Some marketers like to work forwards. Advertisers for example often tell a story and then wait to gauge the reaction they get. Direct marketers on the other hand start by quantifying a reaction (in the form of a return) and then craft a story to generate that response.
At The Un-Conference in Miami, The Blake Project’s Chief Brand Storyteller Dr. Gerard Gibbons shared this wonderful insight: “Every day, brands make bets on human behavior”.
This article in the New Yorker recently revealed that the iconic Got Milk? campaign actually failed to reverse declining milk consumption and has now been all but scrapped. It’s a reminder to all of us who create and promote ideas that awareness (to the point of ubiquity), even for an idea that’s good for us and makes sense, is no guarantee of success.
Need and want are subsets of the real motivation I believe we should all be searching for as marketers – and that is intent.
For over a decade now, UPS delivery trucks in the USA have avoided making left turns. Analysis of tracking system data found that eliminating left turns – which often left the vehicle idling at an intersection for significant periods of time – would save time and gasoline. This is exactly the sort of insight that allows a company to change things for the better, but it can be really tough to find no matter how much...
