Ideas vs Testing in Advertising

Made for Testing

Have a great idea? Cool, put it on your portfolio. The world isn't going to see your great idea if it doesn't test well.

Seems fair enough. For a crossing-your-t's one-off it is. For creating a strong brand, it isn't.

Why it's a problem

For agencies it sucks because their creatives are creating for testing, not for air time. But, that'a s whole other post. For now, I'm speaking to why testing is bad for brands.

Here's what testing doesn't account for: time. 

Time + consistency is what leads to recognition and loyalty, which is what will lead to long-term sales.

Consumers don't become loyal to a commercial that tests well, but a brand that they can identify easily through their consuming lives.

That's not to say a commercial that tests well couldn't be a great campaign.

Solution

It is to say that, it doesn't really matter what the fuck you put out there, as long as it's a great idea and you stick with it.

Shareable Killed the Strong Brand Star

"But, how can we make it more sharable?"

I fucking hate this question. Because, if you're asking it, chances are you don't really know what that means or what it looks like. Yet, here you are trying to be one of the cool kids, without realizing that the biggest mistake in any attempt to be like the cool kids is telling them you're cool.

You might get noticed, but, with everyone else trying to impress them too, you'll soon be forgotten. Pushed aside as they get distracted by another loser looking to impress. It's a losing game. Honestly, just be your great fucking self. If you're not great, get great, and then be that.

Maybe it's because of this movie that when I think of people asking me how to make something more shareable, I think of a middle aged woman doing her best to fit in at high school by being terrible versions of what she thinks is cool, rather than being her cool self.

Shareability in Campaigns for New Brands

Putting all your focus on shareability as a new brand is a mistake. No one knows you yet. The content will be more noticed than your brand, and that content will be replaced by the next shareable thing to come. An easily understood message from a great brand will reach more people through time, rather than a fleeting piece of shareable content.

Shareability in Campaigns for Established Brands

Congratulations, you're already well-known. The brand is already alive and breathing, so this shareable stuff is just it's fart in the wind. People will smell it, know where it came from, and then it will blow on. The key here is to keep it coming and in an identifiable, easy to grasp way. A one-off is cool, but doesn't stick as much, and it doesn't do much for your brand. Just for the Internet. Let's look at a real-life example...

Which brand did the "Like a Girl" video? Nothing? Didn't think so.
Which brand makes funny content about being manly? Did you get this?

Need more convincing? Just ask these guys.

5 Tips for Auto-Renew Cancellation Flow

If you think getting people to sign up subscriptions is hard, try getting them to change their minds about canceling one.

Linda Tanner via Flickr

Backstory: Like most subscribtion-based services, Shutterstock automatically opts you into auto-renewing your subscription to images.

Task: One of the things I worked on at Shutterstock was updating their auto-renew cancellation experience. I worked with a great team of me, one designer, and one manager. I wrote and created communication strategy for the new experience based on UX frames.

Results: The update lead to a decrease in cancellations by 14.5%. Not bad. Here are the five things I attribute to the update's success.

1. Make turning it off less positive. Make keeping it on more shiny and positive.

OLD

Here was the old way a user could initiate the auto-renew cancellation (or should I say, turn off) process:

UPDATED

Here's how we updated it:

2. Make it pretty. If it looks like it came from Microsoft circa 1998, they'll want to blaze right through it and get the heck out of there, missing any content that could work in your favor.

OLD

This is what the page after deciding to "turn off" auto-renew looked like:

UPDATED

Here's how we updated it:

3. Don't get defensive. The customer is still always right. Make it about offering the best customer service possible to the very end. Giving a sense that you're there to really help customers will boosts their confidence in using your service and seeking help, rather than trying to find a new service.

AGREEABLE LANGUAGE

They should feel that every move they make is to benefit them. Use language to do customer-positive things, like explain their benefit, hand hold, confirm their right, and congratulate. 

4. Redirect, but still to their benefit. It's the age-old concept of distraction, but done in a way that addresses the customer's issue. Lead them to a great experience your site. Lead them to other sites, to show them what's out there isn't much better.

POSITION THE REDIRECT TO BE HELPFUL

Here's how I took the concept of a great customer experience and combined it with redirection.

(some repeated)

5. Leave a good impression. This doesn't actually apply to the reason we saw a decrease in cancellations, but I still believe that the core of everything you do digitally should be "What's the best thing we can do to help the customer, or make them feel good?"... and it's no different when you say goodbye. Who knows? Maybe they'll leave with a good taste in their mouth and realize everything else out there is gross. That's a win to me.

