Mindshare Marketing

Marketing as a profession carries a bad reputation.  People hear the word “marketer” and immediately assoiate words like “liar,” “deceitful,” and “misleading” with the term.  This set of mental associations frustrates me, but I can’t say it’s entirely inaccurate.  Particularly with the kinds of television advertisements we see in the world today.

No, I’m not talking about political campaign ads.  That’s a different story altogether.  I’m talking about television advertisements for popular products.  When diet pills and workout machines claim massive weight loss in a few days, you almost always see the tiny “results not typical” disclaimer on the bottom.  One ab machine I saw advertised the other day bragged about how one woman lost 20 lbs and got a flat stomach in … less than a month!  Then I noticed the brief flash of the disclaimer.  Thank you DVR for letting me rewind and pause.

Results not typical.  Individual results will vary.  This participant paired the ***** ab workout with a healthy diet and daily cardiovascular workout.

So the standalone solution can’t really stand on it’s own, can it?  But we all know to be wary about these particular commercials.  So I’ll move on … to movie trailers.

I like action films.  I also like supernatural thrillers.  So when film makers marry the two concepts into one film, I can almost guarantee I’ll be at one of the many daily showings.  This past week, I decided to go see Max Payne.  I realize it’s a movie based on a video game, but that’s OK with me.  The trailer was compelling enough:

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WARNING!!!The next section of this post contains spoilers for the movie.  Stop reading now if you don’t want to know the ending.

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Patience is a virtue, particularly if you’re making something that takes time.  I happen to bake bread, and I’m always amazed at how the process for each loaf is slightly different.  I rarely use all of the 4 cups of flour called for in the recipe, and I have to let the dough rise to a certain size, not just for a certain amount of time.

I tried to rush a loaf last week, and it didn’t cook all the way through.  I was impatient, and I ended up with a waste of an evening and an inedible product.

Brands, too, take time to develop.  Like bread, you have to mix a certain amount of ingredients that will differ in each situation and for each use.  In some markets, a logo and a tagline might be enough to encompass a brand.  In others, you might need a spokesman and a huge customer outreach campaign to build your reputation.  Every situation is different, and you have to judge as you go what ingredients you need and which ones would be overkill.

Likewise, some brands will develop overnight and others will take years.  It’s a test of your patience is you expect your brand to build quickly, and you can end up with an unusable product if you try to rush things and force your message on the customer.

Yesterday was busy.  Early this week, I decided that Jumping Duck Media should offer blog/website setup and hosting.  After that seemingly simple decision, I spent most of the week trying to set it up.  First was a move to WordPress MU (multi-user), then came the development of a few test websites.  Now, I’m busy trying to help my first customer move a site from Blogger to my server … a monumental task in itself for an 898-page blog.

This made last night particularly busy.  Between server updates and Google searches, I still managed to get dinner ready.  Then I had a quick trip to the gym before I ran off to my weekly Boy Scout meeting.  About 9 o’clock I could finally sit down and rest.

That’s when I saw the UPS package on my desk.

I had completely forgotten that Jumping Duck Media’s latest publication just came out and I had been expecting the proof to show up on my doorstep!  I ripped the package apart and then held in my hands the latest, greatest book I’d ever seen, The Indefatigable Wright Brothers.

As of today, The Indefatigable Wright Brothers is for sale from the Jumping Duck website, and we’ve already shipped several orders.  I’m excited!  Particularly because I get to watch an old friend accomplish her dream of being a published author.

Wow, what a week …