Crumbs from the Scone
Is it more effective to tell customers your brand name right away in advertising? Or is it better to create a little mystery, and reveal the brand name only at the end of the ad, once you’ve intrigued them?
One might think that it’s better to create some mystery. (After all, who doesn’t love a Mystery Man?) Holding off the brand-name reveal might sustain customer attention, and make people focus on the ad for a longer period of time. Right? Well, wait just a minute, there, folks.
Research is showing that a customer’s memory for ads and brands is actually better when the brand name is presented early in the ad. (Think: “Nike’s newest cross-trainer” vs “A great new athletic shoe!”)
The reason? Researchers suggest that an early statement of the brand name helps customers more easily recognize what brand and product category is being advertised. And if they have a positive image of it, they’ll read, view, or listen further. Subsequent information can then be encoded with this frame of reference in mind—giving you a better chance of making your message stick.
So even though creating an air of mystery in an ad is fun, and it might draw customers in, it’s best to make sure you work your brand name into the mix right at the start as well.
The Point: Be up front. Stating your name early in an ad encourages better brand recognition and message retention by customers.
source: Do Not Wait to Reveal the Brand Name. Baker, William E.; Honea, Heather; Russell, Cristel Antonia.
Journal of Advertising, 2004
Crumbs from the Scone
Research coming out of Penn State reports that 20% of tweets—those wee messages published on Twitter—are brand-oriented. And not the way you’d naturally expect. While researchers originally thought they’d find lots of brand engagement in the form of product reviews or referrals, what they discovered was this (hold on to your hat):
The vast majority of tweeters who talk labels are trying to connect with brands—and the companies behind them.
Double wow! This is one of the reasons Twitter is so darned good for CRM: people want to meet you halfway! (The other reason is that Twitter makes it so easy for folks to air their every whim that you find out what they’re really thinking, not just what they want you to hear.) (You eavesdropper, you.)
And there’s more good news: Now there are handy tools to help keep a leash on these winds of preference-change. HootSuite and TweetDeck, for example, help you keep track of multiple Twitter accounts. You can also create special groups for search terms. Say, for example, you’re Nike. Open up a search group for “Nike,” and you’ll receive instant updates in that box every time somebody on Twitter mentions you. (Prepare to be deluged!)
Suffering from stage fright? Don’t, love.
“A lot of the brand comments were positive,” observes Jim Jansen, associate professor of information science and tech at Penn State, after his group tracked over a half-million brand-related tweets. “There are some good products out there, or at least products that people are happy with.” High five!
The Point: Just do it. Reason #3208493240983 to leap aboard the Goodship Twitter: at least two in ten people on the site want to reach out to brands they dig. That’s a big number. As for the other eight? Think of ’em as converts-to-be.
Cheers,
Skip
reference: MarketingProfs newsletter- 10-15-2009
Crumbs from the Scone
It’s amazing how often I speak to clients about the benefits of having a well administered blog. As I’m standing up on my web developer podium preaching the benefits of bloggy greatness and espousing the need to REGULARLY post to one’s new fantastic traffic driving blog, I always have to pause and give the now painfully oft spoken disclaimer “Do as I say, not as I do… don’t go and visit MY blog cause I haven’t posted since the Eisenhower administration”. Yes, yes I hear all you cobblers out there bemoaning the state of your own children’s footwear. 🙂
Okay, so… I’m in the process of putting Shadowbend Studios v4.0 together and, in preparation for the launch and the launch of the new site “Skip Sommer Photography” (more on that in another post). I’m banging the rust off my blog and seeing if the gears still work.
So, here I am. Back in the proverbial saddle and looking forward to a MUCH more routine blogging schedule. Hell, I may actually have something worthwhile to say on occasion!
Cheers,
Skip
Crumbs from the Scone
Well… it’s near midnight on a Sunday and I’m about ready to start a new work week here at the studio.
