It’s not Just July

Trippin’ into July like…whoa!

Here’s this week’s summation of the World as of July 15, 2020 from the World of Advertising in Hawaii:

  • Open for Business:  Let people know that you are open for business. Whether it’s in a radio ad, digital ad, TV commercial, billboard or even a big sign on your door.  When I walked the neighborhood last week, it was hard tell who was open or closed. Even when I walked right up to the doors, still hard to tell, due to less people inside, dimmer lighting, buzzer systems etc.  Maybe, cover a window with a big sign  WE ARE OPEN and if there’s enough room, mention the hours you are open. It’s pretty confusing figuring out who is open and closed nowadays.
  • Hopeful:  Feed your mind with positive messaging. Watch YouTube shows of Wayne Dyer, Joel Osteen, Sky St John, Bishop Jakes, Richard Levy, Teal Swan, Justin Epstein, Les Brown,  Abraham Hicks, David Goggins, Alan Watts. Those are just some examples. Find someone on YouTube that you can resonate with and listen to them in the morning and as you go to sleep. Right down positive affirmations and repeat them often throughout the day.  I am Hopeful, I am Helpful, I am 100% Healthy, I am Prosperous, I am Safe, I am Alive Awake Enthusiastic. Again, use some of these or make up your own, but use them all day everyday.  Especially if you watch the news everyday.  It’s important to balance out what you see and hear in the news, on Facebook even on IG sometimes. In my opinion IG should be sacred ground for positivity and happiness. Or if FB is getting to negative and strange, find a new social network to join. Or make your own social media for others of like mind to join.  Now is the time to be creative, confident and to do things you never thought possible.
  • Helpful:  This can take so many forms. I personally could use help shopping. When I go to the grocery store every synapse in my body tweaks. It’s like a rush of a nasty storm floods my body. I could use some help shopping.  If you see someone having trouble in a store, help them. Show them where things are, help them carry things to their car or even just a quick eye smile. In your adverting be helpful, let them know you are open, that you have special accommodations set up, maybe some tips on how to buy on line.  If you want to help the 55+ crowd, help them with your on-line buying structure. In your ads or on the phone on how to do some things that come naturally to the 12-30 year olds. Especially tips on how to use your phone for E-Commerce. For some reason not every mobile check out is the same. Some are pretty hard to navigate. Completely different idea: A super easy, helpful thing to do is to bring your neighbors some home cooked meals or that new gluten free cookie dough bread you made last night. Not everyone is equipped to continue to make all these meals everyday. Or get some take out or delivery and share it with the building manager, door person, people across the street, your favorite store merchant.
  • Stay Healthy:  Eat veggies, blend a drink, eat some fruits. Exercise, get some safe-sun. Take an Airborne chewable. Down a multi vitamin each morning. Get some Elderberry chewables. Drink some echinacea tea.  Continue to do whatever you were doing back in March. Get it all out again in July.  Or continue your good healthy plans.  Me, I thought back in March that July was gonna’ be the month. But it’s not.  Somethings have opened back up, some have closed for good.  It’s a bit far from a “New Normal”.  Hopefully in October we will see some change, maybe some new pills before the election. Thinking someone might have some sort of handy helpful pill or drink to take in October.  Next month to look forward to is January 2021, when the vaccine is here. Hopefully.

Today’s blog not all positive, but full of hope, help and a big punch of the “New Reality” not the new normal … yet. And I’d say wear a mask if you can.  Even if you read some negative FB stories, if it helps it helps, if it doesn’t at least you tried. Some are actually pretty fun and can be quite matchy-matchy with your kicks and clothes.

Retail Tips from RAB

Here’s some fun, helpful tips from the Radio Adverting Bureau.  Just make sure you wash your leggings before using them as a mask..LOL

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May the 14th be with You

What the World looks like Today (Thursday May 14, 2020)

With all the blurred days blending into a very unfamiliar brain-zone, Feels like we are living in William Gibson’s newest book Agency. Where the space time continuum and the Tomorrow’s Today is Yesterday theme fits right in to my world right now. I cant quite time travel backwards or forwards like the book. But I can observe and think future forward.

