ktoddstorch @ business thoughts

Attention Cell Phone Companies!

How much explanation does it take on how to leave a voicemail? Anyone else have this problem when leaving a voicemail on someone's cell phone?

Most everyone has their personal message when you get their voicemail, but then, the network's "voice" kicks in and says something like, 'If you want to leave a message, please press 1, or wait for the beep...if you want to page this person, press 2'....

This absolutely kills me! Sprint PCS is the worst at this, but I hear it from most of the carriers.

Attention Sprint PCS, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel, etc, if you want to save all of us time, quit it with these canned instructions!

Thoughts? Leave a comment.

Wizard of Ads - Get off your butt!

Roy H. Williams' comes at you from very different perspectives and does so again with today's Monday Morning Memo.

Are you still sitting down?

[read] via Wizard Acadamy

Tom Peters' new publication, for free!

If you work, you need to read this.

Brand new TP publication. Go get it!

[download] it free at ChangeThis.com

Radio Advertising the Wizard Academy Way!

Roy H. Williams' Monday Morning Memo discusses :60's, :30's and :15's. What's the right length for advertisers?

Roy gives his advice and thoughts in the "Wizard's" own way and are must reads.

[read] Monday Morning Memo

Google's IPO - I told you so...

No, I'm not a prophet, but there was just too much negative hype about this IPO. I posted other thoughts about this earlier on the blog and now the big investment companies are admitting they screwed up.

Is this the beginning of more Dutch auctions? Time will tell and look for other dot com's to consider.

[read] via NY Times.com

Mark Cuban - His newest business thoughts

What I love about Mark Cuban, is that he will always tell you what he thinks. His "video to key fob" thought here is right on. Remember, he was the one that wondered "Why can't I hear my Indiana basketball games when I live in Dallas?".

Hello Broadcast.com, hello Yahoo writes a big check, hello Mr. Billionaire.

[read] his blog posting

Olympics - Making Gymnastics Fun for Guys to Watch

Ok, I admit it, I do enjoy watching gymnastics during the Olympics. The older I get, the more I appreciate the talent and skill these athletes display.

However, the sport, along with freakin' ice skating is so subjective in the scoring, it drives me nuts. Here's my suggestion to help the viewer (and make is more interesting for us guys out there...) enjoy the sport on TV.

There is always an "expert" talking head telling us things like, 'wow, that will be a deduction; oops, that's a major deduction', etc. Ok, to me, unless they really mess up, I don't see it. So, here is what I propose:

1) on the side of the screen, list out the maximum score the routine can acheive (did you know that not all routines can get a 10?)
2) next, as the routine is going on, have the deductions show up on the screen

Then, you are left with the "best guess" of what the score will be. Then, we get to compare the "guess" score with the real score from the judges. Now, we are learning and feel like we know what is going on.

Now, the revenue side of it. Tie in AT&T or another text messaging company and have a SMS contest based on "worst blown score", "most underrated performance", etc. At $.10 a message on average, these companies are making out like bandits and there is plenty of sponsorship money to capture for this.

Hey NBC, just send me the commission on the idea...

Olympics - NBC Really Blew It

Last night, Paul Hamm had the ultimate comeback for Gold. It was very dramatic and kept you glued to the TV set, but wow, NBC messed it up. Finally, they showed what scores he needed to capture Bronze, Silver and Gold before he did his last routine on the high bar.

The whole build up was his comeback and these score only stayed on the screen for about 2 seconds. Then, after he performs amazingly, and you are waiting, waiting, for the score...the drama unfolds. You hear a coach say 'you won Gold', Paul shakes his head and says 'no, no, no way', the stands are cheering, etc.

While this is going on, you, the viewer have no idea what the score is, what the outcome is, etc. You want to believe, but it takes 20 to 30 seconds for them to show the score. I couldn't get excited until the announcers finally tell us what is going on.

How does this happen? Its not happening live, its at least 6 hours old. Why can't post production take care of this so we can actually follow the action?

Wow, the NBC goliath really missed the boat on this.

If John Mayer can do it, why not Hollywood?

Let's talk about really making the consumer happy. Todd, at A Penny For... blog reference's John Mayer selling CD's of the live concert you just saw. I love this idea. If you had a great experience at the live show, why not capture it for a few bucks as you leave?

