BLOG

Perception is Key

His head is directly in the center of the picture, you can see his ear, followed by his body to the right.  Once you've found it – you will always see it.  Your brain cannot unlearn what it has already seen.  It makes a lasting impression on how you now perceive the picture.

So what does this say about our perceptions of other experiences in the world?  For one, this clearly means that initially, our eyes have the ability to see things without our brain having the ability to perceive what the image is telling us (especially if what is encountered is unfamiliar) – and once we are able to make a perception, it is difficult for our brain to unlearn this new found impression.  Are things always what they seem, or can we repurpose what was once perceived as a jumbled mess, into useful information once we understand it?

As a psychology major, sensation and perception were my two favorite subjects of study.  They were my main focus once I really delved into my program (as well as conditioning and learning).  All topics that have become ever more relevant as I explore the field of advertising and human relations.  Perception is the key.  You've heard the saying 'you never get a second chance at a first impression', but what influences that first “impression”?  What is the impression based upon? Well, it's primarily based on how we have perceived a situation; how the interaction has impressed itself upon our brain through our eyes, ears, nose, skin, and mouth I suppose… (might as well include all senses here).  Or can it be something else entirely?  Would you be willing to admit that preconceived notions have an overwhelming effect on how we perceive our world around us, enabling or disabling our impressions of what we experience?  Deep, isn't it…?

So, what does this mean for our industry?  Well, it means everything.  The way people perceive certain interactions affects the consumer, the client, the agency, the vendors… and the list goes on!  If you see a billboard, and the image does not immediately appeal to you, do you even bother reading what it has to say?  Sure you saw the sign, but did it make its impression?  A bad one maybe… but that's it.  What about those hilarious commercials we see on TV, the ones you can't, for the life of you, remember what they were advertising… All your brain received from that visual stimulation was “funny”.  Lest we forget to mention the most important of all…  human interaction.  Email is taking over, and have you noticed how the written word can seem so much more biting than the spoken word…  Why is that?

You can't control how things are going to be perceived, that's the brain's job.  But, you do have the ability to control your responses, decide the relevance of your perception, the context and respond accordingly…  And, when working in this industry, the goal is to please the client and catch the consumer, it's best to understand that you have perceptual influence, and knowing how to influence perception is the key determining factor in the road to success.

Mad Men Marketing to Participate in Park(ing) Day!

We plan to convert one of the metered parking space in front of our 111 E. Bay Street location in Downtown Jacksonville into a living room area in order to play a DVD series marathon of the AMC Drama Mad Men, and invite the passing public to take a seat and enjoy.  We are excited to take part in this national movement to transform regular parking spots, even if only for one day, into public spaces, so that anyone can come by and relax in a formerly hectic environment, for free.

Park(ing) Day will be held in Downtown Jacksonville on Friday, September 21st from 10am – 5pm.

For those of you who don't know much about Park(ing) Day, here's a brief description taken directly from the website parkingday.org:

Providing temporary public open space . . . one parking spot at time.

PARK(ing) Day is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals (operating independently of Rebar but following an established set of guidelines) creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world.

The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more open urban space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out!

So, come join us, take the load off and spend your lunch hour, break time, or walk about…  watching a great TV program in the privacy of your very own public parking space living room!

The Never-Ending Mac vs Windows Debate

My first Apple computer was purchased while at Florida State in about 2005. I got an iMac Desktop and I fell in love quickly. After I got past the differences in the operating system, I realized how much easier it was to use. Even little perks like dashboard and expose were genius to me. A simple way of displaying all your open windows and easily moving from one to the other, and a place to put sticky notes as reminders, ESPN scoreboards for scores and news, weather, etc, were great ways to make life easier for you. The all-in-one monitor was also a huge deal to me. Not having a huge tower getting in your footspace under your desk was an awesome improvement from Windows computers. My second Mac is another newer model iMac, and I plan on buying a new MacBook Pro in the next couple months. The main thing I notice was the newer Operating System on my iMac, Lion. It fixes some of the minor things it could have, and added some cool features. One of these is being able to use spaces which essentially puts different windows and programs into different spaces on your Mac, which lets you swipe your mouse to get to the next space easily.