The last post was already a month ago, which feels like a month ago or 8-10 days ago, once again the blurring of days into other days can throw me off a bit.  At that time, the main themes were the rising of TikTok, Zoom and Opportunity.

From Observance, reading, talking to people and intuition. Lets see where May 14th 2020 takes us:

Tune Squad Jersey Front
Tune Squad Jersey Back

Nostalgia:  People want to feel safe. By going back in time and visiting things they loved when the world was “Normal” helps them cope.  Some examples:  People watching movies from their teens and 20’s. The Buying and selling of Star Wars, 70’s and 80’s Sitcom and Pokemon merchandise is hot now.  Tie-Dye has been IN and will continue as a big fashion trend, think of the freedom vibe in the 70’s, there was war, but there were also hippies and lots of Tie Dye which is a safe, fun vibe. And the TD masks that will be created will be stellar. Of course one of a kind, which is still a very HOT trend, not going anywhere.

And Michael Jordan’s the Last Dance brings back the 1990’s to a TON of the sports and entertainment starved population of the world.  Stock X, who sells sneakers like stocks, had their site crash during one of The Last Dance episodes. And Jordan sneaker prices continue to climb.  Jordan’s Rookie card was selling for 7K about 5 years ago, Sold for 12K the week of May 4, 2020.

I didn’t even catch on that I was already doing the Nostalgia trend on Fridays I was watching a different Old school Basketball movie each week. The reason at the time, it was making me feel, well.. warm, comfortable and SAFE.  I watched He Got Game, Above the Rim, even Rebound helped me cope. Nostalgia and things that we liked when we were young will continue to bring relief and a feeling of safety,  a trend that isn’t going anywhere soon.

How can you take advantage of it?  Use some key entertainers from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s in your advertising.  Do some Trivia games on your social media that cater to any of these years.  Bring Back the Drive-In movie or take it further and do a drive In RAVE or Drive up Virtual Concert.  Churches can use a low frequency FM stations and broadcast the sermon to the cars in the parking lot. There is so much we can do  Me, I’m gonna try and sell some Beanie Babies!

RS Masks AIH.com May 2020 #Trend

Aloha Shirts:  Yet another revival of a revival.  Wowza! This ties into the Nostalgia theme, yet goes a bit further. After the daily press conference in Hawaii, the game show:  Who’s Line is it anyway? comes on my TV. So, I end up watching a bit of the 2019-2020 season and both Drew Carey and Ryan Stiles have been wearing Aloha shirts.  They look slightly out of place since they are the corporate versions. I’d rather see them in some vintage looks. Adam Sandler has a new movie coming out soon The Wrong Missy, they are wearing the corporate, vintage and loud shirts in it.  And watch for the 70’s Trucker Hat in the trailer/movie on Netflix. That might or might not take off.

BTW-Pro Tip:  Tori Richard has been GIVING away free masks daily. If you go to their website. A pop up appears 1-2x a day. Sign up with your info and they send you 4 free masks. With a nice print on the outside and another pretty cool print on the inside. Plus you receive a $25 Coupon and free delivery on your next purchase.  Not sure how long this will last, check their site out and see.  There are also masks for sale, but look for the pop-up that appears mysteriously almost daily.

High Quality-Low Priced Clothing:  There’s going to be more clothes available than people to buy and wear them.  Look to Macy’s, TJ Maxx, Kohl’s, and Ross first. They will have inventory from Spring they should have sold 2 months ago. Even though, many have been selling on line, the things that have been delivered to the stores have been sitting for 2 months.  There are gonna be some MASSIVE DEALS on high quality clothing. Look to Nordstorm, Saks and Bloomingdale’s next.  However, a lot may just sit and turn into material for masks since unemployment is so high.

