Dusting-off notes: part 1

In a never-ending education process, I attend a lot of conferences and programs. I listen to a lot of speakers and watch a lot of presentations. I watch movies and videos (and commercials!). I play games, I participate outside of my circle. I read books, articles, blogs, tweets and white papers. There is a constant stream of information that I tap into on a regular basis because stagnation is death. 

I also take a lot of notes, which it seems I never go back to look at or do anything with. There is a wealth of pearls of wisdom and bursts of inspiration between the pages of closed notebooks and event booklets, lying in bags, shoved into piles, boxed or shelved. 

I thought I would go through some of those treasures and share them. Some of these are my own epiphanies, but most are quotes. I think they're still gems despite being out of context. Enjoy ...

The term "teenager" was coined in 1941 and wasn't used until the late 50's and early 60's.

The average first-time grandparent now is 46 years old. One third of the U.S. is invested in grandparenting.

"Social Media" and "Mobile" is so 5 years ago.

The year 2025 is always under construction.

Become collaborators in the creative process with your consumers.

Stop thinking about technology getting smaller and smaller, start thinking bigger. Think: where is the computing power going? Into tablets and televisions and cars.

Technology is heading into the background. You're just going to know it's going to heighten your experience.

So, there's a computer in your pocket. ~Mike Steib, Google

Start to think of the web as a thing that overlays your experiences in the regular world.

Social media is a place the consumer is looking for information they believe to be PURE. ~Neil Miller, Draft FCB

The truth of the matter is the customer is in control. ~Mike Boylson, JC Penney

There is a 17% drop in testosterone levels in men over the past 20 years.

Get more out there faster. It's a speed game. 

There are no bad creatives, only bad environments.

Will they want to see it again, play with it, share it?

Can we bring national quality advertising to any size market?

Creativity can solve anything.

70% rule = never go into the client and say it's 100% done.

Take chances or you're not even in the game! ~Ari Merkin, CPB

WTFacebook Ads [part 2 of the continuing saga]

Okay, it's not really a saga, but it is an advertising travesty.

In [part 1: This blog could lower your interest], I broached this topic and thought in my idealistic way that the random, meaningless, attention-getting gimmicks would phase out in favor of clear and relevant content. I was wrong (big surprise!).

They're not getting much better, in fact they might be getting worse? Not sure if they can. Here are more from my growing collection of Facebook ads that either make no sense, are stealing from a celebrity, or are misleading along the lines of snake oil salespeople of old and modern day tabloids.

Yeah, I repeated the "Scholarships For Moms" because that guy is so NOT A MOM! Does anyone know what all this means? What does it say about society? What does it say about carrot feathers?

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Peek-a-boo critiques: 5-seconds can speak volumes

Hi! Tell me about yourself, about your company, what you're all about, what you do and why I should give you my time and money. Just give me a quick impression so I have an idea. You've got 5 seconds. 

Sound unreasonable? Humans now have a 7-second attention span before they lose interest if they aren't engaged. I think that's being generous. I don't give some things a glance if I'm not interested in a blink.

I play peek-a-boo with my monitor. I've been doing it for years because it's difficult to get a fresh perspective. I sit  in front of my design and cover my eyes with my hands, then I open my hands quickly and repeat as many times as needed. 

I went onto fivesecondtest last night – a website for web design feedback. You've got 5 seconds to view the art before giving your brief report. I started doing the memory-based and click-based tests and began to get a peek-a-boo fresh perspective on web design and first reactions. So I submitted the little black mask home page design as it appears here:

Feedback started within minutes, which is great because I like instant gratification. You know, short attention span and all. This morning my feedback page was full. 

The good news: I am pleased to report that the little black mask name and logo were immediately memorable, the comic-book theme is well-conveyed, my saving-the-world philosophy comes across and the design seems to be liked. 

The neutral news: my face really stands out and looks beautiful. This is flattering and does have some recognition, but doesn't sell me unless you know who I am. 

The bad news: The word "home" stands out - and that's just navigational even though decorative. Also, "mona lisa," "faces," and "b&w photos" came up a lot - which again are decorative and have an underlying meaning but on first impression don't help the brand.

The truth is, if someone goes to my site they probably do so for a reason that will keep them for more than 5 seconds, but it doesn't mean they'll ponder the meaning of it all and go in to read every page before calling me and offering me loads of money. Peek-a-boo impressions count. A change is in order.

Immediately, I changed the word "Home" to "Branding." Since that word stands out so much and it's right under "little black mask marketing" then I've fixed that association. A website "massage" has been on my to-do list anyway, so I'm going to submit it to other feedback sites for more information first instead of just plowing forward on my own. Research is good.

Check out Mashable's 10 Tools for Getting Website Feedback

I'd love to hear what kind of feedback you get, share on the little black mask Facebook page.

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