by Chuck McKay | Apr 7, 2006 | Uncategorized
When I write something for this blog, I frequently hit the “preview” button to make sure that it’s going to look on your screen the way it looks on mine.I wanted to post an article that involved data in tables. It didn’t preview well. Not well...
by Chuck McKay | Mar 25, 2006 | Uncategorized
I just got off the phone with a client. We discussed the results of a two-step campaign he’s been running to establish a relationship with potential customers. He quickly steered our conversation toward response percentages.”Response is not yet...
by Chuck McKay | Mar 13, 2006 | Advertising / Marketing Strategy, Customer Education, Expectations, and Motivation, Presentation
You’ve no doubt heard that people emotionally decide what to purchase, and then use logic to justify that purchase. Can a product be sold on emotion alone? Yes. Usually to children. Children desperately want to fit in. The easiest way to entice a child is to present...
by Chuck McKay | Mar 6, 2006 | Uncategorized
A Zen truism: when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.All over the world the vast majority of people are passing through stages of their lives, and ignoring advertising. Most people don’t need, don’t want, and are not even interested in most products being...
by Chuck McKay | Feb 20, 2006 | Uncategorized
1) If people don’t know you exist, they can’t buy from you. (You’ve heard before that it pays to advertise). 2) Just because customers don’t complain doesn’t mean they are happy. 3) Don’t assume that everyone is like you. Other people don’t watch the...
by Chuck McKay | Feb 5, 2006 | Ad Writing / Copywriting, Advertising / Marketing Strategy
I’m uncomfortable with most clever or creative advertising. Clever and/or creative is dangerous, because it’s too easy to get sucked into the creativity, and forget that our purpose is communication and persuasion. If your attention is drawn to the...
by Chuck McKay | Jan 21, 2006 | Ad Testing, Advertising Frequency, Advertising Schedules / Scheduling
You’ve decided to run a series of newspaper ads, and the paper wants to know how much space to reserve for your ad. Is bigger always better? In terms of increased readership, yes. But it also comes with an increase in cost. You need to take both into account to...
by Chuck McKay | Jan 16, 2006 | Ad Testing, Advertising Frequency, Advertising Schedules / Scheduling
In most cases, a single exposure to an ad has very limited value. It takes a campaign of advertisements to effect shoppers, although truthfully this will vary slightly by medium. For instance, a supermarket that buys two adjacent full page newspaper ads every Thursday...
by Chuck McKay | Jan 7, 2006 | Advertising 101
Originally published January 7, 2006. Too many times we design an advertising schedule to reach the “average consumer.” If you look at the usage of media by consumers, it’s easy to come up with averages. It’s much harder to schedule your ads...
by Chuck McKay | Jan 6, 2006 | Advertising / Marketing Strategy, Customer Sources
You have a new store. It’s ready to open to the public. What’s the first thing you should do? You should hang out a “Now Open” sign. People will drive by and see the sign. Some will walk in to see what you have to offer. Some will buy. Then, depending on that first...