Pro Tip:  I don’t know how true this is, saw it on Footlocker New Zealand. But they say they will be releasing some HEAT from a few weeks ago. That means you may be able to score some retro Jordan’s at COST! Just need to time your store visit correctly and wear a mask.

Click and Mortar:  70% of customers use the internet before making a purchase, researching, pricing, comparing or buying. There’s stores in New York that use their store as an advertising venue more than a place to buy things. The RealReal is a good example of this. Order on line pick up in store. Stores using wi-fi and Geo tracking to give you deals while in store or when you get home. The click and mortar is basically a blend of the on line and on site experience. This is supposed to be what’s happening now or near future.  But because of all that’s happened, AMAZON just may be the only CLICKS store you need. I’m a shopper, thus I like to wander stores and browse, touch, feel, try things on. Yet, after all that’s happened, I doubt even I will be doing that in the near future.  Could be in another 10, maybe even 5 years. There won’t be much more Mortar to go to.  I am hoping that is not the case, Yet AMAZON has pretty much everything and It tends to be cheaper. One Company will rule the world.  AMAZON or Alibaba or maybe some underdog from Russia.  My main bet would be on AMAZON. They already own more than you think:  IMBD, Twitch, Whole Foods Audible, Zappos, Shopbop and a few more!

Specialized One of a Kind Boutique’s may be best equipped to be Click and Mortar. And stay in business both on-line and in a physical store.

Physical Retail stores were having trouble before all of this (Barney’s-RIP)  Now, who knows what may become of a traditional on-site store. At this very moment, I’m thinking a lot more CLICKS than mortars.

Look Good Inside:  All of this Zooming and sitting around the house will help the accouterments, lighting and beauty brands.  People want to look good in their zoom meeting. Look for special skin preparations, light specifically made for Zoom meetings and possibly home improvements.  But you can easily change your room to a stylish apartment on the upper East Side by using your iPhone to screen shot a great apartment background.  I don’t even bother with a made for Zoom Virtual Background. I just find pix in my camera or take a simple screen shot from the internet and interchange them dependent upon which meeting I am in.  And I’d buy something to get rid of some wrinkles on screen or even a stand for my phone so my head doesn’t look so big.  Hey, how bout a green screen, so that your real background doesn’t seep through the virtual background. I bet we see home style Green Screens for sale very, very soon.

Anyone ready for a DIY haircut done by a Robot. Perfect, Precision, Cut and Color to your liking in the comfort of your own home.  But, you’ll miss out on some juicy gossip.  Who knows maybe the 2nd gen version will come with gossip audio? Could happen! Actually will happen..who knows, maybe it already exists!

Ok, that should do it for May 14, 2020.  I know I forgot something, but as you and I know, too much writing usually doesn’t get read.  People want instant gratification and instant knowledge.  Next blog, promise, we will do 5 easy to read headlines with 2 sentence in each.

I leave you with this video for today. It’s keeping with the stay positive vibe, but you may need to do a bit of home work.  Hope it helps you navigate Tomorrow’s Today is  Yesterday.

 

Tomorrow’s Today is Yesterday

The World as We Know it No Longer Exists

people lights firework new year s eve
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Or the World as we knew it, no longer exists. Either way we say it. It’s true. Some days, I’ll post an uplifting video usually on marketing or advertising and other days, I’ll write. Today we have a bit of both.

Due to the ever changing world as of today (4/12/20), the way we did things and the way we do them now, are accelerating at an unprecedented speed.  Some of you may have already have been there, for others, it’s like what just happened to my World?!?!

