A nice spot featuring the stars of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch series tells viewers to “give the turkey the bird” and choose crab for Thanksgiving.

It’s a simple strategy, delivered with a simple message, supported by creative, compelling reasons to act.

Though it may not convince many to opt for crab over turkey, it turns these gruff captains and deckhands into endearing personalities you’ll want to tune in for — even with the use of a bleepin’ expletive delivered through a genuine smile.

Have you made your audience re-think the usual? Has it worked? Has it opened up new markets?

Hope you’re well and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

The further we tread through the warm 2.0 bouillabaisse, the more I consider our current modus operandi and human physicality to be incapable of accommodating the increasing demands of a new world order. If we are to survive, certain things will almost inevitably happen:

1. Time: The 24-hour clock will become a 28- or 30-hour clock. 24 hours is an already-insufficient amount of time to get everything done, and get sufficient rest to recharge.
2. Business: Hours spent physically at work will be reduced by half, smarter companies will reduce that time by more, allowing personal time and work time to coexist and make satisfied, productive employees.
3. Data: Server storage systems will come standard with every new home. Most likely, they’ll be buried in the yard to keep them from being eyesores.
4. Brain: The cerebral cortex will grow more dense to accommodate the increasing need for information storage and recall.
5. Fingers: Both the thumb and pinky finger will grow more muscularly complex to facilitate 2-finger typing on mobile device.
6. Eyes: will move independently of each other so that we can tweet and drive safely.
7. The End: Custom tombstones will be ready in 24-48 hours after tweeting your own epitaph. Some will be very very funny.

Thoughts? Predictions? Epitaphs?

Hope you’re well, and thanks for stopping in.

When was the last time you cleaned out your marketing? Gave it a good scrub? Cleaned the shelves? Looked behind the milk? Checked the expiration date on the cheese? Tossed the marinara sauce with a thin epidermis of… what is that, cotton?

If you haven’t done it in the last six months, do it now. Your brand needs you.

Grab every piece of communication you currently use and spread them out on a table or two. All of them. Business cards. Print ads. Brochures. Newsletters. Signage. Everything. And don’t forget to print out your website.

Now step back.

Is everything cohesive? Is everything written in the same tone? Does it all create the image you want to convey? Is everything up to date? What can you improve on? Most importantly, what can you obliterate from the process?

Branding starts from within.

If you can’t smell the bad cheese or see the black potato that’s somehow growing an onion, someone will — soon. And it may be someone really really important — like a current or potential customer.

What other things can businesses do to streamline their processes? Improve their image? Or just plain evolve?

Hope you’re well, and thanks for stopping in.

Perhaps Motrin wanted to fly in the face of this Tylenol commercial. You know, when your competitor zigs, you zag? Well, they zagged right into some serious consequences.

So I thought it the perfect time to sing the praises of the Tylenol commercial below. It’s understated, beautifully directed, perfectly scored, and doesn’t try to make believe they know how anybody feels or hurts. The first line says what Motrin should have understood, “Nobody knows your body better than you do.”

Motrin, I suggest you take couple of Tylenols and call your ad agency in the morning.

The Convince That Because Strategy Statement I learned to employ during my tenure at global interactive marketing shop, Digitas, remains the most powerful tool I’ve ever come across. To this day, it’s the first thing I do before going off and exploring words, layouts, and pictures.

It’s as simple as filling in the blanks.

Convince _________ That __________ Because ___________.

CONVINCE: This is where you describe your audience with as much detail as possible, as in whom are you trying to convince?

• Tech savvy males 18-34 with more than one mobile device?
• Single Hispanic mothers 30+ with a Household Income of $50,000+?
• Nurses who bus to work in small local hospitals?

THAT: Here’s where you tout your product benefit. What are you trying to convince your target audience of? (This should be limited to THE MOST unique, compelling selling point. Too much stuff and your message will be all over the place.)

• That your tooth paste whitens better?
• That your software improves efficiency?
• That your restaurant serves the only authentic tandoori chicken in the city?

BECAUSE: Now you’ve got to offer the proof and support points, as in why should the target audience believe you?

