Paint the Picture with Words

The radio commercial is a great medium for catching the imagination of your listener, and the best radio commercials capitalize on engaging the senses. A story allows the listener to become a co-creator, and that is a powerful relationship to have with your audience.  This “co-creator” phenomenon is witnessed frequently when people who enjoy a novel are disappointed in the movie, because it didn’t fit their perception of the characters and the imagined reality that they created for themselves while reading the book.

At our Houston Advertising Agency, we understand the powerful marketing effect of a compelling story. The real talent is to first choose the correct image. Then, through skillful copywriting and brilliant creative, “paint an aural picture” that brings the image to life. Of course, not just any story will do; ideally, while it should resonate with the target and solve an important need, it must also stand out from the ordinary. The goal is to engage the consumer’s imagination in a positive way; identify a need, and then satisfy that need with your product or service in a memorable manner.

Step One: Break down barriers and reel them in with a familiar scenario. Step Two: Catch them off guard with an intriguing creative hook. Step Three: Tie your offering to their needs – whether real or perceived. Step Four: State a clear call to action, and set up the sale! Of course, this is a bit of a simplification, but it’s a tried-and-true formula that utilizes storytelling at its best.

The Art of Imagery

Understanding that consumers “fill in the blanks” of all advertising messages means great care should be taken in constructing an advertising campaign and its creative message. Consider the different story line we create when we think of a high-end retailer like Tiffany & Co., as compared to Walmart. Consider the difference the choice of words makes when describing products or services: cheap versus expensive, comfortable versus luxurious, built versus engineered, sporty versus safe, and small versus cozy. It is important to understand that influential marketing and advertising is an art, as well as a science.

Understanding the powerful effects of word choice and imagery will help join all the elements together to create a persuasive campaign. An influential marketing campaign will activate the consumer to become a co-creator of your advertising campaign, and that’s what separates good branding and advertising campaigns from sensational campaigns.

Let’s Get Started on Your Story

If you’d like to learn more about creating an influential marketing campaign, or how to pull all you marketing touch points together into a cohesive message, we’re ready and waiting – and just a phone call away.

John Manlove Marketing & Communications has been in the Houston Advertising business for 50 years, and we assist clients by helping them successfully market and sell their products and services. We are a branding company that creates successful marketing campaigns based on proven advertising principles that are driven by award-winning creative. For more information, contact our ad agency in Houston via email at info@johnmanlove.com, call 281.487.6767, or visit www.JohnManlove.com.

John Manlove, CEO/President, John Manlove Marketing & Communications

© 2012 John Manlove Marketing & Communications

Here are some of the more creative ways at John Manlove Marketing & Communications we have adapted the QRC to give them a creative edge.

Interestingly enough in a recent survey by CMB Consumer Pulse 81% of people surveyed say they have seen QRC’s.

And 50% of smartphone owners have scanned a QRC.

One of the more important results of the survey, I believe, was that only 41% who scanned a QRC found the information useful. This represents a lot of missed opportunity. This indicates an incomplete marketing campaign.

Marketers are using QRC’s as a way to integrate their marketing campaigns. The QRC has the ability to drive traffic to your online website presence. If you download the QRC App on your smartphone you can then “quickly” scan the QRC and it will take you to a website, or preferably a landing page, relevant to the QRC scanned. There efficacy is increased because they are instant, can be forwarded and no memory is required – as opposed to entering a website address.

Some products are ideal for this new technology especially products that require additional information and content to complete the sale. Big-ticket items are a particularly good application, such as automobiles, homes, apartments, and vacation destinations. They are also very useful for promotions and coupons.

The QRC also has great application and potential in the business-to-business marketing world. For example many oil and gas products require extensive product information that a QRC could easily provide.

“The real key to an effective QRC campaign is to make the destination worth the trip. The information that someone receives after scanning a QRC must be relevant and worthwhile.”

Like the old saying, you shouldn’t open a restaurant before you are ready. It is the same with a QRC marketing program. You do not have a second chance to make a first impression so do not use the technology until you are well prepared and “smartphone ready”. It makes no sense to dump them onto a website that will not navigate or even open on a smartphone.

Marketing has become more complex as the media channels multiply and the QRC is a fine example. An effective marketing campaign today has multiple moving parts and they require professional skill and human energy to maintain. Which is why it becomes increasingly important to trust your entire campaign to marketing professionals well versed in new technologies and their best practices.  At John Manlove Marketing & Communications we have been coordinating complex marketing campaigns for 50 years and we know how to navigate and manage the new marketing universe.

If you would like to learn more about a QRC campaign, web development, website design, internet marketing, search engine optimization, internet marketing campaigns and what they will do to increase your Brand Influence, contact us johnmanlove.com or call 281-487-6767.

