MAD MARKETING TACTICS™ !: Advertising

Showing posts with label Advertising. Show all posts

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Sex Sells In A Big Way: But Only When Presented (Insinuated) With Subtlety

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Sex sells - The trick is how to use it with tastefulness and subtlety. If it is too obvious, it narrows your "warm" prospective customers to a much narrower group of hard-core sexophiles [a Lingovation ]. Most of your broader audience (all of whom you'd like to get into the top of your marketing funnel) in the United States and in many other countries and cultures is often associated with shame when presented overtly or in the company of others.

Yes indeed. Sex sells. It is a driving force and has a constant presence in the minds of many a person. It carries with it an urgency, a call to action. It speaks to a deep-rooted need. It is an ethical neutral -- it ranges from what is regarded as pornography to what is acclaimed as art.

The sexual drive, or rather the fulfillment of it, is of itself a powerful addition to any call to action. If sexual innuendo, hinting, metaphor, tease, or hint is incorporated in the call to action -- the compulsion for a viewer or visitor to pick up the phone, or go to the website, or download the application, or do anything that brings him or her closer to purchasing instead of observing, the call to action will be stronger and more effective.

Remember -- you are not selling sex. You are using innuendo, guided metaphorical imagery (visualization), subliminal signals, certain words with multiple meanings which are artfully coupled with your actual product, service or other proposition in order to get your viewers aroused [without their necessarily knowing quite why, or even feeling sexually manipulated] by serving them up a heady cocktail of your product, service or other proposition, gently mixed with a massaged message of slightly prurient undercurrent in order to get them to get up, aroused, and to penetrate the barrier that separates them from plunging into a the heavenly meadow of "yes, yes, yes!"

In fact, all marketing, advertising, marketing and selling generally is analogous to a seduction of the prospective customer or client. The addition of subliminal sexual signals strengthens the "come hither" pull of the proposition.

Some wonderful articles follow (at the very bottom of this article post, titled related articles) which address the issue of the power of controlled sexual magnetism and gravity toward the ultimate consummation of a "yes, yes, yes" decision. Consumers, generally speaking, desire sex, and they also desire things that make them appealing to possible sexual partners.

Exaggerated, clumsy, tawdry direct sex doesn't usually work. Many people find it too excessive to be appealing; in fact, they find it discomforting. It is far better to catch the scent of a well-blended perfume or cologne on the breeze, or to see someone or something that is not intentionally provocative -- part of us wants to be able to imagine, more than to be suffused, in its imagery. The majority of your consumer audience (unless you're involved in something pornographic) want to be tantalized, mystified, hypnotized and gently persuaded -- and ironically, as in Lolita, they want something fresh and unspoiled, yet incredibly stimulating to the imagination.

Use the hint of sex and sensuality as a tool. As an means to an end. If you are too obvious and too deliberate, you'll turn the majority of your audience off.

Before incorporating any type of sexual or sensual imagery or suggestion in any advertising or selling campaign be certain that you are well advised by experts in neuromarketing, and subliminal messaging, lest you either overuse or misuse this power tool.

And it would do the marketers, promoters, advertisers and social media gurus out there in the cyber world that sex is an appetizer - it is not the main course. It is like a dance before dining.

As always, thank you for reading me, and for retweeting and sharing my articles with your colleagues, connections and friends through the use of social media -- a communication medium whose bandwidth continues to grow.

Douglas E. Castle for The Mad Marketing Tactics Blog

Some search terms, tags, labels, categories and keywords for this article:
Advertising and Marketing, Branding, Douglas E Castle, hidden messages, loneliness, metaphors, sex, subliminal messaging, subtle sexual signals, The Mad Marketing Tactics Blog, visual imagery, cues, Lingovations, seduction, desire, drive, momentum, "yes, yes, yes!", climax, crescendo, persuasion, insinuation, the dance, seduction, innocence, shame, tastefulness

p.s. To get the best definition ever of Lingovation and Lingovations, please click on:

http://www.douglasecastle.com/2011/08/lingovation-lingovations-definitions.html

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CFI - CrowdFunding Incubator LLC
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Global Edge Technologies Group LLC
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

QR Codes: Powerful Marketing Meets Contemporary Art

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It's indisputable. One of the most increasingly used arrows in the Mad Marketing Tactics quiver is the QR Code -- a curious mixture of powerful instant marketing and contemporary art. They effectively use minimal advertising 'real estate" or available space to convey the greatest amount of crucial information. Efficient? No?

QR codes (those funny-looking little "stamps" that you've been seeing everyplace -- you know, the ones that remind you of bar codes at the supermarket, except that they are more square, and contain seemingly random patterns within them instead of a series of vertical stripes of varied thickness) have become all the rage. QR stands for Quick Response.

A QR stamp is a powerful mobile device-readable marketing tool which can be placed on a poster, in a store window, on the outside of a mailing piece or magazine, a business card a T-shirt, a coffee mug, a temporary tattoo, a laminated ID badge -- virtually anywhere. And they have taken on the role of being some sort of pop art. Some companies are now actually modifying these two-dimensional icons to make them extra colorful, or to make them look like neon or graffiti. If there's a surface, it can be home to a QR Code....even if that surface is a side of a moving truck, or a T-shirt, or a briefcase!