Some examples:

ZOOMING INTO INNOVATION BE LIKE:

  • ZOOM:  Three weeks ago, zoom was how fast Lebron could get from one end of the Court to the other. Now it’s how we have weekly Sales Meetings, Virtual Cocktails, Dance parties, Yoga Sessions and Family Gatherings like Birthdays, Graduation and even EASTER!
  • WE ARE HERE FOR YOU:  Next time you watch TV, see how many commercials say these exact words.  They are good words and needed at this time. But how did close to 75% decide on these exact 5 words?  I don’t know the answer and ponder it nightly. However,  The actual point here is, look how quickly the TV commercials changed.  Years ago it would have been 7-10 days to tweak the messaging. The turnaround on some of these ads were 3 days! Did the ad agency’s have them pre-packaged and ready. Or was it that you and I can edit a commercial on our own laptop and don’t even need to do a big production session. It was probably a combo of both.  Yet, both lead us back to accelerated speed of efficiency.  Speed of things has been accelerated tremendously. FASTER ZOOMING
  • CONTACTLESS DELIVERY:  This moved so quick, spell check doesn’t even recognize the word.  Papa John’s does a really nice job of explaining it in their commercials. Kudos go to to them for the simplicity and effectiveness of the message. And once again, how quickly they got it on TV. ZOOMIER ZOOMING
  • AI:  Artificial Intelligence is something that is fun to think about “coming soon”. But it is here now.  With AI, Google can figure out what type of ad to serve you in less than 1.2 seconds. You may not need to know how AI works and the codes that go into it. But if you’re not aware of it and think its on it’s way, its here and is most likely going to break through the Covid-19 months, with outrageous popularity. Read about it, hire someone to help your company use it. Whatever you do, don’t think its on the way, it may be doing your job in 3 years. Think about that!   OUTSTANDING ZOOM
  • SOCIAL MEDIA:  Negative: Lots of people passing around information that is FAKE more than ever. Positive in advertising:  Within 8 days of quarantine,  ALL of these companies showed up on my FB and IG feed:  Purity Products, Nu Image Medical, Vital Proteins, Lifetones, Nanoceutical Solutions, AnaHealth, And Ace Nutritian.  Other than Purity, I never heard of any of them before. And they all were quick to react to sell me and you Immunity products. They have the products to fill our needs NOW.   SPEEDY Immunity to the rescue!  TikTok:  These are :15 second videos, I don’t know the stats exactly, but can tell for sure that they have had the biggest growth in March/April 2020.  Probably because of the quickness of the video, just :15 seconds and :15 seconds is just enough time to have your granpa dance to some Quavo. (Hopefully he isn’t drinking Quavo at the same time.Haha)   I predict now that TikTok will be the big winner when we come out of this. However be careful, some say your information on Tik Tok goes to some sketchy places.  TIK TOK’S FIFTEEN SECONDS TO ZOOM
  • INNOVATION/OR ACTIVE VERSION INNOVATE!:  This last thing isn’t something I’ve seen or heard lately. It’s just become embedded in my brain in March and April 2020. I don’t know the facts surrounding it or where it’s coming from. Like when Wayne Dyer writes a book, he says the words just appear on the page as the day goes by. Well this word is appearing in my brain all day and even at night.  It’s telling me and you something and I bet when it happens it will be FAST.  ZOOM IS THE NORM   Happy Zoom meetings to you and yours.  Scott

INNOVATING THROUGH CHAOS WEBINAR:

Today’s uplifting video is from Jeremy Gutsche of Trendhunter. If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing. A few key points include:

Path Dependency.  Crisis. Chaos. Recharting.

Chaos Creates Opportunities. Chaos Changes the Rules.  Chaos Switches Who is in the Lead. 

Solve a new Consumer Need. You can Thrive when others Retreat. Be irresistible with a specific group of people.

KISS Me Twice

AlwaysOrder2Image-AIH2020Looking for your clients Next Big Idea? Spending hours brainstorming, white-boarding, or scribbling notes on cocktail napkins! Your answer to their marketing dilemma might be, could be pretty SIMPLE.

Check out the picture above.  It came across the midst of the usual 200+ emails on a Monday Morning.  And not even sure who sent it. But it sure is effective and look how simple it is to create.

3 words below the counter:  ALWAYS ORDER TWO.  I’ve never been to this establishment-Burgers Never Say Die in L.A. or as their insta simplifies their name to BNSD.  But if I do go here, I already know, I’m ordering TWO!

