Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

As we marketers here in blogville pontificate about branding, “USPs” and “value propositions” - all while many of our potential clients roll their eyes, clutch their wallets protectively and wonder what the heck we’re talking about - it’s important for us (both consultants and clients) to remember that words instantly create pictures and push our “instant response” buttons. Key is knowing what words and when (and to whom.)

For example, Karl Rove is an absolutely brillant marketing mind. He knows how to set the tone, put out a message that resonates, and keep reinforcing it. And, he keeps it very simple. Whether he’s a great patriot or the spawn of Satan is outside the scope of this blog. (See? I bet you just reacted to those terms, didn’t you?) Here’s some more examples - which do you prefer? “Alaskan King Crab” or “Spider crab?”… “Patagonian Tooth Fish” or “Chilean Sea Bass?…”Drilling for Oil” or “Exploring for Energy?” (Once they changed the name of the tooth fish, the poor thing was a victim of its own popularity, becoming dangerously overfished.)

So, how do you frame your messages to your targets? Are you talking beer when you should be saying champagne? Touting “low price” when people want to hear “cool?” “Organic” when “Pesticide Free” would get you a larger audience (and more sales)? And so on.

For more on all this - you can check out “Metaphors to Live By” (This link is a Google print beta site which is intriguing in its own right - as yet another Internet tool.)