I can use a simple, free downloadable application on my iPhone [I'm virtually chained to it anyway] to capture these symbols and translate them. They usually lead me to a mobile-friendly website, but on occasion they have just contained a message in simple words, a name and a phone number, a slogan or meme, an image or collage of images or even a direct link to a music video or media production.

In real terms, these QR codes take a great deal of information and shrink it into a little stamp, although I've seen these things tattooed on a woman's forearm, a college kid's sweatshirt, and magnified to a giant placard outside on the sidewalk in front of an Asian-Fusion restaurant. No kidding. They have become single 'snapshots' that contain access to volumes of information, or to websites, mobile sites, videos and other images.

Mad Marketing Tactics enthusiasts are utilizing QR codes (as well as some bar codes), and some very slick images with embedded QR codes to mystify and engage passers by.

Images, even very obscure ones, are more likely to catch the eye than printed words or elaborate lists. And once captured in a mobile device, they can be used repeatedly, like little bookmarks in order to open the door to the same destination.

And don't be fooled by the notion of "Quick". Quite often, a curious prospective customer (not realizing that he or she might in fact be a prospective customer at all), merely photographs the image, the mysterious symbol, and translates it later.

If you can construct a thematic marketing, promotional or branding strategy that is anchored on the creative use of QR codes, please tell me about it, so that I may request your autograph over a cup (biodegradable, environmentally-friendly, post-consumer content) of coffee. I'll buy.

Thank you for reading me, tweeting me, and shooting me out of the cannon into your giant Colosseum of social media buddies!

Douglas E. Castle for The Mad Marketing Tactics Blog and CFI - CrowdFunding Incubator LLC

p.s. If you'd like to generate and design some of your own QR codes, please click on the button below:

Douglas E. Castle's Incredible QR Code Creator Wizard

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Friday, July 13, 2012

Different Media = Different Decision Influences

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The Mad Marketing Tactics Blog Reminds You That Child Labor Laws Apply Even To The Privileged Classes in American and Other Societies.

Note: The embedded picture above [created with limited thought and archaic media tools] is completely irrelevant to the subject of marketing and media influences, discussed below. The Mad Marketing Tactics Blog and its underpaid and largely unskilled staff of miscreants, sociopaths and at least one creative genius [not necessarily the author!] all apologize for this tasteless, shameless display of childish humor.

Traditions die slowly, and people are generally resistant to change. Television still ranks as the most trusted source of media information, with radio broadcasting second, and e-media in third position. This is likely attributable to the fact of financial and emotional commitment on the part of viewers and consumers to traditional media, which, while pervasive, is still a "new technology" as perceived by many. This credibility lends greater influence in terms of political and lifestyle views to television and radio.

Yet, despite this, consumers are becoming increasingly reliant upon e-media (websites, blogs and rating/feedback services, as well as social media) as a primary research materials in influencing direct product and purchasing decisions. Out of this cyberspace dominion, it seems that social media are the most viral in generating overall interest and reputability in a product, service or brand, but that rating services (Craig's List, Angie's List and the like) and vertically-specialized blogs tend to lead the viewer to respond to the call to action and actually make the purchase, hire the taxidermist, set up an appointment with the dentist, buy those shoes, purchase and send small gifts and gift cards, etc.

Websites are seen more as self-serving promotional media for companies, products, services and brands, while evaluative blogs (containing product or service reviews) and rating services are seen as the most highly credible and motivational in converting visitors into purchasers or clients.

The following excerpt is provided care of the American Better Business Bureau through its SmartBrief Business Newsletter. When you've finished the article, please click the back arrow and return to us here for some trend predictions and actionable items:

Survey: TV is the most trusted form of media
Research indicates that people still rely on traditional media, with about 45% of respondents to a survey saying they most trust TV. Newspapers and radio were the next-most-trusted sources of news and information. However, many respondents said that online research is an important part of purchasing decisions. eMarketer (7/11)

Welcome back. We've saved a piece of cake for you.

What this means:

1) If you want people to buy your product or service, use your website, supported by blogs and/or rating services to get them to do it;

2) If you want to create brand identity and familiarity, use social media -- especially when complemented with audio and/or video;

3) If you want to promote a person, a politician, an ideological platform or a lifestyle change, Television is still the medium of first choice, with radio [morning or evening drive shift time slots] being the second.

Action: What to do:

Build your campaign (within budgetary constraints) in accordance with a media mix that emphasizes whichever of the three foregoing objectives that you'd like to achieve.

There is an additional consideration: odd-lot purchases of television time (for commercials or advertorials) are trending in the direction of cost decreases, and they may be a bargain if you are selling to a geographically-based (i.e., local) market, a specialized market demographic or just to gain additional visibility and a bit of implied credibility on conventional media at a relatively low and declining CPM (cost per thousand).

Newspapers and local TV channels are good for promoting consumer goods and products (special promotions and sales) over small geographical areas if done with the proper e-media support.

Lastly, if you want to make your CEO, managers, political candidates or other flesh and blood persons more visible and credible, you should very seriously consider a bargain media purchase of TV time, cable time with a chaser of web-based videos. Personality and position (point of view) come through best when there is full audio, full video, affirming body language and the right setting.

Two Variables:

In choosing your media mix, two additional variables you should consider (and they are not the same) are cost per thousand views, and cost per converted sale, dependent upon your campaign objectives.

No go out and set the world ablaze, you Mad Marketing Tactics Blog enthusiasts.

Douglas E. Castle

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