More than six months has passed now since we added a little bundle of joy into our life (or as I prefer to call her, the cure for sleep!) Of course, I write this after a bad night where I only got about five hours sleep (and my wife got even less).
A baby’s mind is something extraordinary in that we are the ones who invest the time and energy into how it gets filled and what they see and hear on a daily basis.
Nothing is more important than the first time you see something. It can be amazing. It’s like the way you tune into a song you’ve never heard before, or seeing a car drive by that you’ve never seen before.
But what if there was something to be learned from the little ones also?
Before the snow fell on what is now a cold and white winter here in Canada, I was sitting in the backyard with my daughter watching her interact with the world.
All at once a variety of core marketing principles burst into my head from her engagement with the new things around her. While they may seem basic, sometimes we take a lot for granted.
Everything is New to Someone
Everything is new to a newborn. Even the most micro of things in our lives are profoundly new and exciting to someone who has never seen them before. Birds, grass and houses are so basic, but what if you had never seen or heard of them before? How would you respond?
Somewhere someone in the world has never heard of you, your business, your product, or your website. Its new to them. Even a brand like JuicyAds which has been around over 11 years now and won multiple XBIZ Awards, still attracts new clients who had never heard of us before.
Bright Colors Are Important
The color yellow must be the most exciting thing, ever. At least to a little one. Bright colors are truly important and eye catching which is why you see them often in marketing (and especially the younger the consumer). It seems that as we age we grow more of an attraction to the total absence of color (or better known as black). It’s told that when George Eastman was working on the Kodak brand, he believed that there were certain letters that were strong and catching. The letter “K” was one of them, and he devised a word surrounding his letter choice.
Further to this, he believed that yellow was the perfect color for the brand as it would be highly eye-catching. The ultimate downfall of the company was not the result of poor marketing but bad vision of the company’s horizon. They were forced to sell most of their patents during its bankruptcy because they created a product that devastated its own company. They had no idea that the digital camera (which Kodak invented) would cannibalize its film sales.
Everything You Say Needs to be the Truth
The truth is absolutely critical to a child, they don’t know any better. But what if your customers did not know what a lie was, either? What if like a child they truly believed everything you said? Surely, this is the dream of any company since it would have a huge influence on sales, but equally a heavy responsibility to remain truthful to that same customer base.
What would happen then if that trust were broken? What if “fine print” did not exist and you were held at your word that something really was free (without rebilling in 14 days) and that a cellphone was actually free (no contract). What a mind-blowing concept if every company marketing their product had to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Parents lie to their kids about all kinds of things — the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny for starters. When these lies are exposed, parents ultimately spend the rest of their lives trying to re-gain their kids trust and respect.
Being truthful in marketing is the foundation to build sales. If that trust is broken, it’s very difficult (if not impossible) to regain that trust. Focus on creating long-term value and truth rather than a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am product.
It’s also why advertising networks like us here at JuicyAds are so strict about the avoidance of malware, tech support scams and deceptive software installs in our ads. It hurts legitimate advertisers and creates a toxic ecosystem when some people don’t play by the rules.
Everything is Awesome the First Time
Nothing is more important than the first time you see something. It can be amazing. It’s like the way you tune into a song you’ve never heard before, or seeing a car drive by that you’ve never seen before. After that first impression, its impact withers and slowly dies. You don’t need to always be launching something new if you can find different and new ways to tell your story through marketing.
Your Product Should Be Better Than the Box
The cup is more expensive than the coffee inside. Likewise, most times the design and packaging of a product is more elaborate than the item itself. This is on purpose to attract eyeballs and drive sales.
Make sure that whatever it is you’re selling is way better than the box (marketing) it comes with, or you’re just going to disappoint. Kind of like a Starbucks cup with gas station coffee inside. A child should not opt to play with the box instead of the toy.
Juicy Jay is the CEO and founder of JuicyAds. Readers can follow Jay on Twitter @juicyads, visit JuicyAds.com, or like on Facebook.com/juicyads.
