How to attract attention to your products or services

photo cred: captcreate

Recent marketing campaigns are spread worldwide and all potential customers are literally bombarded with adds for all kinds of products. People have gotten to the point where it is all background noise. We let that which does not matter slide because we fear that our head will explode if we have to remember everything.

It's about time for smarter and more interesting marketing that captures the target customers' attention and interest. Here is a video that shows a few examples on how to get people out of their heads and fully interested in knowing more about a product they probably don't yet want or need. This requires creativity, but can show great results if applied correctly:

Guys Listen Up

When you say skincare you naturally think about women as being the right consumer. But isn't that just half of the equation. Why not focus also on the guys ? According to Garnier, a lot of Singapore's men think of skincare as being sissy.

See how Garnier Men got them to talk about their complexes by using a video of a couple breaking up over oily skin. Using their interactive site, girls could customize the campaign's video and send it to any guy they think needs to listen up.

5 Hints on How to Overcome Resistance and Get Things Done

 

Photo cred: edwardfilms

All people have encountered resistance and do so every single day. It shows up out of nowhere and it's always more powerful than expected. It can come from inside you or from a different person, but one thing matters in the end: how much and in what way do you let it affect you or even change your mind about an important goal.

In his book, "Do the work", Steven Pressfield says: "On the field of the Self stand a knight and a dragon. You are the knight. Resistance is the dragon." In order to win this fight you have to have a few important things in mind:

1. Start doing what comes naturally to reaching your goals without doing too much prior research. Start putting ideas on paper without criticizing your ideas. The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu said "A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step." We tend to get lost in preparing ourselves for the action. This can become addictive and ineffective because we feel like we're getting somewhere when we're actually just gathering knowledge.

Drive-in Theater by Coca-Cola

How can traffic jams can create good will among your consumers. Well, to do this right you need to have the right ingredients.

Let me see:

1. A traffic jam - something that will hold people long enough for you to take action.

2. Something that will make them feel good while being stuck in traffic (I know, that's just pure evil).

3. The right incentive to make them use your product.

Well that's exactly what Coca-Cola and Ogilvy Columbia did in Bogota, Columbia. How long has it been since you watched a movie from your car? Or, did you ever watched a movie from your car? I believe some of you, just like me, never did it.

Before watching the video, allow me to explain what they did.

The problem: a daily 4 hours traffic jam in Bogota. How can Coca-Cola turn headaches into smiling faces?

The solution: build a giant video screen for those stuck in traffic and invite them to tune their car radio to the local FM station so they could hear the audio.

Incentives: what could make this even better, but people walking up and down the rows of cars offering 250ml bottles of Coca-Cola, popcorn, nachos and other goodies.

3 Timeless Principles on How to Communicate Efficiently

Photo cred: Josh Fassbind

Even though we now have all these communication tools to our disposal it seems we've never been less effective at connecting with other people and passing on to them the right message. Sometimes we aren't even able to capture other people's attention.

Seth Godin wrote in his book, "What matters now", what he considers 3 timeless principles for efficient communication and they are as follows:

 1. Heart - This is something often shown in public speaking - When you're able to engage people around you with passion and make them invest emotionally in a cause, that is the moment when you really get to them. This is the fastest way to connect even to a stranger (always good not only at a personal level but also business wise).

6 Tips on Building Your Social Network Faster

Photo cred: Nazly Ahmed

The one thing we all want when using social media is to have interactions. Whether it's your friends, co-workers or clients, the fastest way of reaching out to those you're interested in, is thru channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. Starting to use one or more social networks comes with an "issue" for a lot of users: How do I build up my network of connections faster ?

Regardless if you're a business or just a private user, your presence on the web is a must. Further more, your account(s) and the way you manage them become your social media visiting card. It's nice to know that your message reaches more than just your close friends, thus increasing your online visibility or that someone quoted your idea, thus building up your social reputation.

Here are some great tips on how to grow your network of connections:

1. Join the right networks

This might seem silly, but if you're looking to connect with professionals in your area of expertise, then LinkedIn is definitely a better choice than Facebook for example.

2. Join groups relevant to you

I know, this is at least as silly as the first one, but think about it for a second. What's the point of using social media if you're not interacting. The best way of doing it is joining groups and getting involved in discussions that interest you.

3. Be interesting

Believe it or not, but posting relevant and credible information is a HUGE incentive for someone to follow your tweets or add you to their professional network connections. You don't know when a new opportunity arises through one of your social connections. In using social media frequently you do become a brand which can be a personal or a company brand. In both cases people will "label" you as being someone worth spending their time following or just someone that doesn't have much to say.