• Because a of a new discovery that more effectively fights tartar and coffee stains?
• Because the software is more intuitive and learns how you work to anticipate your next move?
• Because you just hired India’s best tandoori chef?

A finished Convince That Because Strategy Statement should look something like this:

CONVINCE tech savvy males 18-34 with more than one mobile device THAT Mojo Software App improves efficiency BECAUSE the software is more intuitive than anything on the market and learns how you work to anticipate your next move.

With that out of the way, you can and ponder, write, design, and look for pretty pictures. Then, an hour, a day, a week later when you think you’ve nailed it, go back and test your ideas against the Convince That Because Strategy Statement and ask:

• Are the ideas holding true to the statement?
• Are there holes? Are they pluggable holes or are can they sink your ship?
• Are there other directions to explore?

There are a million solutions to any one client problem, but there should be only one main problem we’re trying to solve at a time. Hopefully, a Convince That Because Strategy Statement will keep your vision clear, and your communications purposefully on message.

If you’re a writer or designer, this exercise can focus your ideas. If you’re a business using an agency or freelancers, try filling it out with the marketing team so everyone can agree on a direction before the idea factory starts churning out brilliant but off-strategy work.

Thoughts? Suggestions? What process(es) do you use? Love to hear about them.

Hope you’re well, and thanks for stopping in.

1.  an introduction
2.  a preface
3.  a prelude
4.  an appendix
5.  a footnote
6.  a musical note
7.  an orchestra
8.  a movement
9.  a score
10.  a symphony
11.  a microcosm
12.  a macrocosm
13.  a wake up call
14.  a coffee shop
15.  the breakfast of champions 2.0
16.  a temple
17.  an altar
18.  a polium
19.  a pendulum
20.  a newsroom
21.  a playroom
22.  a lunch room
23.  recess
24.  business school
25.  a conference room
26.  an easel for your thoughts
27.  a rock
28.  a slingshot
29.  a bullet
30.  a rifle
31.  a shotgun
32.  a machine gun
33.  a nuclear bomb
34.  a supernova
35.  a black hole
36.  the big bang
37.  evolution
38.  revolution
39.  pen and paper
40.  a book
41.  a volume
42.  a collection
43.  a genre
44.  a library
45.  a group
46.  a neighborhood
47.  a community
48.  a town
49.  a city
50.  a country
51.  a world
52.  yesterday
53.  today
54.  tomorrow (I hope)
55.  my village,
56.  and yours.

I could go on.

“What is twitter,” people ask? Well, it’s both complicated and simple: twitter is twitter.

Drop off your own endings to “twitter is _____ ” and see where it leads.

This entry inspired by the posts Twitter is My Village and Twitter Makes Us More ______ by Pistachio Consulting’s Laura Fitton (aka @pistachio).

Hope you’re well, and thanks for stopping in.

I always tell clients that “you” is the most important pronoun in advertising — and by “you” I mean the customer. If it’s not about the customer, it’s not going to connect on any level.

This TV campaign for Sprint/Nextel makes this notion supremely evident. The series of thirty second spots (see them below) manages to:

1. Highlight their target audiences as unflinching heroes in order to emotionally connect with them.

2. Demonstrate the product as an efficient communication tool that helps users get things done.

3. Continue branding the audible “chirp” for which they’re so well known. (Though admittedly annoying, the chirp, in this case, adds rhythm to the spot that helps move it along swiftly.)

4. Uses smart humor that further connects with the target audience. (Check out the last shot of the runway in Roadies.)

5. Uses topical, typically problematic scenarios like congressional process (usually slow) and airline travel (usually painful) being remedied by the target audiences’ personality types coupled with product benefits.

6. Makes the idea feel bigger than life through flawless casting, direction, colorization, sound design, and editing.

Moreover, Sprint/Nextel chose the people they wanted to sell to and spoke to them directly. I can’t imagine one firefighter or roadie saying, “You know, that’s really not me.”

Try making your target audience the hero of your advertising. Just answer the Sprint/Nextel question, “What would it be like if [INSERT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE HERE] ran the world?

Thoughts? Comments? More examples of hero advertising? Love to hear about them, or perhaps even help you create your own.

Hope you’re well, and thanks for stopping in.