OLD

Here's what the old confirmation page looked like. Good riddance to this page, is what I'd say.

UPDATED

Here's how we updated the confirmation page. A glimmer of hope. A chance of reconnecting.

The New Digital Campaign isn't All Digital

Everyone wants their campaigns to be digital nowadays. In pursuing this requests more than a few times now, I've noticed something... 

The Realization

A "digital campaign" doesn't mean executing solely on digital platforms – banners, apps, videos — it means getting ways to get consumers to interact with content digitally... because that's where it gets shown to more people. Showrooming and third screen behavior were the first ways we saw consumers blurring the lines between "digital" and "real" world. Advertising and sharing is surely next.

The Reason

With mobile taking over digital consumption, people are exploring around the web less, clicking less, and are less likely to come across that sweet video you spent $2 million on or that contest landing page you worked for 6 months on (don't even get me started on legal). Have you guys heard of Camel's new game app? Didn't think so.

What to do About It

Find ways to get consumers to share your content or interact with your content on already populated mobile apps. Is there something you can put around town that they will want to take a selfie with? Use the new shazam visual scanner with your posters or sidewalk chalk drawings. Send people to a party where a photo booth tweets their images from their account. Get in touch for more ideas...

What Millennials Don't Know They Want

image via Ed Yourdon

The Fact
Whole Foods is opening smaller stores that will have a more limited selection of products at value prices. Why? To attract millennials.

The Takeaway

Be hard to get, and easy to find.

Why are farmer's markets are so big with this generation? Why are we rushing to music festivals like a teen to a tampon? It offers something that is usually hard to get, but makes it easy to find (locally grown food, experience.) It nearly tricks the shoppers to thinking they are getting something that is hard to get and hard to find, but, by making it easy to find, the shopper is able to obtain it, obviously. So, be or offer something that is usually hard to get, but make it easy to find.

Also, be cheap. Millennials want this hard to find valuable shit at a good price. Good luck.

Different Ways to Share your Product

Think Outside the Share Button

Idea: Get users to connect their activity on your platform to another platform, outside the share button.

Example: Airbnb offering showing a link to share user's listings on Craigslist.

For You: Look at your product and make a list of all the things users create on it — a listing, a photo, a comment, an account, a thought, a like, … Then do a little bit of research to see if a) there are other platform which feature these things and b) there are other platforms that use these things, or could use these things.

Meerkat + Airbnb: Host host-led live tours of listings.  Hosts can opt in and pick a time slot for when they can show off their space. Show the hosts’s Meerkat name and showing time slots on the listing.

Food Spotter + Foursquare: Do I really need to spell this one out?

Vessel + Magisto: Similar to the Facebook + Instagram relationship.

What Makes People Click vs Tick

via

Sometimes I write to the customers' own language, ideas, likes — what makes them tick. But, if the main goal is to get them to click, I write to the customers' psyche and sub conscious.

Like great graphic design, the urge to click something should feel natural and go unnoticed. The moment a user of your digital experience has to think about what they are clicking, you’ve lost them to their thinking. There is a psychology behind what makes people click, and it’s not always the same as what makes them tick.

Tell Them Something They Didn’t Know

Nobody likes being told something they already know — it feels like a waste of time, and it’s boring. Don’t be that brand. Starting with an idea that tells something new or intrigues with new ideas will make people want to know more and reach your click. Starting with something that makes them tick by using phrases and ideas they already know, might seem like you’ve hit the jackpot, but it makes it harder to stand out, and to get people to click or want to see more. Sometimes it’s nice to tell them something new about what makes them tick, but it’s gotta be something great and really new.

Give Them Something to Grab Onto

via

If I don’t grasp why you’re talking to me, then I’m not going to trust your content enough to read on or see more. Take a step back and ask, what you want your audience to grab onto, to click onto. Taking up someones time or attention with something that makes them tick, but doesn’t seem to have a purpose, makes your product or content easier to forget and less trustworthy. Use ingredients of what makes them tick (like a soccer ball for soccer fans) but make sure there’s a purpose there too. What you want them to grab onto could range from motivation to the need for a better, new soccer ball.

Complete the Story

Of course I’m going to click on “See More” if it completes, or is the next step in, the story I’ve been shown so far. Using CTA’s that fit within the story you are telling makes people click. Using a CTA that just makes people tick with words you think they’ll like and sound fun, might be exciting, but it creates a break in the flow.