Subliminal or in your face, it doesn’t  really matter, this is effective. Without doing much investigating reporting, I bet these 3 words work and sell a lot of extra burgers.

In the 90’s the Buzzword in advertising and marketing was the KISS principle.  Keep It Super Simple.  Keep it Simply Simple or the most used version, Keep It Simple…Stupid. There’s no better way to exemplify the power of this principle than ALWAYS ORDER TWO.

Have a nice rest of your day or night.

Donut Day’s of the Year

DonutDayHawaiiJune2019-AdvertisingInHawaii.com

Every Day’s a Celebration!

Today (6/7/19) is National Donut Day! Earlier this week, the Salvation Army and Regal Donuts stopped the 4 radio stations with over 82 donuts for the Dj’s and staff.  We did some interviews. Pre recorded them and played them on National Donut Day.  The Salvation Army and Regal Donuts received some nice promotional time on 4 great radio station morning shows.

Doing National Donut day here at the radio stations, reminded me of how easy it is to go to the Days of the Year website to get idea starters, do some tie ins or just to get something to post on my social media each day.  It’s a super easy way to get ideas flowing or to make money for you or your clients!

Here is the best site, I’ve found for the list of Days and Dates and even has extra info on each of the fun & festive days of the year! Did you know that the Salvation Army is the founder of National Donut Day!

Every Day of the year, is a special day and if it’s not a special day already, make up a new one!

Here’s some ways to utilize these days for fun, exposure and extra dollars for you or your clients:

  • Social Media Content:  You can instantly take almost any day of the year and use it for your social media content.  Today is Donut Day, yet it’s also Fish & Chips Day and Chocolate Ice Cream Day. That’s 3 food related idea starters for your social media all in one Day! Throughout the year, take lots of pictures, just scrolling thru your photos, you’re bound to find something that fits the day. Keep your eye out all year for pictures you can use on these special days of the year.  Or, you could easily take a few boxes of donuts out to Police, Fire departments, schools or non-profits, give them some free Donuts and get some great pictures for your Social Media Content.

 

  • Special offers: If you sell something that matches the day, give special offers, discounts or free offers. Today, you could give free donuts, fish or even easier chips/fries, or ice cream free or with a purchase.  For Donut Day, many places are doing both, free donuts just for walking in or buy a beverage/coffee and get a Donut free.

 

  • Brainstorming Meeting:  Do you have a brainstorming meeting coming up? Bring in the list of days, mention them, post them on the wall. It’s a really easy way to get the ideas rolling in a brainstorming meeting. And it’s sure to make your meeting more fun! Today, bring the list, but don’t forget the free donuts!

 

  • Pick a Day/Make it your Own: Monthly or quarterly:  Look at all the many days, pick out the one’s that match you best. and Own them.  You could bring free food of the day to the those in need.  Discounts on the various items of the Day.  Tie in a Non profit with portion of all sales this week going to the charity of your choice. Cross promote with a neighbor store down the street. They may have food and you may have clothes, help each other out on the various days. June is Guitars on the Beach Month. You could do a meet up with musicians, do a picnic with free food and drinks.  Get Guitar Center involved or local bands could make a surprise visit and do a free on-site mini concert or tutorial.

 

