pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on fri 11 jul 03
their relations to one-another...
Hi Wendy! ( A wonderful post as ever, from your kind
hand...)
Hi all...!
I know very well the percieved (contextual) impertenaince of
my small mentions, but I am moved to make them.
Wendy I think you here wisely distinguish between an
austensible
and actual 'product', or, we may enjoy some insight into
just 'what' is
being sold or 'marketed'.
As moves me to remind or reiterate bluntly, that the
'product' sometimes IS the marketing, for a variey of
purposes at any rate, or, the product intrinsicly, is in
effect, incidental to it.
So...almost everyone was delighted and admireing of the
'Milk' campaign...those litttle 'moustaches' and so on of
child-actors, famous athletes, or other (themselves, moreor
less) 'products' of other (if subtler) 'campaigns' as may
be...
But...or and...
'Milk'...
...what is it?
In what contexes do we apprehend it?
Do we know?
And know in what way?
...what do we know?
Or does it matter?
Any takers?
Yours,
Phil
lasvegas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wendy Peck"
To:
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2003 7:26 AM
Subject: Re: Got Clay?
> John,
>
> Wow! It's hard not to blush, a strange state for me.
Thanks very much for
> the compliments.
>
> I have no idea how much the Got Milk campaign cost, but
millions upon
> millions upon millions for sure. I would probably get
bored writing out the
> zeros, even if I knew. The marketing budget for large
campaigns can often
> rival the GNP of a small country. If you think I am
exaggerating, do a few
> searches on companies like major soft drinks, sports
products, any major
> car manufacturer, etc. It's pretty safe to say that any
version of Got Clay
> will have a slightly smaller general presence.
>
> And yes, coming up with a common message is going to be
tough. However, I
> think that about 80% of the possibilities for difference
would be removed if
> everyone accepts that a marketing campaign is about
selling art, not making
> it. The making of art may prove to be the magic message
for selling it, but
> selling it is main goal for a campaign. How many cows do
you see in the Got
> Milk campaign ads?
>
> Wendy
>
>
> Great Web Typography: Techniques for great CSS and graphic
text, with tips
> from top industry professionals. Just released.
http://wpeck.com/type/
>
> KISS: Keep It Simple ... Create effective, CSS-controlled
menus and menu
> areas with Wendy Peck at http://productiongraphics.com
>
> Author: Menus with Beauty and Brains and Weekend Crash
Course Dreamweaver MX
> and 4 (Amazon.com)
>
> Wendy Peck http://wpeck.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Baymore"
>
>
> I will be very interested to see if it is possible to come
up with a
> unified concept that "floats the boat" for clay as an
overall
> medium......... not just a segment of claywork..........
since the work and
> the philosophies of clay artists are so diverse in
nature. In past
> explorations on this topic here and elsewhere, it seems
that much agreement
> on such stuff was nigh on impossible to find.
>
>
>
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Wendy Peck on sat 12 jul 03
their relations to one-another...
Phil,
Marketing "gurus" with less than honourable intentions have been able to
"baffle with BS" exactly because of what you are asking. It is a complicated
field, and we are so inundated with marketing messages that it can be
impossible to sort through and find the threads of logic in marketing
campaigns.
Think of beer ads. They are not selling beer. If there is a mention of
taste, or even the fact that it is wet, it is a side issue. Beer companies
sell lifestyle. They put pretty people, having a wonderful time beside the
image of their beer. If we see that often enough, it starts to creep into
our mind that maybe, maybe, if we only drank Coors, we would not have
furrowed brows over how to pay the light bill, but would instead be one of
the beautiful people on the beach laughing while playing volleyball. Same
product for an older crowd may show the icy beer can on the seat of a boat
in the middle of the most perfect fishing scene. .
Look at car ads in different magazines. I get two consumer magazines every
month: Backpacker and Cooking Light. The ads are often for the same
products, SUVs especially. But the focus is completely different. In Cooking
Light, you see either the elegant side (though dropping an SUV off at valet
parking is an image that still mystifies me ) or with kids piling out in
soccer gear. In Backpacker, the vehicles are often dirty, and always in the
middle of nowhere - never a kid or gown in sight.
