Human beings have an obsession for naming things. This is not surprising since it is the basis of all society, all language and all communications. We name ourselves first. We grow up knowing our labels and very few of us change those labels. This is us adding our own version of metatags with each choice… Read More: Naming Things: An Advertising Solution »
Do you get irritated by the TV news anchors always throwing in extra adjectives to sensationalize their news stories. Every story must be “astounding,” “gripping,” or “revealing.” It is a relatively recent phenomenon. The anchors do it to make the stories seem more important and more immediate for their viewers. Just a little spin to… Read More: OMGTV News! It’s Sensational! »
Everyone gets excited by a big retail contest: there are prizes to be won, discounts to be won, a game to be played. But while consumers consider this kind of promotion to be like a lottery with millions to win, marketers see the event as a massive coupon drop. When you consider that the majority… Read More: You Think It’s a Contest; We Think It’s a Coupon… »
This title is not an equation in Latin numerals. It’s about the size of it. Recently, we were in South East Asia. While there we shopped for clothing and found the sizing of clothing to be quite different from North America. Sure there were S-M-L-XL sizes. But they all seemed to be at least one… Read More: XXL = L The Market Is Expanding »
Ratings seriously are off for NFL games this year and there are lots of theories why. The tumultuous US election is one reason being offered. That was a wilder reality show than the average NFL game. And people love the spontaneity of those reality shows. But could that be the only reason? One of the reasons we like sports… Read More: Sports and Loss of Spontaneity »
Be careful with translations. Relying on Google or any other digital translation can bring you problems, Not just small mistakes; but mistakes where the meaning is jumbled up and confusing. Effectively using a language that you to communicate with customers requires understanding the cultural context that it comes in. The title of this blog is… Read More: Between, Between and Drink a Chair »
Hello Berlitz! Hello Rosetta Stone! Het, Duolingo! You think we want to speak Mandarin fluently in 30 days – HAH! What we really want to know is the difference between “hashi” and “gohan” in a Japanese restaurant. What is a glass of “palinka”? What the heck is “chupe de camarones”? Should I order the “murgh cholay”… Read More: A Case for the Berlitz School of Menu »
We have seen a lot of commercials that just don’t sell. One reason can be the context of the message. By context, I meant the executional elements that round out the message and provide a framework for it. The strategy might be “Tide cleans clothes better.” But there needs to be a commercial execution around… Read More: Context Is Almost Everything In Advertising »
I had to phone to complain about a charge from my telecom solutions provider. I don’t know when they became a solutions provider instead of a telephone company. Here is what happened, and why I think that a lot of companies are training their customers to be jerks. The bigger the jerk customers become, the… Read More: Are Companies Training Customers to be Jerks? »
On a recent visit to Florida, I ended up seeing a lot of pharmaceutical commercials for all manner of pharmaceutical products that I had no idea about. The commercials all have a similar pattern. They introduce a product name, all seem to be something like “Prolaxatrol,” or some other made up name that might suggest… Read More: Footage to Minimize Anal Leakage & Possible Death »