  • Make up Your Own Day:  Look at all the days that already exist, then find something unique to call your own. Submit it to the Days of the Year folks. Or just start doing it, make it an annual event. Each year, getting bigger and bigger. Promote it on social Media, advertise on radio, TV, Print or Outdoor.  Maybe in 3-5 years, many other people will be doing it as the special day of the year.  Many of the days started small at the grass roots level and have grown year after year.
Sunset on the Beach 2019
Moana at the Beach
Sunset on the Beach
Before Sunset on the Beach
  • Take a Day/Any Day/and Do something Fun:  Today, I will randomly pick June 23rd.  It’s Let it Go Day.  Here’s just a few things you could do:  Play the Frozen Movie in the park, beach or waterpark. Do it free, with a discount or giveaway tickets in May and June tying it in as a Gift with Purchase (GWP).  Do the City’s Largest Garage Sale.  Get people to Let Go of their clothes, shoes, etc.  Rent out a parking stall for $50. Rent out all the stalls at the mall, let the people keep their share of the earnings, after costs, give a portion of each of the $50 fees to a charity. A Let it Go Singing competition. We all know many people who’ve memorized all the words perfectly for this song.  Do a singing comp at the mall, in front of a bank, at a Fair or Amusement Park…anywhere really.  Get some prize sponsors & some free shave ice and the crooners + crowds will be there. Do an Instagram promo: Have people list what they want to Let Go and why, get the longest list of things to let go. Maybe pick one or two and give them some prizes. Make it a Let it Go Month of June. Have people come to your store locations and Let Go their slightly used shoes or sneakers, give them a Coupon for 25% off.  Take their pictures for social Media, post their pix in your store, give the shoes and sneakers to those that need them. Maybe for Job interviews or a High School sports team or 2. June 22nd is the Great American Backyard Campout Day.  You could piggy back on this and have a giant camp-out on June 22 and 23. On the 23rd you play the movie Frozen! You could also do the song competition on this day. Or even build in a Let it Go Rummage sale. Oh, so many things you can do with just one day.  Have fun!

Hope this may spark some ideas for you and your favorite upcoming special day.  Let me know if you want any additional ideas. If you do, just email me here.

Have a Great Day!  On whatever day you may read this blog posting.  🙂

E-M-O-T-I-O-N-A-L

Dwayne Wade Trading Jersey’s just went EMOTIONAL!

Check out this Budweiser commercial. Bet you can’t not shed a tear or get a lump in your throat or stomach. Dwayne’s been trading jerseys with the best players in the NBA all season long (Like they do in Soccer/Football) But these trades will leave you feeling something. One of the most emotional commercials of all time! Take a look-see and let us know how you feel in the comments section: Have a nice Month!

Writing for Radio Tip #208

Make a specific offer-to get measurable results focus on one offer Source:  RAB’s Guide to Writing Great Radio Copy

Today/3/8/19 I’ve heard the same commercial 5x. Yes, it has the frequency to work. Yes it’s on the correct radio station to reach the target consumer. But NO, it has so many numbers in it I couldn’t tell you what the call to action would be.

It advertises 2 different events in one commercial. It tells us the dates + the Times of the 2 events.   It’s driving me crazy. Well, not really, it’s just not well written.

Sell the Sizzle or Sell the Steak: Doesn’t matter to me, just sell one of them. Not both in one :30 commercial. (You could run 2 different commercials 50% x 50% that’s a solution).

You could use “Starting at 3pm” in a commercial. But usually you don’t need the time of an event, especially not 2 dates and 2 times in one commercial. If people are interested in your event, they will check their phones for the time and/or date.  End your commercial with your web, IG or  Facebook address.  Or even easier, for more information, check Us (insert advertisers name) out on the web, IG, twitter or FB.

Use Great intro lines, Create theater of the mind, Have an enticing offer and a Call to action. All while keeping things simple without using too many numbers + dates + times. Edit your script one more time and get better results.  Have a nice Weekend.

Advertising in Hawaii

Advertising-in-Hawaii-Logo-

Some trends for lettering in 2019 include:  Various sizes of Letters and Splashes of bright colors. This has a bit of a hard militaristic feel. Not exactly what the trend was talking about, but in the right direction.

Bright Pinks and Vibrant Light Blues are also in as some splashes of colors you may want to incorporate going into 2019.

*Information gathered via a skillshare video that I watched a couple weeks ago, that talked about design trends for 2019.

This is a bit more like the trend the teaching professional was talking about:

Advertising-in-Hawaii-Logo-

What do you think?  Top or Bottom or keep working on it?

What trends do you see coming to us in 2019?  Let us know in the comments section.

Happy Holidays!

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