John Manlove Marketing & Communications has been in the Houston Advertising business for 50 years and we assist clients by helping them successfully market and sell their products and services. We are a branding company that creates successful marketing campaigns based on proven advertising principles that are driven by award winning advertising. For more information contact our ad agency in Houston via email at info@johnmanlove.com, call 281.487.6767, or visit http://www.johnmanlove.com/index.html

John Manlove, CEO/President John Manlove Marketing & Communications

© 2012 John Manlove Marketing & Communications

Let’s take a closer look at these two variables. Not all purchases are the same. The amount of evaluation and time taken before a buyer makes a purchase can be placed somewhere between these two extremes, a totally impulsive buying decision and a well evaluated extended buying decision. It is important to understand where your product or service falls within these extremes. Why, because the marketing and advertising approach changes from one extreme to the other in dramatic ways.

Factors that affect and push the buying type from one side to the other are generally cost. The evaluation process between buying a pack of gum and purchasing an expensive piece of machinery is vast. Most consumer products fall on the impulse side of the chart while many of the business products toward the evaluated purchase.

The marketing and branding of an Impulse Buy is based more on emotion, instant gratification, low cost and no risk. The Impulse Buy requires no approval by someone else and requires little if any evaluation or money. Therefore the campaign and the brand focuses not only on creating attention with bold graphics and strong colors it targets the emotions, instant gratification, low cost and no risk.  The objective of the marketing campaign is to close the sale immediately.

The Evaluated Buy, like the Emotional Buy, must gain attention but that is where the similarities end. The Evaluated Buy is based on the emotional and rational reasons to purchase, long-term benefits, return on investment and  “justification for the purchase”. In addition, the Evaluated Buy many times requires approval from other parties.  Therefore the campaign and the brand focuses on creating attention like the Emotional Buy, but the approach is different. The Evaluated Buy requires a more sophisticated progressive-approach and must focus on creating a dialog and brand image that reassures the buyer. The Evaluated Buy campaign moves the interested consumer forward through multiple levels with more complete and detailed information and moves seamlessly between the emotional and functional benefits of the offering.

For the reasons listed above it is easy to see why it is important to determine at the beginning of the planning process where your product or service lies between these two variables, because it will determine the direction and the focus of the entire campaign.

In general Business to Consumer products/services move to the left of the chart below and Business to Business products/services move toward the right of the chart.

In a campaign it is important to understand the customer from this perspective, because it will determine the overall strategy on how TV, Radio, Magazine Ad Placement and Outdoor fit into the overall campaign, it will influence the website design and content, internet marketing, the mobile application, social marketing push, direct mail and brochures. While all advertising should engage the emotions it is important to have a clear understanding of what the campaign has to do to create a customer – you need a rational approach to an emotional issue. And that is what we do extremely well at John Manlove Marketing & Communications.

John Manlove Marketing & Communications has been in the Houston Advertising business for 50 years and we assist clients by helping them successfully market and sell their products and services by using proven principles to produce measurable results. We are a branding company that creates successful marketing campaigns based on proven advertising principles that are driven by award winning advertising. For more information contact our ad agency in Houston via email at info@johnmanlove.com, call 281.487.6767, or visit http://www.johnmanlove.com/index.html

John Manlove, CEO/President John Manlove Marketing & Communications

© 2011 John Manlove Marketing & Communications

After being in the advertising business for many years I have seen a lot of creative ways to market products and services for clients. Our agency has been a part of creating successful marketing campaigns for companies all the way from Funeral Homes to Health Clubs; from Petrochemical giants to High Tech start-ups, from church organizations to political campaigns, from very small family owned businesses to companies well on their way to becoming a major player in their industries. I have also had the pleasure of building my own Houston Advertising Agency and have seen first hand what works and what will not work. All companies share a common goal, “reach their prospects with a message that motivates them to participate in their product or service.”  Being in the agency business, I see the same proven advertising principles emerge – “media may change, but human nature does not” human nature is the same now as it was when Adam was strolling through the Garden of Eden. Because of that, I am a believer in using proven advertising principles no matter what the product or service and no matter what advertising medium you may use – even more so with websites and internet marketing campaigns.

Advertising without a sound strategy and clear goal is a colossal waste of money. The TV and radio commercials, billboards, mobile applications and the website may be entertaining, even memorable, but the product or service will never win the loyalty of the prospect if they have not been given a reason to buy over other products in the same category. Your marketing, above all things, must be influential. At John Manlove Marketing & Communications we focus on creating influence for our clients with award winning creative. We clarify the goals, brand the product or service and reach the market with the most compelling message.

