We’ve been watching TED Talks over lunch the last few days or so.

Riveting stuff is how you can describe them. An education in every way.

Still, there was one thing that raised a question or two.

The subject of industry best practices.

We heard they’re a yardstick for success. They lead to better key performance indicators.

There’s truth in that, of course, they can help when it comes to your next quarterly earnings report.

But is it going far enough?

Don’t best practices make you like other companies when you adopt the same approaches and milestones?

Isn’t there a bit of a problem being equal to but not better than your competitors?

So … wouldn’t it be an idea to meet best practices standards then move ahead from there?

After all, your competitors are probably doing all you’re doing to succeed in the marketplace.

You can bet that includes everything from Logistics to HR to Training and Product Development.

But why conform to the kind of creative work your competitors run? Why follow the accepted approaches of your product category?

With originality you can stand apart.

Your physical resources and technology can be copied but the right kind of creative work can’t be.

Further to that, maybe you’ve seen the  Honda spot called ‘Paper’. http://bit.ly/1QZnWME

It doesn’t follow anyone else’s lead to present a line of products that includes business jets, motorbikes, cars, racing cars and lawnmowers.

It’s stunning work and could be the subject of a TED Talk in itself.

If only for the fact it neatly showcases everything the company makes without the usual inert thinking you get in a product line commercial.

Quite the opposite, it’s easy to watch again and again.

A 20-something in our office added to that by saying, ‘I bet it’ll sell its ass off’.

‘Paper’ qualifies as best practices as far as other Honda spots are concerned.

It adds to the high standard of Honda commercials like ‘Cog’, ‘Hands’ and the Ayrton Senna ‘Racing’ film.

It also goes well beyond the typical level of creative best practices.

And for that reason it will probably sell its ass off.

Share with us. Leave your comment below. Thanks for reading Whybetonto.com. Regards, Steve Ulin LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/1Bey3Jl

More than a few companies don’t go far enough with their marketing and advertising thinking.

They often run with half-good ideas … ideas that have just enough power to reach the mediocre level.

They let their brands down.

Of course, nobody wants that.

So why not go further with your thinking.

Why not question old certainties about your customers and marketplace to discover a fresh understanding.

Why not find new creative approaches to differentiate your brand.

Why not boost conversion rates for email campaigns and Website content with smarter, more arresting ideas.

Why not rid yourself of the drag of conformity.

Why not work closer with your ad agency to be more effective against your competition.

Of course, it takes hard work to achieve all this. It takes an unrelenting effort.

The ‘unrelenting’ thing reminds us of John Lennon.

He was unrelenting in becoming a guitarist.

As a kid he played constantly … a fact that didn’t sit so well with the auntie who raised him, Aunt Mimi.

She wanted him to do something else with his life. Her idea was that he should become something.

It’s apocryphal, we know, but his auntie was said to be like a broken record on the subject.

On and on she went about practicing guitar.

As you probably know, John Lennon was a bit of a card.

So when the Beatles became a success he had a large gold plaque made for his auntie.

In engraved, bold letters it sent Aunt Mimi’s broken record words back to her:

‘You’ll Never Get Anywhere

Playing That Guitar.’

You might want to keep that in mind next time you’re working on a project and begin to grow tired of thinking.

It can help you push on.

Because as John Lennon’s auntie came to realize, it’s worth it to keep plugging away.

Share with us. Leave your comment below. Thanks for reading Whybetonto.com. Regards, Steve Ulin LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/1Bey3Jl

You’ve probably seen it before. No doubt you’ve heard it.

The sound of ‘mwah’ as two women kiss the air next to each other’s cheek.

It’s not really a kiss, is it?

It saves the make-up, right enough, but it’s going through the motions. It’s not exactly authentic.

Too many advertising efforts are a bit like that.

They’re more-or-less asking to be ignored because they’re not going the full distance.

They’re not talking to you or anyone else.

They put a marketer’s point of view out there and hope people will be impressed.

Fat chance.

As you’ve probably heard in marketing seminars, work like that is one-way communication.

It’s the opposite of an original imagination.

Why would marketers approve it?

Some might say they are being ‘safe’.

Others think they just don’t get it.

