Let’s talk about classical music. Now stay with me on this one: I swear it’ll circle back around. Classical music is about as “high culture” as one can get, especially in the musical realm. It’s timeless and self-important. But the classical scene is facing an issue. Modern classical music has abandoned the melody that made pieces by the old greats like Beethoven and Mozart so lasting. Modern classical is a car crash sounding cacophony of dissonant, a-tonal noise and, (surprise, surprise) no one wants to listen to it. People hate it, asking questions like, “Why do we have to listen to music that sounds like buses crashing?” The classical-managerial class (read: snobby rich guys that commission new classical composers) keeps funding it regardless. For the last century they’ve funded new composers who write this car crash music and, when no one wants to listen to it, they blame the audience. “The audience doesn’t get it,” the elites cry! “The audience just wants to be coddled by the old greats instead of learning to appreciate the new,” they bellow! That could be true, or maybe they just don’t like the music?

You already see the marketing lesson coming don’t you? Well, it’s fascinating to watch how even a market as high-brow as classical music is still not safe from Marketing 101: if The Consumer doesn’t like your product, they’re not going to buy it. In the case of modernist classical music, The Consumer has spoken. They don’t like modern classical and they’re not going to pay to listen to it. Sorry guys, game over. Blaming the audiences taste and telling them to grow up is not going to change anything. Sadly, the classical elites aren’t catching the hint. Robert Blumen, writing for Ludwig von Mises Institute economics blog, sums it up well:

Why does the classical-managerial class after a century of its failed agenda not admit that they were wrong and start trying to fund music that people might like? In what other industry would entrepreneurs continue to pour funding into a failed business model?

What a good reminder that marketing and business always come back to The Consumer. You might think your product is great or that your ad is clever as hell or that you “know” better, but if The Consumer doesn’t agree, it’s time to change.

In our industry, it is important to always be moving forward. Marketing without progression makes a company, brand, or product antiquated in so many ways. However, as the landscape changes and marketers are constantly learning of new ways to communicate with the audience, we sometimes forget to get back to the basics and make those new again.

Consumers are so inundated with advertising messages we have a very small window of time in which to accomplish our objectives. It becomes increasingly difficult to find new and different ways to get their attention. Web 2.0 has provided those new and different attention-grabbing ways, so it’s not surprising how easy it is to get caught up in the latest and greatest ways to get brand messages out there. But what about old tactics?

This article from Fast Company got me thinking about a marketing technique that’s been used since the 1920’s. The Jingle! For some reason many people seem to view the jingle as an antiquated strategy. And while yes, many jingles we know may be pretty old school – that doesn’t mean it’s not still an effective way to connect with the consumer. One thing that stood out to me most from this article was this little tid bit:
“There’s no doubt about it, sound is immensely powerful. And yet 83% of all the advertising communication we’re exposed to daily focuses, almost exclusively, on the sense of sight”.

The real key is to apply the same marketing 101 principles in today’s advertising environment. We don’t have to create spots with a doe eyed kid, sitting in his 1960’s kitchen singing to the camera. Jingles aren’t just voice overs anymore. Think State Farm – they do a really great job of integrating a jingle within their ad message to create stronger recall of their tagline: Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

It’s not so much about whether or not to use “old school” marketing techniques like the jingle. It’s more about HOW you use them. The landscape may have changed but the principles haven’t. Our challenge is still to get (and keep) the attention of the target audience. And sound is an amazing way to do that.

You’ll probably recognize this commercial from the 2011 Super Bowl. It is Chrysler’s “Born On Fire” ad, you know, the one where Eminem doesn’t smile. I won’t get too deep into the merits of it as a commercial, but there is a good advertising lesson in it.

At it’s roots, this ad is a quintessential North American car maker commercial: it’s patriotic. American car makers have been appealing to our sense of patriotism and love for the mother land since, well, forever. Yet while Chrysler used this same tactic, they twisted and turned the method to work for their brand. Instead of the red, white, and blue fanfare of other car commercials, Chrysler pulled at its roots. “Imported from Detroit” is dirty and bruised; it draws out an emotion in all of us. You get that feel of an underdog story, you hear that redemption song, and as Americans, we love nothing more than the little guy stickin’ it to the man (I mean, they did make 6 Rocky films). With the hell and back story of Detroit, Chrysler nailed this commercial and gave goosebumps to the down-but-not-out fighter in all of us.

Chrysler shows us there is nothing wrong with using tried and true ideas. Finding a fresh angle or voice for that accepted idea can be huge for making your brand stand out. So what are you waiting for? Take those tactics in your tool belt and make ‘em new and exciting. Go on… add a bit of flair.

Have you ever had an irritating little computer problem that you just couldn’t figure out for the life of you? (If you work on a PC, I’m sure you can identify with this more than most). You try for what seems like ages to fix a formatting issue or convert a file properly, but you just can’t make it work. After exhausting all of your creative options (for me that means closing the program and re-opening the file) you finally cave and ask a co-worker for help. And of course, the moment they look over your shoulder they instantly know the answer.

Good agency relationships provide the same vital external input to marketing departments. Yes, internal marketing teams know the brand inside and out. They’ve spent countless hours pouring over research, reviewing sales data, and executing strategic plans. They have an in depth understanding of their product, the competitive landscape, and the target audience. But living and breathing the brand and being that close to a product can take its toll on a marketer’s ability to take a fresh look at things from an outside perspective. Enter the ad agency.

At the onset of a new client relationship, we as the agency are well aware that we don’t know the ins and outs of the brand the way the client does. But therein lies our strength.  We have the unique privilege of being able to take an objective look at the big picture. Ask some new questions. Research the answers to the same old questions. Take (or at least recommend) some risks. Change up the creative execution. Explore a new strategy.

Now of course it’s not all rainbows and sunshine just because we get the opportunity to take a fresh look at things. We have to work collaboratively to leveraging the history and knowledge of the client’s marketing team with the creative and strategic talents of the agency. We may have different perspectives and roles, but in a great relationship we’re able to combine our efforts for an incredibly powerful end result, that ultimately benefits the brand.

Two of the little things I’ve been working on lately are drinking more water and improving my posture. In order to help myself keep these goals top of mind, I used a very simple tactic: Post It Notes (real original, I know). I put one-word notes on my monitor to remind me to sit up straight and refill my water glass (or drink the one sitting on my desk, still full from 2 hours ago).

The first day was remarkable; I corrected my posture at least a dozen times and drank 6 glasses of water. The next few days I still found myself correcting my posture and drinking more water. But by the end of the week the impact started to fall off and by the second week the notes had no effect whatsoever.
I finally realized the problem – my brain adapted to the presence of the notes and after a while just filtered them out and ignored the cues to work on my goals. It’s an unfortunate application of the power of the human brain. I became immune to my own surroundings, without even trying.

This whole experience got me thinking about the minds of consumers today. They work exactly the same way. We all know advertising is ubiquitous. We live in a world where target audiences of every shape and size ignore marketing and ad messages daily. I just never considered how easily consumers do so without even trying. Overexposure has caused the consumer brain to easily tune out even the most intrusive ads. The question is how do you ensure your marketing efforts aren’t just another post-it note that people can ignore? The answer is what it’s always been.

Step 1 – Understand your target audience in deep and impactful ways.
Step 2 – Be strategic. About what you say, how you say it and where you say it.
Step 3 – Be creative. About what you say, how you say it and where you say it.

I’m not expounding some new insight or wisdom here. This is nothing new, I know. But it’s worth taking a look at your strategy and making the necessary changes to get consumers to change their behavior. Then you’ll have consumers that will listen to your message (and maybe have better posture, too!).