Great advertising is not just the domain of the marketing giants like Proctor and Gamble, great advertising works just as well for any size company, whether that be a mid-sized oil field company, a development company, the medical industry or a candidate for political office. The important thing is that all parts of a campaign are in alignment, the brand, the message and the medium all this coupled with a clear understanding that it is a campaign not a promotion. A campaign is not over until it has accomplished what it was designed to do, which means a lot of different activities working together to achieve the end result at a predetermined time.

For a campaign to be effective it must, have a purpose, build awareness, create a compelling image and influence the target market to action. I have found that companies are much more comfortable launching and sticking to a campaign if they know there is a plan and how each step in that plan contributes to the bigger picture. Many companies have been frustrated by being sold on one short-term-promotion after another, which in the long-term can be damaging to the brand image and reputation of their organization. That is why we believe that, the image and reputation of a company, person or organization, should be a common theme throughout a campaign. By keeping the purpose of the campaign before you it will prevent you from getting involved in activities that might be counter productive.

John Manlove Marketing & Communications has been in the Houston Advertising business for 50 years and we assist clients by helping them successfully market and sell their products and services by using proven principles to produce measurable results. It has always been our philosophy that what we do should take our clients to the next level they are trying to achieve. In short, we provide the fuel that propels our clients forward.

John Manlove, CEO/President John Manlove Marketing & Communications

Don’t let that happen to you. Omitting a call to action can cause you to lose out on many loyal customers, simply because they don’t know what you want from them. A call to action can be a link to your company’s Twitter profile, or it can be a simple phrase such as, “For more information…” Either way, it’s a little detail that can make a big difference in the life of your business.

Need more detailed marketing advice from one of the best advertising agencies in Houston? Call John Manlove Marketing & Communications and ask about our consulting services today.

Can we make a suggestion? You probably need a marketing campaign now more than ever before, and our Houston advertising agency can create the perfect one to take your business where you really want to go. Here’s why:

1. It’s detailed. We offer a comprehensive method for creating influence for our clients, which includes a variety of digital and print media to reach your target market in as many different ways as possible.
2. It’s specific. Using our three-step strategic marketing process of clarify, brand and reach, we’ll create a unique plan that channels your company vision and fits your goals exactly.
3. It’s effective. Many of our clients report record profits after partnering with us, and often go on to win some of the top honors in their industries.

To find out more about the different marketing campaigns we offer, visit the “Campaigns” section of our website.

Fortunately, the experts at John Manlove Marketing & Communications have the perfect solution for you. We are an influencial creative agency that knows how to combine the latest social media trends with our unique three-step strategic process—clarify, brand and reach—to get the best results for your business. We’ve been creating influence for our clients for 40 years, and we didn’t build that history by following the crowd. We stand apart from it, and we want to help you do the same thing.

Visit our “SocialMarketing” page to find out how our techniques can work for you.

View our press release to learn more about these prestigious awards and to view samples of the winning work. JMMC is honored to have partnered with these companies and helped them achieve success by implementing creative marketing campaigns. We consider that “the meaning of influence.”

I am a firm believer in the fundamentals of effective advertising. Why? Because I have seen what motivates, what influences and what creates a response. Technologies may change but the fundamentals of human motivation never do.

This is an exciting time for the advertising and marketing industry, because for the first time in many years new mediums and methods are available. Such as the Internet, Search Engine Marketing, Mobile Phone Technologies, WIFI and the enormous Social Media Networks. New technologies are exciting and they always bring myriad early adopters who pour millions of ad dollars into the latest technology only to find the proven principles of marketing remain the same. And that is where we come in, we not only understand the new technologies but we know from experience how best to use them in the most effective way possible.

Whether you are selling consumer products, industrial services or even a political candidate the essentials of an effective advertising campaign remain the same. First, clarify the target market and the best method and time for reaching them. Second, have powerful creative supported with a compelling message. Third, have a call to action, ask your target to take the next step – your marketing should produce a measurable result. Fourth, never sell for your competition – don’t sell them on a product or service sell them on your product or service. Finally, be consistent – repetition is the mother of persuasive advertising.

We have a proven process for guiding our clients through the marketing process called Clarify-Brand-Reach. Clarify the objectives, target market and messaging.  Brand the product of service to fit the objectives with creative that is clear, concise and compelling. Reach your market in the most effective way possible by developing an integrated media plan that seeks out your target with the greatest return on investment. So while it is the creative that generates the attention it is the plan that makes the “cash register ring.” And planning is what we do exceptionally well. With our agency you will know exactly where you are going and exactly how we plan to get there.

John G. Manlove