Why I Won't Write for These Companies

They all have one thing in common that I cannot support: Animal Cruelty.

I won't even buy their $10 products to keep from supporting their methods, so how am I supposed to help increase their sales by the millions and feel good about it? Or continue to brainwash people that these companies and products are all-good?

It ain't easy passing up opportunities for some really cool, innovative projects. And the people who I connect with at these companies are so nice to boot. But, I'd rather not work as a copywriter than support something I strongly oppose.

Does that make me unattractive to some agencies? Probably. Does it limit who is willing to put their name next to mine? Most likely. Is it worth it? I believe, yes.

Well, I feel like Matt Diaz coming out and saying all of this. Here is my excess skin, people.

My hope is that it inspires you to also put morale above work so we can start putting some pressure on clients, together, to take more responsible paths toward profit. We all want them to do well, just do right, too.

---

I've started to make a database of good products that don't test on animals.

bettergoods.co

It's a design and info work in progress, but check it out if you're looking for good quality cruelty-free beauty and cosmetic products.

Instagram Carousel Ad Ideas + Tips

It's been five days since the announcement, so we all know that Instagram now offers "carousel ads" for advertisers. And the other BIG NEWS is that the new carousel ads also let brands give a link in the ad. Up until now, advertisers were no different from users when it came to links, and they too could only have clickable links in their profiles, not on their posts.

Ways to use Instagram's Carousel Ads, Beyond Stories

The obvious way to use the carousel is to tell a story, so I'll skip that one.

1. Entice to Swipe

Get people curious about what's next in the carousel by showing a snippet of the next image within the first one. Kind of like this:

2. Surprise

Something sticks with you if you have a bigger reaction to it. Get a bigger reaction with your instagram carousel ad and give users a surprising twist to your carousel story. Kind of like this:

3. Instructions
Everyone loves a good How-To. Get creative and think of ways to bring users in with a how-to they might be curious about, or need, and then tie it to your brand. Make sure it's valuable through humor or actually teaching something though. Otherwise it'll just be freakin annoying.

Well, those are the few off the top of my head. Get in touch if you're curious about more ideas.

Cheers.

UX Copywriting - The Best Tip for a Great Digital Experience

Recently I created a checklist of things to consider before pushing new pages for a client. We spent over a month discovering what could be improved with their site's copy and general user experience.

The result was a 106-slide deck... who the fuck is going to go through all of that as a regular reference? Nobody.

The checklist is a full page, but, I realized that it all whittles down to one question:

UX Copywriting Tip:

 Ask yourself a simple question... Are you helping the customer?

What they need help with varies, of course. But, at the very core of everything you do, it really comes down to making sure what you're doing is helping the customer. Whether it's completing a project, making a purchase, having fun, getting drunk, or even unsubscribing. Make it about helping them the best way you know how to.

It seems like an obvious thing to consider, but it's an important question that often gets skipped.

Native Advertising Ideas - Cadillac on Mashable

The Native Ad Concept

A series that consists of interesting people talk about interesting things while using a brand's product.

Props for: 

Not putting the brand name in the title of the series so it feels more real, and having a great shot of people having a good time in the header. People always want to get involved with people who (authentically) look like they're having fun.

Props for: 

Having people not talk about the product, but showing them using it and enjoying it. 

Props for: 

Making it a series! Seeing this promoted series a few times on Mashable makes it more of a regular Mashable thing, rather than a one-time soulless promoted post. You almost forget it sponsored.

Here's the link.

Digital Dumbo Holiday Bash Agency Showcase

Jonathan Santoro from Carrot Creative

Digital Dumbo hosted their "Holiday Bash + 2min Agency Showcase" last night. Carrot Creative, Free Association, Huge, HUSH, Prolific Interactive, Red Antler & Stinkdigital each had two minutes to present their work from the past year, and their predictions for the coming year.

All of the Dumbo-based creative agencies had interesting things and ideas to share. But, here are my awards:

Coolest 2014 Projects: Carrot Creative

Most Amicable Presentation: Prolific Interactive

Brains I'd Most Like to Pick: HUSH

Best Tag-Team: Free Association

Most Creative: Stink Digital

Best Overall Presentación: Red Antler

David Landa from Free Association

Takeaways
Start thinking about the space in between the internet of things and ways to hit two birds with one stone in a single update to a client's new site.

A Perfect Email for Getting People to your Brand's Blog + Content - SumAll

1. A nice image, a big heading, and big CTA, so you don't have to read the middle text part, but can just get on with it.

