RIP Louie The Fly

By Sonya Winterbotham, Wizard of Ads Partner

He was Australia’s never say die fly, who for 54 years kept coming back to life time and time again to prove that in advertising a fly can have more lives than a cat.

Sadly though Mortein etched out his gravestone this week to read “No More Louie The Fly: 1957 – 2011” as one of Australia’s greatest brand characters was laid to rest. 

While I don’t intend to eulogise the fly, I believe there is much we can learn from Louie, especially for brand owners who suffer from what I can only describe as “itchy feet” when it comes to consistency.

Ask yourself…

How long do you stick with a strategy before you get “bored” with it? 

How often do you change your creative, because you get sick of hearing it?

Is change the only consistent part of your advertising?

I’ve seen businesses change message, voice, slogan and style more than 12 times in one year all because they wanted to “freshen it up”.  I call it brand schizophrenia; perhaps a more appropriate label would be brand moodiness, because I liken it to that moody friend or acquaintance that all we know and we all fear a little.  She’s like Forest Gump’s proverbial box of chocolates, every time you see her you never really know what you’re going to get.  Do you want a brand that’s a moody friend?  Or one that’s dependable, trusted, reliable and part of people’s inner circle? 

I’m not saying don’t evolve; in fact evolution and reinvention are necessary, Mortein didn’t shy away from expanding their product range to cockroach baits because their brand ambassador was a fly, they continued to evolve with Louie leading the charge through 54 years of brand growth. 

So if you get itchy feet – explore the reasons before you scratch the itch.  If you’re bored – get a hobby.  If the strategy is wrong, spend time now getting it right don’t just rapidly change to an “it’ll do” approach, because sooner rather than later the itch will return. 

Consistency can take a brand from the shelf and embed it in our culture.  Think about Australia’s iconic brands – think about the words to the VB jingle, think about the black and white video from the vegemite ads, think about that smiling yellow face of a certain jelly’s aeroplane. 

And then, spare one last thought for the 54 year old advertising veteran - poor old Louie the Fly.   

Nice, Fitting and Other Offensive Words

By Sonya Winterbotham, Wizard of Ads Partner

“It’s a little ummm out there.” 

I stared at the phone and contemplated smacking it into my forehead. 

My forehead remains in tact. 

And so does my producer. 

But he couldn’t agree with the music I’d chosen for a client’s commercial – apparently it had a few too many elements that would help the ad… well… stand out.

The end result - that poor client ended up with a typically clichéd retail music bed.  I would say you’d know the kind of music, but that’s the problem you probably wouldn’t because clichéd music just sits in the background like a shy girl at a school dance repeating quietly to herself “please make me be invisible, please make me be invisible”.

Hmmm… Do you see why the phone nearly collided with my temple? 

It made me realise something… Marketers and advertising experts aren’t immune to human conditioning, and conditioning trains us from a young age to fit in, not to stand out. 

Not exactly what we want out of our advertising is it? 

So as a business owner, be aware of a few key words that might suggest your advertising team are building you an ad from an all too common “ad mould”. 

Nice.  The giveaway is in the fact that they’ve chosen such a beige word to describe any part of your commercial.  Nice is not a compliment, nor an insult; nice is the word people use when they can’t be bothered to come up with an interesting word (or commercial).  Nice is often used in sentences like “we’ll find a nice voice/ nice music bed/ nice graphic for your ad”. 

Blend.  Often used with the word “in”… Or worse… “This will blend in nicely”.  Avoid blending.  Go for juxtaposition instead!  Go for impact.  And here’s a behind the curtain hint… when you’re dealing direct with media, the programming department of that media want your ad to blend in because it’s their content that’s supposed to stand out.

Just.  As in “we just found some great stock photos/footage”, or we’ll just find some nice music to go with that”… Just means they’re just not thinking hard enough about what is best for you. 

Sure, we can do that.  If you’re making multiple changes to an ad I’ve created for you and my reply to every single change is “sure we can do that”… find the nearest phone and smack me in the forehead.  Seriously, if your advertising team is willing to change everything without question, they don’t have enough confidence in what they’ve originally created.  Or it could simply mean you’re better at their job than they are, in which case, what do you need them for? 

And the last test is you.  If you’re not surprised or moved in any way, positive or negative by your new ad – chances are neither will anybody else, although your family, friends and neighbours may tell you they’ve heard your ad…

… And they think it’s nice. 

The Power of a Word

By Sonya Winterbotham, Wizard of Ads Partner

Hello.

One word.

One very common word.

Wouldn’t get you much for it in a game of scrabble.

But in advertising… One Aussie business owner has made “hello” his own. 

And when you think about how many times the word “hello” is uttered everyday –

That’s a lot of recall back to his business.

So who is he?  How’d he do it?  And how can you make the power of a single word work for you too? 

Say hello to Frank Walker Managing Director of National Tiles…

Frank’s radio advertising is now so well known he’s a youtube hit – having been remixed with the likes of Eminem, Duck Sauce, Martin Solveig & Dragonette and The Potbellez. 

