and connects us with the whole of humanity.
You too have this power. Your customers deserve the passion you put into your products. Share it all. For when you know how to spread feelings of love, that's when you Leave them all Chanting Your Brand.
From a distance, the holidays always appear so peaceful, like viewing the river from a canyon's rim. From a distance, you see only a gentle winding back and forth. You can't wait to get down there and relax your way through.
Then suddenly it's December. The river's here, and not looking so peaceful up close. With churning and yearning it's roaring right past. You stop to think and maybe even reconsider, but the kids are already screaming past, right into the current. You hear giggle's of delight as the rapids rocket them down the stream.
Suddenly you're running in a headlong struggle to keep your footing on the rough terrain, snapping pictures all the way. But the water's too fast. You're losing site of the kids and their smiles. So you give up the chase and you jump headlong. The water swallows.
And in a flash, you're back together. The scenery flickers by as you're rushed from one party to the next. The hugs and hellos, the kisses and candy moving faster and faster like a wrapping paper dream.
And you realize the magic of giving up control, of giving yourself over to the Rapidays as they pull you through a land of magic and dream. The parties flow like lemondrops as high above the chimney tops you find yourself flying with childlike wonder once more.
My wife and I work hard for Santa. We shop for weeks. We stay up late, wrapping and assembling and setting out cookies which we later have to eat ourselves.
Why?
Because our children believe in something bigger than themselves. They can see the story of giving, and love, and flying reindeer. And because they can see it, we do our best to bring their story to life.
Their imagination drives us to excel. Santa comes to life in the thoughts of every child, and the actions of every parent. Together, we make the impossible happen.
It's amazing the actions a story can inspire. And you know the power of a story. You know how to believe in something bigger than yourself. The power of Santa lives in your words, and together, we make the impossible happen. Thank you and God bless.
EXCLUSIVE HOOKS:
So far we've discussed 3 types of hooks you can use to grab attention.
THE RALLYING CRY focuses customers on a common cause against a common enemy. Whether it's Orkin fighting fleas, Al Gore fighting global warming, or Rush Limbaugh fighting the liberals, The Rallying Cry rallies consumers around a common cause against a common enemy.
PAINT THE CLOWN makes your competitor look ridiculous. We love you for helping us laugh. Get us laughing at your competitors as well, and you get double the results. We want and choose more of you for making us laugh and less of your competitors for being so laughable.
THE KISS OF THIRST engages our envy and desire. It plays to our desire to be more attractive, more important, and more powerful. Beauty products like Maybelline and luxury items like Grey Goose Vodka are obvious examples. But The Kiss of thirst can also drive us to excellence. Nike and Under Armor, for instance, use it to hook us on exercise.
These are all 3 examples of 'Exclusive Hooks'. Notice how they're designed to polarize our opinions. Your products become good as the alternative becomes bad. Interestingly, The Kiss of Thirst is even capable of pitting us against ourselves. Once our thirst has been kissed, we buy beauty products and athletic gear in an attempt to overcome ourselves. But each of these 3 hooks is designed to criticize a potential problem in order to offer us help escaping that problem.
INCLUSIVE HOOKS:
Over the next few weeks we'll begin looking at 'Inclusive Hooks'. These are hooks designed to move all potential consumers equally and to draw us together into a single group. They don't require criticism because they are not depending on helping us escape our problems.
You know the power of a hook. You hear them everyday in our favorite songs and at our favorite stores. And whether you decide to save the world, help people laugh, or inspire another to excel, we can't wait to see how you choose to use them.
Controversy can be a great way to grab attention. Kanye West, Rush Limbaugh, and Miley Cyrus all use controversy to grab headlines. We pay attention, sometimes a bit slack-jawed at their audacity.
But there are lines out there people do not want crossed. If you cross them, you enter a sort of free fall that few survive.
know the line. Understand exactly where it is. Because blurring that line can be fascinating. Pushing the boundary feels so courageous. But step all the way across, and you're simply out of bounds. The audience boos. The game is over.
Push our boundaries all you want. We need it. Thank you for knowing and making the difference.
Last year, researchers at Stanford and Harvard discovered people seem consistently more interested in potential achievement than actual accomplishment.
A comedian's advertisment that reads "critics say he could become the next big thing" generated more clicks on Facebook than the same ad reworded to say "critics say he's become the next big thing."
A hypothetical rookie athlete with a potential for incredible stats is offered an NBA a contract with a higher 6th year salary than the athlete who's already played for 5 years, actually generating those same stats.
A sample job application listing no work experience and a very high score on leadership potential is rated more favorably than the same application, but with 2 years of job experience added to demonstrate actual leadership roles have been taken.
The secret, according to the researchers, is uncertainty. People are consistently drawn toward the unknown and are fascinated by possibility more than reality. The implication is, 'you're better off advertising your potential than your achievements.'
However, I have a tough time reconciling this concept with real world observations. Sylvester Stallone made a lot more money after turning 'Rocky' into a box office smash than before. Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell get paid much more to speak now than before unleashing their best-selling books. Peyton Manning's salary is higher than Andrew Luck's.
I suspect there are some amazing lessons in this research, but it's also not as black and white as we might like.
What do you think? Are you fascinated more by potential or achievement? Do you prefer to digest articles that have already been read all around the world, or do you find it more interesting to consider the potential of our words right here, right now, in this article, and to think that even this could go viral?
You're likely to enjoy the original research here. The HBR has also written a good synopsis here.