Which, got me thinking about what I've wanted from Hollywood for quite some time...

Why can't we buy a DVD of the movie we just paid $8 to see as we leave the theater? Ok, before you go slamming me on piracy and illegal Internet distribution, etc, think about it. Most of the films that Hollywood sells on DVD, end up making more that ticket receipt sales at the theater. So, in essence, the film you paid $8 for, is really a marketing campaign to sell you a DVD at a later time (for example, Finding Nemo has racked up over $400M in DVD sales in the US alone. You can count on doubling that in world wide sales).

([read] what Peter Davidson thinks about this...)

Why not, in the world of quarterly, weekly, daily, hourly, stock price movement for the big studios, offer the consumer a way to spend $20 - $25 more, immediately, for the movie. We live in an instant gratification world and if it makes Wall Street, Hollywood and my family happy all at once...well, that's a home run, huh?

Wizard of Ads - This Monday's Email

Sometimes its just best to let someone else do the talking. Here's Roy's Monday Morning email. Listen up.

The Great Ad Myth
"Writing comes more easily if you have something to say." - Sholem Asch

Ads are like houses. You can do a good job constructing a badly designed house, but when you're through, you've still got a badly designed house. It doesn't matter how good you are with a hammer and a saw when the blueprints themselves are faulty.

Likewise, it doesn't matter how good you are with nouns and verbs when the core message itself is boring. There's no good way to tell a bad story. Ultimately, it is the core message of your campaign - the blueprint - that determines the success of your advertising.

The core message of your ad matters more than how well it is written.
The core message of your ad matters more than how well it is produced.
The core message of your ad matters more than the spokesperson who delivers it for you.
The core message of your ad matters more than your choice of media.
The core message of your ad matters more than the target it reaches.

Give a powerful core message to an average writer and a mom'n'pop business can leap from Main Street, Mayberry, to the New York Stock Exchange. But give an average message to a powerful writer and you've got blah, blah, media filler. But you already knew that.

One of my great failures as a human being is that I don't know how to make small talk. I'm being totally serious with you. I've never been able to master the art of talking without saying anything. I suppose it's why the people I meet in social situations often get the mistaken impression that I don't like them. My awkward inability to make small talk makes me a horrible party guest, but a better-than-average ad writer.

Let me speak frankly: I've been extremely successful as an advertising consultant because I've been able to convince courageous businesspeople to throw caution to the wind and say something in their ads that actually matters. Do you remember a chapter in Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads called "John Young's Fortune?" John Young and his business partner, Jim Abrams, have been clients of mine for a number of years. Here's an ad they recently let me write for one of their newest franchises. It's a good example of what I'm talking about:

You just sit there… waiting for the plumber to show up… watching the clock… waiting. Until he finally calls to say, ‘We're going to have to reschedule for tomorrow.' Next time, call Benjamin Franklin, the Punctual Plumber. If he isn't there when he said he'd be, he pays you five dollars a minute. That's a dollar for every twelve seconds you have to wait. Heck, if Benjamin Franklin makes you wait as long as most plumbers do, you'll get your problem fixed for free and make a few hundred bucks. Dependable. Honest. Hardworking. Benjamin Franklin, the Punctual Plumber. He pays you if you have to wait.

(Plumbers, don't steal that ad. It's copyrighted.)

Now let's be honest. The power of that ad isn't in the writing. It's in the message, "they pay you five dollars a minute. That's a dollar for every twelve seconds you have to wait." There's just no way to say a thing like that without it being powerful.

The secret to successful marketing isn't copy writing, it's strategy.

Great ads aren't born in the hearts of great ad writers. They're born in the hearts of great businesspeople. Do you have the courage to stand apart from the crowd, to truly be different, and then to shout that message from the housetops? If you do, get ready to see your advertising begin to really pay off.

If you don't, get ready for business as usual.

Roy H. Williams

PS – Today's illustration is a Picasso self-portrait painted in 1972, the year before he died. One glance tells me he wasn't good at small talk either, because that's exactly how I feel at parties. But I won't be making small talk on October 2nd. I've got some powerful things to share with you that day. Are you going to be able to be here?

PPS – The class in which we help guide strategy is the Secret Formulas Advertising Workshop. The next scheduled session is Sept. 22-24 in Austin.