2. A descriptive, but short heading and CTA, so you don't have to read the middle text part, but can just get on with it.

3. Summary as the heading and a simplified version of it as the CTA, so what you're getting is rich, but what you're clicking on is simple.

4. The idea of what this email is about was broken down as I experienced the email. The subject of this email was "4 Ways to Deliver Awesome Customer Service", making it interesting enough to open and trust-worthy enough to open because it told me what I was opening and how much content I was investing in reading. Then the heading was a little more formal, so I could trust the content. Then, the CTA was simple, so it was easy to read and click on.

Perfect.

This is how to compose an email if you want to share content as brand from your blog.

Cold Email Marketing - What I've Learned

Before "shoppable" was an understood concept (shoppable video, photo, etc), I had to get thousands of people to sign up for a mobile app that published shoppable photos onto their existing social media accounts and blog platforms. Oh, and I had to do this before the app was published. 

Target Audience: fashion bloggers 
Method of Reach: cold email 
Thoughts: shit 
Ultimate Conversion Rate (cold email sent --> sign up for app): ~60% 

It wasn't all sweet and dandy. I went through about nine versions of the cold email before reaching this rate. Here are some tips for cold email marketing I learned from the process: 

Strategic Punctuation 

The Em Dash is a beautiful and versatile punctuation mark. Instead of using tacky BOLD AND BIG TEXT — use an em dash. 

Eyes go to it because it's a nice break from text. I like to use it to point out emotionally intriguing points that I want readers to pick out, even if it's not the main point of the email. It helps to let your email stand out as something they can connect with. 

Name Dropping 

Not just for when you're at da club, name dropping lets the reader attach something they already know and trust to your brand, helping to legitimize it and let it be a part of their lives. I like to keep name dropping at the beginning or end of paragraphs/sections/sentences. 

A Trail of (alluring) Details 

Give readers small bites of alluring details to digest rather than big hard-to-chew bites. Maybe it's the impressive company you're emailing from, or something that makes them feel special, followed by another thing that makes them feel special, and ending with a cta. 

But, whatever you do, keep each bite small and alluring — speaking to a financial, emotional, or social incentive. 

Talk with, not At 

Put your keyboard away, and don't type a damn thing until you've reached an understanding of how your audience communicates. 

Read blogs in their communities, search relevant hashtags on social media, spend a few hours reading related customer reviews... I could go on. After spending at least a week just doing this, you'll be about ready to speak with your audience, not at them. Would you rather email with a friend or solicitor? 

Get out of your head, and into theirs. 

Here are two versions from my cold email on-boarding campaign. See if you can spot the improvements from the older to newer version.

Version 4 - 7/13 
Hey Olivia Gossett, 
I'm Director of Publishers at COMPANY. I manage our top content creators, and I want to extend an invitation to you. 

In collaboration with brands like Alexander Wang, Theory, Saks (+200 others) we’ve built an app for fashion + beauty publishers that makes linking your photos with affiliate products on social media and your blog, more like tagging a friend on Instagram -- no more copy and paste. Check out a demo here. 

You can request an invite here while we’re still accepting new publishers (please register with this email address as it’s been pre-approved) and I'll ensure you’re on the list for a publisher account. 

I’m here day or night just for our Digital Publishers should you have any questions at all, so please don’t hesitate to ask! 

Very Best, 
Olivia 

Version 8 - 7/29 
Hey Olivia, 
I really like your style and aesthetic on Olivia's Blog. I'm Director of Publishers at COMPANY — I manage our top content creators, and I want to extend an invitation to you. 

In collaboration with brands like Alexander Wang, Theory, Saks (+200 others) we’ve built an app for fashion + beauty publishers that makes linking your photos to affiliate products on social media and your blog, more like tagging a friend on Instagram -- no more copy and paste. Check out a demo here. 

You can request an invite here while we’re still accepting new publishers (please register with this email address as it’s been pre-approved) and I'll ensure you’re on the list for a publisher account. 

I’m here day or night just for our Digital Publishers should you have any questions at all, so please don’t hesitate to ask! 

Very Best, 
Olivia

Downy Ad Review

Uuuuuuuuuugh. This Downy ad.

Yo, I get it. It's clever, sort of. But it's stuck in between over produced and real. If you're going to show Joe Schmoe on a subway, then show Joe Schmoe is a subway... for REAL. This produced "real" setting and people just pisses me off and actually puts me off. The ONLY way anyone is going to smell you on a subway is if they are smushed up against you during rush hour. THEN you'll want to smell good and impress the lady who has her nostrils already an inch away from your sweatshirt.