And he did it by applying two simple elements to his advertising – consistency and surprise.

“Hello” is how every single radio ad starts for National Tiles… And the word is always uttered by Frank himself. 

He’s done this across all campaigns in all markets for so long he’d be sick of hearing his own voice – but he doesn’t change it, because Frank knows that customer’s can recognise a National Tiles ad even before Frank rounds off the “o” in hello. 

Of course tonnes of businesses could start their ads with a simple “hello” and it would get lost in the background.   The great success of Frank’s “hello” is not in the word, the word itself is blend-worthy, Frank’s success is in the way the word is spoken… And that gives Frank’s ads the wonderful element of surprise.

Y’see there’s the way you and I say hello as a greeting… And then there’s Frank’s way.

I could swear if you ran a stop watch under his “hello” you’d find that he extends it out to 3 or 4 seconds – sometimes even more.  He’s famously mimicked around our office with Frank Walker wanna-be’s every time someone answers the phone and says… hello.

This little “surprise” technique is such a simple way to stand out from the me-toos. 

Try it - put a twist on your words, a different pitch, different tone, draaaaw it out, staccato it up… Because once you’ve found the element of surprise you can turn a word into a word trigger – a single word that can trigger a recall of your business.  

Go on head to the scrabble board – find a word you want to own… And start thinking about how you’re going to say it.

Do you need help?

The 5 Minute “Me Too” Test

By Sonya Winterbotham, Wizard of Ads Partner

This test is courtesy of a dear friend and colleague Geoff Bickerton.

Writers are always asking for a businesses Point of Difference… Well this makes it easy! 

Grab a pen.

Some paper.

Draw a table. 

In the top left hand corner write the name of your business.  Underneath it list down every little bit of info you put into your marketing.  It might be a price point, a guarantee, a level of service, product range, opening hours etc.

Done?

Across the top, write down the names of businesses competing for your same customers.

It should look something like this:-

Now it’s time to fill in your table.  Look again at the info down the left hand column… Make your way across each business putting an X in the box if that business can do it too.

For every row that now shows an X – the info down the left hand column is “me too” info - Meaning your competitors are doing it too.  Are there any rows with no X’s?  That’s your “Me Only” story and that is your marketing campaign. 

Pens down.  Test over.  How’d you do?

By the way if your table is full of X’s – Don’t panic! 

It doesn’t mean your business has failed the test.  But it does tell you your marketing needs a little more tweaking. 

Your “Me Only” story is probably right under your nose. 

So ask yourself, better still ask your customers - Why are they buying from you?   X has marked the spot not to dig… a quick little survey amongst your customers could help find the gold you’re looking for.

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Diamonds Are a Guys Best Friend… if You’re These Guys!

By Sonya Winterbotham, Wizard of Ads Partner

Today I’m reading the Alchemist. 

It may in fact become the first book I will finish in one day… Not that 167 pages is a big challenge but my reading pace tends to be that of the tortoise and not the hare.  For those, who have waited far too long to read the Alchemist it is a story about following your Personal Legend, following your dream and doing what you were born to do.  I believe these two men are doing just that…

David Everett and Ian Brookes are jewellers.  They are not men who use moulds or machinery to make mass produced pieces shipped to chain stores around the country.  David Everett and Ian Brookes are true craftsmen, with hands born of skill and eyes formed of precision they meticulously, lovingly, proudly produce the most spectacular pieces of jewellery crafted by hand.

But that is not why I want to share the EverettBrookes story.  These men possess something else… In following their Personal Legend, they have built a business model that shows great incite into understanding their customer’s needs, wants and behaviours. 

So here is what EverettBrookes understand, and how they do things differently:-

What a woman wants when buying a ring is perfection.  For perfection to transcend design paper to finger is no easy task, and David and Ian came to the conclusion that it is not always possible. 

Once on her finger she may wish the diamonds were a little bigger, the band a little thicker, the setting a little higher and what most jewellers would say is “tough luck, you picked it, we made it, better choosing next time.”. 

David and Ian made a very firm decision that people would only walk out their front door with a smile, and a smile comes from perfection. 

So what do they do?  Offer to start over again and make the ring exactly how you want it… at no… extra… charge.  They’ll start your ring again from scratch… no charge, no obligation, no stiff jewellery store stance, just the promise of perfection. 

What would most others do?  Look at the bottom line, grumble about cost, and say they can’t afford the risk… EverettBrookes looks at every customer as a brand ambassador and if just one walks out the door feeling disappointed – well that’s the risk they can’t afford. 

Their entire business model is created around customer needs – not their needs. 

• They open late so couples can come after work, and if you need that engagement ring for your party on Saturday, they won’t tell you it can’t be finished in time. 

• They’ll just ignore the clock and work late, work early, work around the job so that sparkle is on your finger to show off to your friends on Saturday so they can ask “where did you get it” and you’ll say – “I got it from this amazing jewellery store called EverettBrookes… let me tell you about them”.

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