But that’s not Estée Lauder.

Their ‘We’re Stronger Together’ Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign doesn’t hold back on emotion.

It gets you on intimate terms with your feelings.

It’s new in the way it stresses action as well as awareness.

It showcases a genuineness about life, eating better, exercising, participating in healthful walks, sharing personal stories and supporting one another.

Authenticity is key.

For more on authenticity there’s ‘Hear Our Stories. Share Yours’. http://bit.ly/WgEfhc.

As this Estée Lauder video will tell you, ‘An honest exchange unfolds’.

It’s an honesty we all need for our work.

Because it goes further than just ‘mwah’.

Share with us. Leave your comment below. Thanks for reading Whybetonto.com. Regards, Steve Ulin LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/1Bey3Jl

You know the book Catch-22, don’t you?

It’s still selling after all these years. It was published in 1961.

Before it was Catch-22 it was Catch-18.

That was the title. Clunky, isn’t it? Awkward.

But with reconsideration and more time, Joseph Heller went for the alliterative title we all know today.

Catch-22 sounds better. Good thing Heller wasn’t rushed and had time to make an improvement.

The same is true of another book you know. It also happens to work with alliteration.

The Great Gatsby.

F. Scott Fitzgerald originally titled it Trimalchio at West Egg.

You have to go back to Rome in the First Century AD to understand the Trimalchio reference.

He was an ostentatious fictional character. One who achieved power and wealth in a work  by Petronius called Satyricon.

With a bit of reconsideration and time, the Gatsby title won out.

Thank goodness Fitzgerald didn’t rush Trimalchio into print, never mind the West Egg location as part of the title.

Reconsideration and time can help ad agencies turn out better work as well.

The Volkswagen ‘Lemon’ ad doesn’t look like it was a rush job.

Read it and we think you’ll agree it doesn’t feel like it was done in a burning hurry. http://bit.ly/1Ozn68v

Each thought and sentence feels considered, skillfully so.

It’s the opposite of ads stalled by an indifferent strategy or an unimaginative execution.

The first line of copy, ‘This Volkswagen missed the boat’, was the original headline.

So said the great copywriter, David Abbot. He worked for Doyle Dane Bernbach at one time.

To get to the ‘Lemon’ headline you have to take a bit of extra time. Time thinking, fiddling, tweaking, and worrying.

Worry is a good thing when you’re creating something special. It gets you to look further for solutions.

Here, a measure of  credit should go to the VW brand manager.

Because we’re pretty sure of one thing.

That individual didn’t say, ‘get it to me by first thing tomorrow’.

Share with us. Leave your comment below. Thanks for reading Whybetonto.com. Regards, Steve Ulin LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/1Bey3Jl

 Who in your ad agency is doing a good job for you?

Who’s muffing it?

For marketers, the answers may come with the following three questions

You don’t want agency creatives to completely agree with you, do you?

You don’t need planners to match your thought process exactly, right?

You don’t require account directors to come up with precisely the same strategies that drive your actions, correct?

If agency people think differently than you do that can be good. Thank them.

Because they can help you guard against decline.

They can help you see your brand as all it can be.

They can help you cope with the disruption that regularly accompanies change.

They’re a weather eye against new developments in the marketplace.

They’re a safeguard against sticking with of old assumptions.

As contrarians they could be trying to save you from hitting the rocks.

To move your brand ahead and be better able to compete, informed pushback can help by challenging all you know. Or think you know.

After all, always seeing eye-to-eye with your agency people can lead to complacency.

The best agencies can help you avoid that by always aiming higher.

They can make you more self-critical and effective.

They can help you question old certainties and  strategies that have reached their use by date.

The best agencies can erase drabness in your communications. They can help you sidestep inert ideas and dullness in your messaging.

After all, they’re in the boredom alleviation business.

With a bit of well-judged audacity, like the Crazy Ones for Apple and Dove’s campaign for Real Beauty, they can help you stand out.

Agency people who are milquetoast and merely order-takers may not be the best choice for you.

Flip them the bird.

Because if you rely on yes men and women your competitors could get ahead and flip you the bird.