Why do we associate the following with Thanksgiving::
Pilgrims. Indians. Turkey. Macy's parade. Football. Family. Travel. Shopping. Laughing children. Kissing cousins...?
Since we associate all these images with the day, they're all part of the 'Brand' of Thanksgiving, a day of thanks for the founding of America, the peace of the pilgrims and Indians, and the harvest that helped them through the winter.
But Thanksgiving didn't become a national holiday at Plymouth Rock. It started a century later. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln was leading this country through a horrible civil war.
Lincoln created Thanksgiving in a national proclamation to boost moral and to give thanks for our blessings.
Why do we still recall the pilgrims, but forget Lincoln's contribution? Did you know F.D.R. changed the date of Thanksgiving to accommodate a longer Christmas shopping season?
Stories have a way of growing beyond their beginnings. What's your story? Are you hoping it'll grow wild or tending carefully to its health?
For me, I'm equally thankful for the Pilgrims, for Lincoln, and for you. Thanks-4-giving me so much to be thankful for this holiday season. You fill this great democracy with ideas, with actions, and with words that make it all worthwhile.
What's your story, and how will it be remembered?
As discussed in a previous post, the Kiss of Thirst is often misunderstood. It can easily appear manipulative, and seems focused on vanity. But it's also the key to sparking admiration, inspiration and self-improvement.
Think of ads from Under Armor, Nike and Wheaties. They utilize the Taste of Thirst to inspire our action. We see these amazing people managing a prowess that seems beyond human. Their image inspires us to try harder too.
Notice they give us just a "Kiss of Thirst", not a "Body Check of Thirst" Seeing a poster of Michael Jordan's slam dunk is inspiring, but a game of one on one basketball with the dude would probably cripple my confidence. The lighter the kiss, the more effective this hook.
And Nike knows this too. So they only use the tiniest kiss of greatness to inspire us all. Just feeling close to these athletes inspires us to keep jogging. We get to stay in better shape because of their example. Nike helps us connect the two. We're inspired to exercise. They're selling shoes. And it works! People keep buying because Nike knows how to 'Kiss the Thirst' in a way that leaves us inspired and keeps us working in the gym.
You don't need us to figure out your best strategy forward. Start experimenting today. Find your best hook. Show 'em all you have to offer, and start growing faster now.
THE KISS OF THIRST
ENGAGES: Envy, admiration, vanity and self-improvement
Step 1: Give your audience a taste of something they want
Step 2: Show them how your product, service or idea can help them get more of it.
EXAMPLES: Rolls Royce, L'Oreal, Burberry, Victoria's Secret, Rolex, Cadillac and much much more...
This hook may at first seem obvious, but a few surprises lurk.
We all know the old cliché, “Sex Sells”. But this cliché too often misses the point. People don’t buy a shirt or a car or a specific type of shampoo because they believe the product will get them sex. They buy because they believe the product can make them more attractive. These products Kiss the Thirst we all have to be more attractive and better admired.
HOW TO SELL TO WOMEN
Think about the photos used to sell L'Oreal, Cosmopolitan, Revlon, or Burberry. These products are all purchased by women. If they were selling sex, the photos would need to feature attractive men. But they don't. The photos aren't selling sex; they're selling attractiveness. We buy not because we want to have the people in the ad, but because we aspire to be the people in the ad.
Living with Thirst is part of the human condition. We all want to be more important, more attractive, and more powerful. Just kiss the thirst lightly, and it can drive decisions in almost any direction you choose.
Even the models in these ads wish they were more attractive. Their photos are air-brushed and photoshopped because even the most attractive can't satisfy the thirst for more.
HOW TO SELL TO MEN
Men also wish to be more attractive. But you'll notice the focus is often on status and power in lieu of physical attraction.
Notice this Youtube video promoting Rolls Royce. We see the stunning woman alone in a mansion. She hears a Rolls Royce coming near and starts to run. In the end she's standing outside the front gates, watching as the Rolls Royce drives by. She's stares intently, with perhaps a bit of longing in her eyes, at the driver of the car.
Notice she's not watching the car. She's watching the driver! Meanwhile, the man driving the car is ignoring her completely. Her incredible beauty is of no interest to him.
The message is clear. By driving this car, the man becomes even more attractive than a fashion model. Rolls Royce is offering us the Kiss of Thirst. Do we subconsciously begin to believe it? If I buy a Rolls Royce, will it make me more attractive?
Maybe. Try pulling up at your favorite hotel in a Rolls Royce. I suspect you'd attract plenty of attention from everyone present.
HOW TO SELL TO ME
But if you're like me, you see we don't need the right car, or the right shampoo, to be attractive. Intelligence, humor and the spark of life are worth more.
You likely thirst for more than mere physical beauty. You desire something better than luxury. And when you find a kiss that ignites this thirst for something better, you race to catch it.
I see this in my own life. My wife is truly beautiful. I can't believe how gorgeous she can be. She looks amazing. But it's her easy laugh that gained my attentions. Her sharp wit that kept me coming back for more. And that special energy resting just behind her eyes that made me fall in love. And when you find that kind of love, you hold on tight, because that's the kind that lasts forever.
The Kiss of Thirst is most easily demonstrated when looking at the beauty industry or a luxury product line, but this is only one facet of this hook. The Kiss of Thirst is also key to creating admiration, inspiration and self-improvement.
We've been enjoying your questions and look forward to more. Stay tuned as we’ll be discussing more on The Kiss of Thirst very soon.