Okay, it hit me this morning when I saw a headline in the PCWorld digest: "Don't be Blinded by 'Gadget Lust.' Me? That's when I recalled my trench theory about new consumer electronics, first espoused about a decade ago.
The article, written by Mark Sullivan, says Gadget Lust is a term used to explain why people wait in line for the new (fill in the blank) or almost anything with an "i" in front of it - Apple stuff. It runs through the various stages of "mystique and hype," chatter in the tech community, ad campaigns, pilfered pictures of the new product, etc. and suggests you be honest with yourself about WHY you are buying this product. That's it. If you can admit it's for your image - fine. If it's a great conversation piece that shows your firm is on the edge of technology - fine. All good reasons to buy something new, especially if it's a useful tool and not just an accessory. That's true of a lot of the Apple products, hyped or not.
I was fortunate to have many gadgets pass through my hands during a tech reporting career. I could try them for free. Unfortunately, they had to go back. But it gave me a chance to play, evaluate and decide if I really needed to buy this. Most of the time the answer was no. "What!" A tech guy who is not by nature an early adopter - who refuses to sacrifice putting gas in the car and food on the table for the latest gottahaveit. How can this be?
I knew a news photographer in Milwaukee in the 70s who had to have the "Pulsar," one of the first digital watches. It would display the time digitally with LEDs - if you pushed a button on the side of the watch. Cool. I was sporting an "Acutron" at the time (complete with a calendar that bent around the band). It displayed analog time (sigh), but I didn't have to push a button. I was a bit jealous, but not jealous enough to run out and buy my own Pulsar.
Fast forward to now. People may find this hard to believe, but I don't own every new gadget that comes out. Not everything brand new is better than the older model. That's where gadget rust and the "trenchers" come in. Many of us are reluctant to change the way we do things, the tools we use, just for the sake of change. We get technologically rusty and it takes a very good reason for us to abandon the familiar for the hyped improvement. Trenchers stay with what they know and will not stick their heads out of the trenches until someone they trust proves it's worth the risk. They won't buy the first year of a new car model. They won't run beta software. They won't run to the store, or stand in line for anything.
What's all of this mean? If you're selling a service aimed at a broad market, tell a real, convincing story about how it's going to solve my problems. Show the product in action. Hype sells one audience; utility and value sell another.
(Written on my Palm Pilot using graffiti ---- just kidding, but I still have one)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Words - What They Mean (or don't mean)
"A word means what I say it means; no more, no less" - an oft used quote/slight paraphrase of the Red Queen. It suggests only the communicator is in control of the meaning of a word. Bad communicator!
The Queen's quote is true only if you're the Queen, and everyone must obey. As far as I know, she didn't tweet or have a Facebook page. Pity.
Marketing literature is full of name choices that didn't pan out. Due diligence in researching some product names should have been characterized as "Mountain Dew Diligence." And the choice of words to describe some products and services has been less than positive, and sometimes memorable for the wrong reasons.
And there's the other side, in which a few words captured everything - "Where's the beef?" (Clara Peller for Wendy's, for you history buffs.)
Now, in our "attention economy," and the interaction between a company and the audience it tries to reach, a word means what the consumer thinks it means. "It's all about them" cannot be repeated too often. And it's "them" we're trying to reach. If we've carefully defined "them" and understand their vocabulary, we have a good shot at using language that resonates. That means writing copy or using images that don't necessarily make the boss happy, but convey the meaning the receiving side will understand - and share. That's what writing is all about.
It's language. It's clear. It's concise. It's compelling. It's context.
It's truly writing smart for your audience(s). Choose your words carefully, if you want the Queen of Hearts to RT.
The Queen's quote is true only if you're the Queen, and everyone must obey. As far as I know, she didn't tweet or have a Facebook page. Pity.
Marketing literature is full of name choices that didn't pan out. Due diligence in researching some product names should have been characterized as "Mountain Dew Diligence." And the choice of words to describe some products and services has been less than positive, and sometimes memorable for the wrong reasons.
And there's the other side, in which a few words captured everything - "Where's the beef?" (Clara Peller for Wendy's, for you history buffs.)
Now, in our "attention economy," and the interaction between a company and the audience it tries to reach, a word means what the consumer thinks it means. "It's all about them" cannot be repeated too often. And it's "them" we're trying to reach. If we've carefully defined "them" and understand their vocabulary, we have a good shot at using language that resonates. That means writing copy or using images that don't necessarily make the boss happy, but convey the meaning the receiving side will understand - and share. That's what writing is all about.
It's language. It's clear. It's concise. It's compelling. It's context.
It's truly writing smart for your audience(s). Choose your words carefully, if you want the Queen of Hearts to RT.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
What's in a Name?
"Watch This Cyberspace." Now where did that name come from?
It was 1997, and I was a reporter for WRC-TV in Washington covering a little bit of everything and squeezing in a technology related story when I could. I had been playing with computers since the early Apples and had watched the evolution from a "text" internet to the World Wide Web. I won't bore you with web history, but browsers required you to find and install plug-ins to do just about everything - look at pictures, listen to music, etc.
WRC (NBC4) had a website and I was permitted a tiny piece of space to write a word or two about what I found online that was new and exciting. What to call that space? I remember seeing an editorial cartoon once that had a sign that read "Watch This Space." Hmmmm. Why not, "Watch This Cyberspace"?
The early posts weren't terribly memorable, although I do recall opining that it was no longer necessary to define the Internet as a "network of networks" and that the Internet was now mainstream because the company that cleaned septic tanks had a website. Other posts chronicled the entry of different businesses moving online with their brochure approach and attempts at developing successful business models and, of course, the efforts to thwart the feared Y2K.
Some of those stories will follow in later posts. I've kept most of the scripts from my reporting career and hope to share some history of technology - particularly from the local point of view.
I'll also share some of my thoughts about messages and communicating them. You can check me out at my website
I hope you'll check in from time to time and offer comments and suggestions.
Let the conversation begin.
It was 1997, and I was a reporter for WRC-TV in Washington covering a little bit of everything and squeezing in a technology related story when I could. I had been playing with computers since the early Apples and had watched the evolution from a "text" internet to the World Wide Web. I won't bore you with web history, but browsers required you to find and install plug-ins to do just about everything - look at pictures, listen to music, etc.
WRC (NBC4) had a website and I was permitted a tiny piece of space to write a word or two about what I found online that was new and exciting. What to call that space? I remember seeing an editorial cartoon once that had a sign that read "Watch This Space." Hmmmm. Why not, "Watch This Cyberspace"?
The early posts weren't terribly memorable, although I do recall opining that it was no longer necessary to define the Internet as a "network of networks" and that the Internet was now mainstream because the company that cleaned septic tanks had a website. Other posts chronicled the entry of different businesses moving online with their brochure approach and attempts at developing successful business models and, of course, the efforts to thwart the feared Y2K.
Some of those stories will follow in later posts. I've kept most of the scripts from my reporting career and hope to share some history of technology - particularly from the local point of view.
I'll also share some of my thoughts about messages and communicating them. You can check me out at my website
I hope you'll check in from time to time and offer comments and suggestions.
Let the conversation begin.
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