Share with us. Leave your comment below. Thanks for reading Whybetonto.com. Regards, Steve Ulin LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/1Bey3Jl

Your Websites, emails, blogs, videos …

Are they packed with appeal and value?

Are they attracting customers from your competitors?

Are they resulting in more conversions?

Because without the kind of content that stops people, lengthens attention spans and creates the moment someone buys, your messaging is like a shirt with no buttons.

Nothing much comes together for you.

Actually Bill Bernbach said it best.

‘If your advertising goes unnoticed, everything else is academic.’

So for attention-getting content, take a lesson from an unusual messaging source.

The touchscreen monitor of a new car … the Tesla Model S Dual Motor.

The Tesla may be electric but few other cars have the knack of alleviating boredom so thoroughly.

The ‘drive selector’, alone, is the opposite of monotony.

On the touchscreen you’ll see the normal ‘drive mode’ which makes for a quick car. Fast only begins to describe an all-wheel drive experience with two motors, one over each axle.

But instead of the usual ‘sport mode’ of other marques, you can shift to ‘Insane Mode’.

That’s how Tesla brands it.

Click this link for a demo: http://bit.ly/1gXUxpR

You’ll want to note, ‘Insane Mode’ isn’t an exaggeration; Tesla isn’t riding on the street of dreams.

The Model S Dual Motor is faster than a Ferrari.

It beats many super cars in a telling way … the way Four of a Kind shades a Full House in poker.

But that’s not the whole story.

Because if you can resist wolf whistling the car for a moment, things get even faster.

Tesla is ahead of events. They’re planning to add even more oomph with a software upgrade.

It will accelerate you from ‘Insane Mode’ to what they call ‘Ludicrous Mode’.

The language here may be a bit over the top but it’s accurate.

We’re talking about the kind of speeds that might be more appropriately measured with a G-Force indicator than a speedometer.

It’s not enough to say Tesla has engineered a novel car.

They seem to have unlearned most of what everyone has said a car should be to create an electric car beyond expectation.

You get the feeling Tesla doesn’t look to anyone for how to think and proceed.

They follow their own approach to see cars as all they can be.

Even the language of the drive selector, with Inane Mode, is in line with that.

It’s messaging that intrigues first timers who slide behind the wheel.

How about your messaging, your content … is it working in the same way for your brand?

Share with us. Leave your comment below. Thanks for reading Whybetonto.com. Regards, Steve Ulin LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/1Bey3Jl

In 1950 a publisher called Eugene Reynal assumed nobody would read The Catcher in the Rye.

He wasn’t exactly good-humored in his criticism.

Reynal hated the book and refused it for publication as it was unlike anything else in print at the time.

He said it had to be rewritten with major changes to be more like the kind of books that were selling.

The character of Holden Caulfield needed to be completely re-done, it was a non-starter.

There’s an assumption for you.

Chances are you’ve read The Catcher in the Rye and loved it.

If so, you’re among the 65 million people who bought the book.

65 Million books … how’s that for a money-spinner?

The fact is The Catcher in the Rye is still selling 250,000 copies a year.

So much for Eugene Reynal.

But you may come across people like him in marketing and advertising.

We heard about one from an intern spending a summer in a product company.

Their ad agency came in after two unsuccessful attempts to sell a new campaign.

Unhappily, it wasn’t a case of third time lucky.

The marketing director rejected the campaign as it was like nothing he had ever seen before.

There was no precedent for it.

More to that, the marketer director said the solution should have been more along the lines of his ideas … ideas, incidentally, which were not shared in the brief.

One wonders then … why bring in an agency in the first place. Why buy a dog and then bark yourself.

As you might have guessed, the intern thought differently about the creative work that was presented that day.

His take was more along the lines of not-so-fast-on-the-rejection-thing’.

He realized the ads made the brand a stopper. In short, the campaign was different and for that, great stuff.

Precedent didn’t come into it.

But nobody asked the intern for an opinion.

Too bad.

Assumed knowledge killed off a strong idea.

Let’s hope it didn’t also kill off an intern’s desire to go into advertising.

Share with us. Leave your comment below. Thanks for reading Whybetonto.com. Regards, Steve Ulin LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/1Bey3Jl