What good marketing sells is solutions to problems, not products. If your
problem is a dull, uninspiring life, the beer companies are telling you they
have a solution. If your problem is that you want to look good in your car,
then an SUV will solve that problem. Agree or disagree with the intent, but
it has proven to be a very effective method for increasing or maintaining
market share for a huge number of products (Of course most thinking humans
don't "believe" what the ads imply is true, but the image is planted, the
name in your mind, which does influence buying decisions.)
The Got Milk campaign promotes drinking milk a "hip" choice. Maybe the
producers discovered that people knew they should drink milk for health
reasons, but it just wasn't cool enough, or nothing made it stand out when
they were choosing what to drink. (As a lifetime milk drinker, I can attest
to raised eyebrows when a forty-something woman drinks milk with most meals.
It's almost like it is a contradiction to being an adventurous cook/diner.)
The solution: Show people who have been raised to a level of definable
coolness (actors, star athletes, musicians) drinking milk. Voila ... you are
cool if you drink milk.
Bring the concepts to recent clay ads. The last couple of Ceramic Monthly
magazines have shown Tony Winchester (one of my personal clay heroes, but
that's beside the point ) surrounded my masses of trimmings, using the
Giffen Grip. Common sense may say that an ad for this tool should be filled
with the great things it can do - how brilliantly it works, how much time it
saves, etc. But in my short time in the clay world, I have picked up some
rumblings that some worry it is not what "professionals" would consider
using. So, I think wisely, the ad is almost filled with the image of a
professional, studio potter using the tool. The pile of trimmings is perfect
... this man is really getting somewhere.
The problem for the potential buyers of the Giffen Grip may not necessarily
be wondering if it works. It may be more whether it is "cheating." Does a
"real" potter use this tool? Showing the image of a studio pro committed to
the product is an age old way to overcome that problem. In fact, check a lot
of the ads in CM and you will see the same thing. Does it stand up to a
logic examination that Tom Coleman uses this, so you should buy it? The
answer is really no, because there are too many other factors that can lead
to whether a certain brand or model is right for each potter, but we pay
attention anyway. (And that's not to take away from Tony, or Tom or anyone
else who believes in a product - they've worked through what is effective
with years of hard work, and pass on that knowledge in many ways.)
You asked whether it matters. The answer is an unqualified yes. For anyone
who spends a dollar, or even an hour in lieu of dollars, promoting their
products, it matters a lot. If you don't know the problem you can solve for
your potential customer, you stand less than a sporting chance to have your
investment pay off. On the other hand, when you spend the time to figure out
what problem you can solve for your potential customers, and let them know
you have the solution ... magic can happen. And even better than making the
sale under these circumstances is that your customers are likely to be much
more satisfied over the long haul with their purchase. They didn't buy hype
... they solved a real problem with your product.
You've made (let) me hop onto my soap box for marketing 102. Actually,
this is a perfect chance to get across my somewhat unusual belief that
marketing for small business can, and should be the opposite to sleazy,
misleading and greedy. Small business marketing should help customers to
make good decisions on purchasing. Done perfectly, only those who will truly
benefit from your products buy them.
Wendy
Great Web Typography: Techniques for great CSS and graphic text, with tips
from top industry professionals. Just released. http://wpeck.com/type/
KISS: Keep It Simple ... Create effective, CSS-controlled menus and menu
areas with Wendy Peck at http://productiongraphics.com
Author: Menus with Beauty and Brains and Weekend Crash Course Dreamweaver MX
and 4 (Amazon.com)
Wendy Peck http://wpeck.com
----- Original Message -----
From:
As moves me to remind or reiterate bluntly, that the
'product' sometimes IS the marketing, for a variey of
purposes at any rate, or, the product intrinsicly, is in
effect, incidental to it.
So...almost everyone was delighted and admireing of the
'Milk' campaign...those litttle 'moustaches' and so on of
child-actors, famous athletes, or other (themselves, moreor
less) 'products' of other (if subtler) 'campaigns' as may
be...
But...or and...
'Milk'...
...what is it?
In what contexes do we apprehend it?
Do we know?
And know in what way?
...what do we know?
Or does it matter?
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