Apple has been around since the late 80's, and Windows only a couple of years before that. So, there's not a big advantage there. I remember the older apple computers in the 90's, with their bright colors. I didn't actually get on a Mac until I started college in 2005. My friend had bought a MacBook and we also used iMacs in all of my design classes. As stated before, the Operating systems are different, but easy to get used to. But, for some, after being with Windows for most of your life, any change is a big change. But, once you do its definitely worth it. Part of the whole argument for Windows users to switch to Mac would have to be the pricing. These days, there are hundreds of PC's being sold for half the price of any Mac. You're not getting the power that the Macs come with in those cheaper PC's. Mac's always come stock with higher-end processors, aluminum casing, and great battery life. Most PC's can't stand up to Mac, unless your willing to spend the money. Another thing is the selection you could get with a PC compared to a Mac. Mac has the one brand, Apple. Windows has much more to offer, with Sony Vaio's, Dell's, Asus's, Toshiba's, HP's, etc. Macs have a little more straight forward approach, with different screen size choices, etc.

So, I'll leave you hear with this subject. Choose wisely and enjoy your new computer. Take what you will from this blog and others about this never ending debate and make your own decision. Although I'll never go with another Windows doesn't mean I won't be happy with a Windows, I just prefer my Mac.

Creativity or Client Needs.. Which comes first?

While reading a recent article in Ad Age, I noticed the author's plea to not drop innovation and creativity just because the client does not ask for it.  The ability to come up with great ideas is the whole reason we are in this business.  Most anyone can do 'research' to find ways to 'best' the competition, but creativity and ideas come very specific to particular minds.  That's how inventions are stumbled upon; innovation is our “standard” at Mad Men Marketing.  If the only constant is change, then how can we thrive on anything but ideas?!

Creativity is typically the main reason companies shop for agencies in the first place.  Not to see who's come up with the best analytics, or how you can beat your competition on the battle field of sales… but who is the most creative with their thoughts, ideas and execution along with their ability to conceive of something no one has ever seen before – therefore giving you the edge no bar graph can.

SO,  give agencies a chance.  Let us do what you hire us for… And if you didn't shop an agency with creative intention, hear them out every once and a while, they might surprise you – and if they don't… well then, maybe you're with the wrong agency.  Bigger isn't always better.

The Importance of Staying Power

Is it really a great commercial, if you don't remember the product after you've seen it?  I agree that without entertaining or visually captivating material, TV commercials would have lost their value years ago.  However, can being too “creative” actually hurt a campaign?
I would like to be clear before I continue…  If you have read or heard anything about our agency, you know how much we believe in and thrive on creativity.  It is the cornerstone for any good campaign and the catapult for a great one – but this specific argument is more about the different types of creativity; the best being the ability to create a campaign that not only entertains, but also has foresight, adaptability, and of course, staying power.

OK, so returning to my point…  It is my belief that some creators allow an idea to get away from them.  They can get so carried away and forget the idea's place in relevance to the campaign all together.  The effect of that being, their efforts are lost on the consumer.  To ensure this does not happen, the industry needs to get a prescription for something I'd like to call “AADD” (Advertising Attention Deficit Disorder) – to keep our heads from spinning in random directions while determining the course of an idea.

SO, instead of having your customer watch a man start on the couch, leave to play racket ball, go to the doctor, wear an eye patch, ride a bus home, be mistaken for a tough guy, get attacked, and end up in the gutter…?  Why not simply show three frogs, sitting on lily pads, croaking out three recognizable syllables, while craving an ice cold beer…  Remember that one?

You can push your mind creatively (through different characters, themes, scenarios, etc.), while still staying on track and being aware of the bridge between the product and the consumer.  Here is the formula that will ultimately steer them right to your door – smiling the entire way… and if you're lucky… they'll remember how they got there for years to come.