The Annotated Pretty Penny

A tendency to think in “fancy” terms shouldn’t bleed onto the paper/screen/conversation and make it difficult for the audience—any audience—to understand. 

If you need a dictionary to slog through content, it’s probably because the writer has serious room for improvement. After all, this makes it almost impossible to quickly and easily pull information from content. 

Thank Seth Godin for the realization. In his book We Are All Weird, Godin writes:

If you need a map and a manual, it’s probably because you’re creating a problem.

Actually, he was explaining his idea of a factory, not writing style: 

… any organizational effort that’s built around repeated interactions and mass.

The Godin factory model ignores or even resents the rise of niches, unique consumers and markets that do not appear immediately profitable (the “weird”) in favor of the relative safety of the masses.

* 20 points to anyone who can offer the appropriate AP styling for “Fancy Pants”

You can’t imagine how badly I wish I’d taken a picture last week of the bloody aftermath of a poorly placed QR code. Alas, I’m one of the 83 percent of smartphone users who don’t whip out their phones at a moment’s notice to snap a shot of something unsightly.

It’s bad enough that someone would want to hold up traffic just to dig through her comically oversized purse and frame a shot of a hideous QR code plastered to the glass door. I suppose she thought it would be worth it to see where that rabbit hole would lead her, even if it meant viewing it on a 1.5” screen. 

Ah, but what happens when the door is covered with a semi-transparent ad for an upcoming feel-good family movie? Bless her misguided heart, how could she have known that the QR code money shot would come at the price of her own safety?

Enter disaster.

Stooping to get a better shot of the butt-ugly black and white square and all the promises it offered, her nose only inches from the glass, she must have missed the sign above the door: Entry Only. You can imagine her surprise when the QR code pitched toward her face, set violently into motion by an incoming herd of teenage boys. I’ve never seen so much blood. 

What’s the moral of this story?Not only do QR codes offend the eye, they also break the nose. 

If I had a picture, I’d submit it to WTFQR Codes, a blog by Brad Frost and Craig Villamor. I encourage you to do the same.

Three to read for more on QR codes:

11 Reasons QR Codes Are Not Engaging Customers

15 More Appalling QR Code Fails

QR Code Usage Fails

WTF QR Codes

Yes. 

Just starting in on this one - Hey Whipple, Squeeze This! A Guide to Creating Great Ads (2nd ed.) by Luke Sullivan.

It seems that every Half Price Books in the area has at least 3 copies of this one, so I was wary at first. At $2*, however, I felt I’d be a fool to leave it behind. So far? So-so. I have a weakness for any writer with a sarcastic streak, though, so onward.

At this point the most insightful bits are culled from notable admen and industry pioneers—not from Sullivan—but I give him credit for including them and am optimistic about the upcoming chapters. He really is a kickass copywriter, so I’ll stick it out.

From Chapter 1 - Salesman Don’t Have to Wear Plaid: Selling without selling out

“In the middle of a meeting, the client spat on the conference-room table and said: “You have just seen me do a disgusting thing. Ugly word, spit. But you’ll always remember what I just did.” — From Fred Wakeman’s novel The Hucksters, 1946

“Put ‘new’ in that headline. Drop that concept and pick up an adjective.” — hypothetical direction from the new breed of 1970s advertising managers

“Essentially, it’s like finding a seat on a crowded bus. You look at the market place. You see what vacancy there is. You build your campaign to position your product in that vacancy. If you do it right, the straphangers won’t be able to grab your seat.” - Ted Morgan, explaining the concept of positioning

“The more intellectual you grow, the more you lose the great intuitive skills that really touch and move people.” — William Bernbach

“It’s not wise to violate the rules until you know how to observe them.” — T.S. Eliot

“I have no use for rules. They only rule out the brilliant exception.” — copywriter Ed McCabe

* is there anything more glorious than those yellow Clearance stickers used by Half Price Books? The red stickers used by Target are a close second, though.

Excerpts from Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity by Anne Elizabeth Moore

Skewering the hell out of Lovemarks:

“Marketers wishing to stay competitive will connect with consumers emotionally, tapping directly into those snap decision-making skills and bypassing the need for product information.” - p. 26

“… iconic brands that are infused with mystery, sensuality, and intimacy—and exploit the hell out of them for money.” - p. 27

“Where branding relies on metaphor (where things seem in close proximity to each other over and over become confused) and reification (where things are confused with their descriptions), lovemarks are meant to inspire “loyalty beyond reason.” - p. 28

“It’s a forged connection to authenticity, a borrowed veil of integrity, a disingenuous stab at honesty.” - p. 29

On the appeal of Jones Soda, which allows fans to submit artwork for its labels: ”It was a welcome change from the mandated identities of brands like Coke and Pepsi.” - p. 35

“When you’re marketing without money, you have to stay true to the fact that you need to make an emotional connection.” - p. 37

Interesting idea: ”They have now started a program for moms called VocalPoint and inspired the Girl’s Intelligence Agency, a slumber party-based word-of-mouth provider. Also in 2001, a similar peer-to-peer marketing style was adopted by the Boston firm BzzAgent, which places a relatively austere 60,000 volunteer marketers on the streets for a wide variety of products to perform one-on-one promotions for [its clients].” - p. 38

An article to check out later: The Hidden (in Plain Sight) Persuaders by Rob Walker in the New York Times, 2004

7 Deadly Sins of Marketing

Amazon.com: Asperger's on the Job: Must-have Advice for People with Asperger's or High Functioning Autism, and their Employers, Educators, and Advocates (9781935274094): Rudy Simone, Temple Grandin: Books

Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Start to Launch by Robert Cooper

Psst: Fund my education and further your knowledge! Click the image to purchase this book on Amazon!

Half Price Books haul: The X and Y of Buy by Elizabeth Pace

First impression: Wonder if it focuses solely on product marketing or also includes insight into marketing services? Should be interesting.

Psst: Fund my education and further your knowledge! Click the image to purchase this book on Amazon!