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!

Are Companies the New Consumers?

Think about it.  As advertisements push the limits and our patience, Company X needs to find some way to get our attention.  That is the consumer's product.  We offer brand loyalty.  It's no surprise that this has always been the highly coveted goal for all companies and brands… but they used to not have to try so hard.

Now, they are among us.  Having their own pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn… interacting as though they were your friend or “part of your professional network”.  They want, so badly, for us to like them.  But, can you blame them?  The consumer has what the brand wants… Time, attention, loyalty, and of course money.

As I said before, this is no new development, but it is an interesting concept to point out as companies explore new frontiers in advertising.  The consumer has all the control – the choice as to whether to click on that ad, go to that site, or to type that company name they heard on TV into their preferred search engine.

So, how can companies counteract this choice?  They need to be where we are, doing what we are doing, interacting with us to develop relevance to our daily lives.  They can no longer expect a stand alone ad or TV commercial to get the job done.  It has to be interactive.  It needs a call to action.  It needs to sync up with multiple outlets in order to 1. Get noticed and 2. Be seen as relevant.  Companies can no longer stand by and expect the customer to come to them…  They now need to be the active consumer, embarking on the world, living amongst their desired product – in order to understand it and work with it.

The more inundated people are with information and stimulation, the less likely they are to go looking for it.  We talk a lot about consumer driven advertising, and this concept follows suit.  Think about the consumer as being the driver of a bus…  Not only do they get to choose what ad is placed on the side of their bus, but they get to choose where they stop and who gets on.  So, Company X is at the mercy of Brand Y, with Brand Y being YOU.

Working and Living Downtown

There's a different vibe here.  The hustle and bustle of the city streets.  Cars driving by… people talking below.  The city is alive, and we are a part if it.  And with that life, breathes creativity!  Mad Men felt that breath of invigoration when we were finally able to expand into our new space downtown and we've been soaking it up ever since.  Our focus is sharper, our determination is stronger and our ability to entertain is now existent.  So much so, we actually plan to host as a venue for Art Walk this September – so come on by, check out our new digs, say hi and stay a while. Should be a good night, and we are happy to finally be able to participate!

Stay tuned as we continue to share stories of our area – what we find, what we like and what we do with it.  You might find out a thing, or two, yourself!  Needless to say, we like it here and I don't expect us to be going anywhere else anytime soon!

Frequently Asked Questions

I will, however, provide some insight into the more common answers to questions we face, and in doing this, it is my hope that I pique your interest to inquire further.  So, naturally, one would start with “What is an advertising agency?”  Well, the answer is an ad agency can be many things… much like the question “what is a restaurant?”  You know they all serve food, but what kind?  Do they have a specialty or can you order anything you want?  Mad Men Marketing is a full service agency, which means we can provide you with anything you might need. Basically, we can become your own personal marketing team. Only we won't ask you for a salary and benefits, including dental. Instead, we can make your media buys for you, help you with creative ideas and mock-ups, and consolidate your billing to make sure your advertising is running as smoothly as possible – and we do this at no extra cost to you!

SO, naturally, your next question is “Well then, how do you make money?” Valid question. I'm glad you asked… We make our money much like any other accounts services department, like any other company would. If you are placing your TV ads personally, there is a percentage of that spending that goes to the account executive, and the rest to the station itself… When you hire us, we enter as just another slice of the vendor's pie. They pay us 15% of whatever you are spending. We basically charge them to work with us instead of you.

Now, this brings us to the question of additional agency fees…  Some agencies will charge you an additional percentage of your ad budget to spend it for you.  We at Mad Men do not believe in this.  We do have some additional services beyond those an “Agency of Record” would perform that cost us money such as SEO, website development, mobile sites and so on. These services take time and need to be developed, but that is the same across the board.

A common misconception is that working with an agency will cost you MORE money.  This actually couldn't be further from the truth.  In most cases, we ensure your budget would not need to change in the slightest; and, we can almost guarantee that in working with us – being experts in the field – not only can we save you time, we can also actually save you money – all the while generating better results while spending what you already have (or even less), more efficiently than ever before.  Furthermore, because we now have perceived control over your entire ad budget, media outlets tend to be even more accommodating and in turn, provide additional incentives to work with their company.

Another fear companies have is, once they sign with an agency, they worry they will lose control of their advertising.  Our services range on the spectrum of control.  We will follow your comfort levels and direction to be as much or as little involved as you would like us to be.  Of course, every decision is sent for your approval before we move forward, and all creative ideas are run by your team first.  We are simply here to make your job easier, and take some time off your hands so you can focus on running your business, while we keep the customers walking through the door, or picking up the phone.

How about this concern: Will we be working with your competitors?  That answer is simply, NO!  Mad Men Marketing operates as category exclusive.  We made a partnership with you, and we have become your advocates… sharing sensitive information and working hard to make sure your business excels in its field.  While you are our client, we will not work with anyone else in your category, as we hope you would do us the honor of letting us be your sole full service agency.

So, now you might be asking yourself, “Do I need an agency?” or “Would working with an agency be right for me?”  Well, that is a question you must answer yourself.  But in my experience, the answer is almost always, YES!  Every business is different, with individual needs, owners and infrastructures.  But, if you want to make more money, grow your business, spread your ad dollars, consolidate bills, or expand… an agency is just the partnership to help you reach those goals.

With our collective expertise, we can assure that you get the most bang for your buck. We have done the research, we conduct additional research on your behalf, we have credible and already established relationships with media outlets and we know what we are talking about when it comes to consumer driven advertising.  Give us a shot and let us be your pinch hitter… It doesn't mean you're completely out of the game – it just means you're calling in some help to give you that extra edge above your competition.
That's what an agency can do for you.