A new gym, American Bodyworks, will be opening up next week just down the street from me. I can literally walk there. (Heck, I can probably hop on one leg there.) So, when I told the gentleman behind the counter at Gold’s Gym on Capital Circle in Tallahassee that I’m considering canceling my $20/mo, no-contract membership, he handed me two forms to fill out while telling me that the cancellation requires a 30 day notice, meaning that I’ll be billed for next month. Okay, fine, so I’ll delay my departure for 30 days. An inconvenience, but understandable.

When I curled up next to the fire to review the cancellation forms, I noted that:

1. The form I’d be filling out is not a cancellation form, but merely a Request for cancellation of membership. The title, in its entirety, is in all caps, while request was also beautifully bolded and underlined (I felt I should spare you the visual agony of doing it here).

2. The first sentence of the first paragraph states, “Below are the ONLY cancellation provisions provided by your contract.” Ironically, I signed up for their no-contract membership. If this form asserts that I have a contract, then they’re repeatedly lying on their advertising online and throughout the city. Have a looksie.

3. The footer of the form reads in all caps (I’m assuming they think it flexes their legal muscle this way), “We strongly suggest you mail your cancellation request via certified mail with return reciep [sic] requested.” The form also says we should send it to the attention of “Matt”. Just “Matt”. If this form is that important to you, I recommend a last name and a title.

4. The next page is entitled “Membership Exit Interview” which lists, get this, 10 open-ended questions.

It’s been a normal gym experience. I go. I leave. No one bothers me. No one interacts with me. That’s just how I like it.

But now, after reviewing these forms, I sense my cancellation will be tedious and unnerving, and very a likely a workout in itself. Why do companies do this? To get an extra $20 out of my pocket? Seriously?

This is the time when a company should be overly gracious and sickeningly sweet. Why not sit down with me? Ask me questions and look at me in the eyes? And here’s a novel idea: you take notes. Don’t give me work to do, tell me this isn’t really a cancellation form I’m completing, and suggest I protect myself by sending the form via certified mail.

The whole thing smells worse than one of my post-workout towels.

Tell you what, Gold’s Gym — I’ll show up tomorrow and give you $40 if you promise to let me walk.

Had a similar experience? Drop a note. Love to hear about it.

Hope you’re well, and thanks for stopping in.

Never have I considered myself a softy. Emotional, yes. Passionate, yes. A softy? Look somewhere else, pal. The only thing soft here is my physique.

Kudos to State Farm and the creative team at DDB Chicago for extracting from me what my wife has apparently known all along. I’m a true softy. This is the first — time — ever — my eyes have welled up during a TV commercial. Perhaps it’s because I am a father of a precious two year old girl; perhaps it’s because the scene was perfectly recreated and mirrored my own experience; perhaps it’s because the director and production team opted for restraint instead of complexity. Whatever the reason, everything fell into place. Perfectly. When an event this important happens in your life, you don’t have to try to be creative, you just have to let the truth tell the story.

The truth well told is always more powerful than any possible fabrication. Well done.

Thanks for stopping in. Questions? Comments? Leave ‘em.

I hope you’re well.

I was wondering which of my friends would write the first Dear John letter to facebook. Today, I wonder no more.

I received the following in a mass e-mail from an good friend. It is posted below with his permission — though I changed his name — and deleted the last line of his email for, well, content the general public needn’t be privy to.

From:     ***********
Subject:     Facebook
Date:     November 7, 2008 8:43:26 PM EST
To:     Undisclosed recipients: ;

Friends, neighbors and relatives:

I’ve found Facebook to be a strange and wonderful thing.

Strange because people I hardly remember, know or like have made contact with me through the site and asked to be my friend.

Wonderful because it’s a great way to stay in contact with people I actually consider friends.

So, I am going to disengage from Facebook as [NAME] and re-engage at a later time under a less common name (for me). Ha ha

If you see an invite from someone you’ve never heard of in the future, it might be me, so don’t ignore it.

Until then, you have my email for any miscellaneous statuses or rants.

[last part deleted for content]

So how are you feeling about facebook? Like it? Hate it? Lukewarm? Have you defriended someone? Feel free to share.

Hope you’re well, and thanks for stopping in.