I just finished my last assignment for my current class with the International Webmasters Association…Legal Issues for Web Designers and Content Managers. This was a great class, and one I have been looking forward to taking as I think that the legal aspects of web design is something that many designers do not consider fully during the course of a project and I want to be able to add that to the list of services I offer my clients.
I’m going to keep this post short and sweet as I am… very……… nearly………. falling aslee…..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
HUH, WHAT??, WHAT DID I MISS?!?!?! oh…. my I hate that. In any event, for those who may be interested, here is a course summary that I put together as a sort of week-to-week class journal…
Legal Issues Class Summary.
Take Care everyone… I’m for bed!
Skip
Crumbs from the Scone, The Shelf Chronicles
Okay, first a disclaimer:
This will be a thread of posts that is not directly related to web design, graphic design, illustration, photography, animation, drafting, technical illustration, branding, email marketing, search engine optimization, small business ownership or the current political situation in the tiny Republic of Alviso…
However, this is one of those things that I like to do periodically because it is so vital to keeping my creative spirit, sense of wonder and child-like adventurous spirit (careful now… I said “child-like”, not childish) nurtured.
But I digress…
The background:
Right before my children were born and became my passion, I said good-bye to my then current passion; gaming. Specifically, miniature wargaming. The entire lot went up on ebay and, while it did fetch a good price, I was sad to see it go.
(sigh) at least I still have the pictures:
Since then, my life has centered around my children, my job (I still had my day job at that point) my new business etc, etc. Not much room for cool toys and whimsical hobbies.
So, here I am, 3 years later. The kids are growing, I’ve left my day job, my business is doing well and I seem to have at least some sense of settling in to a much more predictable day-to-day life (predictable, but far from boring). I find myself with some discretionary gray matter which I can reserve for “fun”. So I came up with the idea of putting up a shelf in my office which will contain “fun” stuff; toys, statues, reminders of my childhood etc.
A quick trip to IKEA brought me home the shelf I needed and it was installed the same afternoon.
And so here we are… my shelf is up and is already populated with such things as my Lord of the Rings Statues (Gollum, Minas Tirith and the Argonath:
I have been enjoying the idea of researching vintage toys from places such as Amazon.com where I have my wish list and look forward to adding more and more to my collection, catering to my whimsical fun side and childlike sense of adventure and wonder (once again, for those of you keeping score, I said CHILDLIKE, not CHILDISH) 🙂
And so begins “The Shelf Chronicles”…
Hail the Recreational!!
Skip
Crumbs from the Scone
As many of you may know, the name Shadowbend comes from a small cottage somewhere on Gist road in the hills south of Los Gatos. Ever since I was a toddler my family has had a tradition of going to the Four Winds Christmas Tree Farm in the Santa Cruz mountains. We would take the winding road up to Skyline Blvd and on the way, pass a cottage on a tight bend in the mountain road. There was a small sign outside that just read “Shadowbend”. For some reason the name resonated with me I have kept it in mind for years. When the time came to name my business, it did not take long to come up with “Shadowbend Studios”.
During the Autumn of 2006 I took a few “photo junkets” and in September I headed south to Santa Cruz, over to Fresno then back up through the Gold Country. On my way down highway 17 I decided to take a detour up Black Road to see if I might be able to locate that old cottage. I had not been on that route in years but I knew it as if I had done it the day before. It was strange how familiar it was after so long. After a few miles up on Gist road I came to a hair pin turn and there it was… right there in front of me.
I knew the house instantly even though the sign was not there anymore. I parked and took a few shots of the place and even went so far as to walk up to the front door and knock to see if anyone was home. I was actually going to inquire as to whether they were the same owners and might still have the sign stored someplace! I must have stayed there in front of the cottage for the better part of a half hour… just taking it in. It was a wonderful experience to reconnect with the place that held memories for me and helped me create the spirit of my new business.
Happy New Year to you all,Blessings,Skip