American Apparel Ads - Why They Rock

I saw this ad today in a newspaper, in a coffee shop.  It caught my eye, obviously, and made me appreciate American Apparel branding more than ever. This ad just SCREAMS "share me!", which nowadays is more rewarding than spending big bucks for a billboard.

In-Your-Face Ads

Pretty, photoshopped models are not a risk. A sleek car driving down a winding road is not a risk. Sure, if you're just looking to maintain brand recognition then don't worry about taking share-worthy risk —your job is done if someone sees your ad in their peripheral vision and sub-consciously digests it. But, if want to be in someone's shareable conscious, then get real and raw and take some risks.

Shameless Ads

WAIT. If you're going to take a risk, you better get ready to stand by them. American Apparel ads get banned. I LOVE that. Fuck it, let's push the envelope. They don't apologize, they just try again, with the same branding.

They take risks. They are in your face with sex sex sex, but it's all raw, funny, and REALish. You want to join the American Apparel party. Sure, they objectify women, but who doesn't? If you want to break it down, I'd say Dove objectifies women just as much... they are using bodies to sell their product, just a different type. At least American Apparel is transparent about it. But that's getting off topic.

Real

I came across a re-brand exercise for American Apparel on someone's Behance profile. They suggested using the "Wear Your Freedom.", showing some chic in weird positions and yellow tights. They're trying to be inspiring with hosh-posh inspirational wording that's supposed to speak to young people. Like some ad exec was like "yes, let's connect with the free youngens and speak to their freedom!" and then he coughs and eats more of his chicken salad sandwich.

The original branding is so much better because it feels organic and real. Like someone just took the photo and wrote the first relevant thing that came to mind. It's not TRYING to be anything.

Unfiltered

Maybe that's what it is. 

Hyatt House - Messaging to Believe

What I See
Communication goes way beyond copy, but you already knew that. Here, Hyatt is using photos that resemble the look of phone or instagram photos on their website. I love this. It's smart.

Why I Like It
I believe these photos. I don't believe some stock photo of a man smiling because of his free shitty continental breakfast. That stale toast sucks — we both know it.

When we believe what we see, we think it can happen to us. People's perception of what's possible is changing. They don't believe as much because they are being told more.

And because these photos resemble something I create and share on my phone, it makes me want to go to this place that is full of photo-sharing opportunities.

Show and tell consumers something they can believe, while still being aspirational... like these photos.

American Heart Association Advertisement Concept

Thinking

We don't take things to...heart...until they are real to us. We are told to be more healthy so much, all the time, that importance of the message has become muted to the masses and nearly passe. Additionally, being healthy is now more subconsciously associated with the aesthetics of someone looking fit and healthy, and the focus of taking care of your one and only body within has been lost.

I want people to walk away and into life with a sense of, "I'm not going to eat that greasy burger because I care about my heart", rather than, "I'm not going to eat that greasy burger because I don't want to look fat."

Execution

I wanted to target people who were already paying attention to something and being moved, so I chose Pandora. I wanted to create an ad experience that got their attention, not that was loud and annoying like most audio ads — this is a personal and serious matter. Then, I wanted to give them something they could relate to and change their perspective about that familiar thing, but putting it in a new light.

The Experience

The accompanying audio for this ad is two heart beats, one after the other. The first is a healthy normal sounding heart. The second is a fast-paced heart of an obese person.

For the mobile devices: When you click on "Listen Now" you are taken to an app or mobile web experience that lets you listen to your heart by putting your phone to your heart or pulse, have it be recorded, saved, and then played back to you. You also have the option to share the heartbeat with others.

For the laptop: When you click on "Listen Now" you can listen to the shared heartbeats and learn how to add your own on mobile.

This Happened

Wildcard. Jordan Cooper. Doug Petkanics. And team. Got those resources to get more YAYYYYYYYYYYY things done.

Oh yeaaaaaahhhhhhhh.

GO SEE!

Mepra - Gold Flatware Advertising Concept

Thinking

Let's make people think they need an upgrade. The key here is to not tell them it's better, but let them realize it is. When selling luxury you don't bring up facts and direct talk, but you show luxury and sell the idea of them being able to show the luxury as a representation of themselves to others... with these products.

Execution

Take a well known idea that represents high class and show them something even better. Show how they can be above even what is considered the top. Gold is always better than silver. We don't tell them, but make them realize.