Mixx Canada

The Mixx Canada roadshow is coming up!

Schedule for both Toronto and Montreal Full-day Conference locations:
7:30am to 8:30am - Networking Breakfast
8:30am - Opening Remarks
8:30am to 2:30pm - Conference

Keynote Speakers Include:

Steve Rubel - Edelman Digital
Elizabeth Margles - Joe Fresh Style, Loblaw Companies Ltd.
Didier Mormesse - CNN International
Alan Li - ADTECH
Lars Bastholm - Ogilvy N.A.
And more...

Toronto
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Carlu Theatre
444 Yonge Street, 7th Floor

Montréal
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Sheraton Centre Montréal
1201 René-Lévesque Blvd W.

Other cities for a half-day roadshow...


Halifax
Monday, Oct. 5
Pier 211055 Marginal Road

Ottawa
Tuesday, Oct. 6
Canadian War Museum1 Vimy Place

Vancouver
Wednesday, Oct. 7
Pan Pacific Vancouver300-999 Canada Place

Calgary
Thursday, Oct. 8
Stampede - BMO Center20 Roundup Way SE

Advertising and Twitter

An intersting article at Twist Image blog entitled How Big Business Is On Twitter Without Being "On Twitter". Makes you wonder when (and how) Twitter will make some money.

Marketing to the ADD Consumers

Customers are ADD. They have no attention span. Good marketer know this and cater to this. We cannot change the consumer, we can change the message.

Grab their attention. Consumers need to be “woken up” and shook in order to even look at your marketing. This is why unique, outrageous and highly creative things can break through.

Keep it short. If the message is short they read it. If it is long, they do not. It is no surprise that instant messaging and twitter are hot. The messages are short. Cut the length of the message and increase the impact.

Keep it simple and intuitive. Customers will not stay long enough to figure out how to do things or to find where things are. Avoid redundancy.

Allow prospects to take action quickly. Have an obvious “order now” button. Have the phone numbers obvious. And good old fashioned call to action – tell the customer what to do.

What's This Twitter Thing?

Celebrities like Oprah and George Stroumboulopoulos use Twitter to inform TV audience about the guests in their forthcoming shows and generate interest and buzz about it. You can barely read anything online without hearing about it, and it seems like everyone has or is planning to join.

Over 60 percent of current Twitter users fail to return the next month, according to data from Nielsen Online. Is there an identifiable need for Twitting that could translate into a critical mass? Can twitter help expand the initial use by Innovators to Early Adopters?

It may be too soon to tell, but it looks to be an interesting way to communicate.

Safety First

Worker's Compensation Board of Nova Scotia



Agency: Extreme Group


An interesting campaign as of late was the prevent it series which used shocking and sometimes grotesque imagery to illustrate the dangers of not following safe work practices. Note that these PSA’s (Public Service Announcements) are fairly graphic and you should not watch if you are easily squeamish. In a few cases it was surprising that such TV advertisements were aired during prime time.

Sleep Over

Diet Pepsi's Sleepover ad reminds us growing up isn't that bad.



Agency: BBDO Toronto

Advertising - Science of Persuasion

A refresher for advertisers. Making funny ads is great, but every once in a while we need to remind ourselves that its about selling. A lot of great advertisements entertain, but sometimes fall short in terms of purpose.

Principles of Persuasion

1. Reciprocity: People give back to people who give to them (giving a gift sets the context for a future relationship - the key to making gifting work is giving the gift first)
2. Liking: People tend to say yes to those they know and like (focus on aspects you genuinely like in others, look for similarities, ways to cooperate, give praise)
3. Consensus: Look to what others are doing as evidence (people tend to base their decisions on what is appropriate for them to do by examining what others are doing - provide compelling evidence/proof or testimonials from individuals who are most similar to the prospect you are trying to influence)
4. Authority: Defer to the advice of experts (provide visual cues that trigger an authoritative position - also useful is admitting to a weakness, which then gives confidence about your honesty). Barak Obama does this very successfully as he often and repeatedly has said "I will make some mistakes," but I will learn from them and move on, or something to this effect.
5. Consistency: There is a personal pressure to stay consistent (people like to behave consistently to what they have said or done, so get them to make a commitment; best if the commitment is said in public, that it is voluntary, ie, a personal investment in it, and actively sought out - ask for the commitment)
6. Scarcity: An opportunity is more valuable when it is less available (this not only applies to things, but information too; present the offer as rare or dwindling, by what one stands to lose if they don't take-up the opportunity, provide exclusive information)

(borrowed from Influence by Robert Cialdini )