Customer Crossroads

The wall of distraction: Three rules of communication that will help you get over

This morning my workout buddy told me she was so distracted thinking about all the things she has to get done, that instead of gargling, she swallowed her mouthwash. Her explanation: "I have about 3,000 things on my mind right now. Do you ever have that problem?"

Oh yeah.

One recent morning, distracted with a dozen things and dabbing at the remains of the mascara from the day before, I noticed that the eye-makeup remover smelled odd. Odd, but familiar. Fortunately I noticed that it was actually nail polish remover before I actually got acetone in my eye. (Yikes!)

It's easy to find distracted and overwhelmed people -- just get into your car and go for a drive, they are everywhere.

I could have called it the wall of irritation, because there are so many little irritating things we all need to do ... follow complicated procedures, install things on our phones, reset passwords, find forms, meet deadlines, find answers in support forums, replace broken appliances, get new watch batteries. In the face of this, the world wonders why we aren't paying more attention to our health, spending more time with our families, and making good financial plans for the future.

There is now so much information available, that we can even feel guilty if we don't find the right answer to a great many things, like the best price on a car, or the most durable washer. The information has helped, but it has also added to the great wall.

We don't even have time to be good consumers. We don't read the fine print, we don't follow the instruction manual, and we click "agree" with abandon. Is it any wonder we re-use the same password over and over, even though we know this is not a good security plan?

Three ways to get over the wall

When I think about this in the context of my clients, I always come to the same conclusions:

• Keep it short -- our attention span is shorter than ... sorry, wait, what was I saying?
• Keep it simple -- none of us have time to sort out confusing messages
• Keep it relevant -- your product/service is not the thing we are most worried about (-- unless of course, you have really made a hash of things)

How to save money on qualitative research

There's a great discussion evolving on the Greenbook blog, started by Jason Anderson with his article "The 7 BS Stories of the Market Research Business".

I don't agree wtih everything he says, however his perspective is likely reflective of what a lot of research buyers feel. And his vantage point from inside the video gaming industry (life doesn't get much faster moving than that) is certainly interesting and unique.

Be sure to check out the comments too -- some good value added material is posted by other researchers in response.

Is good research expensive? Sometimes it is. There are ways to ensure you are getting the most from your budget, however. I published an article on exactly this topic (link below).

Link to PDF: Good to the Last Drop: 10 Ways to Save Money on Qualitative Research, by Susan Abbott, published by AMA MarketingPower.com

Viral greetings: agencies have to do more than nice cards now

If you happen to work in a creative business, you always need to do something creative and clever for the holiday season around Christmas.

This year, I see that agencies are striving to produce greetings that show their social media "this-could-go-viral" chops.

I'm sure there are lots of these out there. Here are two smaller agencies that caught my attention.

Hart offers a guessing contest that had me addictively clicking on their web site to see the next clue. If you want to get involved in the guessing as well, and perhaps win a toy for yourself, check out the contest here.

BTI Brand Innovations offers a digital take on the advent calendar, with different activities on different days, here.

Seen anything especially clever out there?