In an idol-centric society, I’d like to be a significantly more monogamous Don Draper.
“If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”
As marketers, we are the great conversationalists. Driving the external message is the easy part, we have total control over the paid media, we craft the press releases, we segment and target and slice and dice.
The INTERNAL conversation is our responsibility too. It’s our job to manage meaningful conversation at the front line. What questions do your front line ask? How do they listen? Can they hear needs and convert those to product recommendations? Do they have the tools that they need so that your weakest “conversationalist” has what they need to be successful?
“What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons.” &
"People want to be told what to do so badly that they'll listen to anyone."
This is a twofer. At face-value, both quotes sound like dirty ad-talk. It makes us "Ad Men" sound slimy. And in the hands of some, it IS evil.
As Peter Parker’s wise grandpa said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” If we’re not top-of-mind and driving members and customers to our credit unions and community banks for good, then the Wells Fargos and Bank of America’s of the world will get people to listen to them. They will “invent” a need that challenges reality and controls perception. We need to get there fist and louder.
“Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance. That whatever you’re doing…it’s okay. You are okay.”A bit overdramatic but right on target. Good advertising evokes emotion. Hope, fear, nostalgia ... we have to make the target FEEL something. As banks and credit unions, we deal with people's money - what evokes more emotion than that? First car, new home, college tuition - it all comes through us. There's no reason your work shouldn't touch someone's heart.
"You're happy with fifty percent? You're on top and you don't have enough. You're happy because you're successful, for now. But what is happiness, it's a moment before you need more happiness. I won't settle for fifty percent of anything. I want one hundred percent. You're happy with your agency? You're not happy with anything, you don't want most of it, you want all of it. And I won't stop until you get all of it."
This ambition is the food that nourishes marketers. Somewhere, in a desirable segment, is a prospect who isn't doing business with us yet. Worse, right now, in one of your branches, is a customer who doesn't have ALL of their accounts with you ... it makes you sick, doesn't it?!?
"Even though success is a reality, its effects are temporary."
See the above quote. It's why we keep analyzing and dreaming and planning.
"The day you sign a client is the day you start losing one."
A good client/agency relationship is a bit like a marriage, the goal is to remind her, every single day, how special she is and how much you appreciate her.
"Change is neither good or bad, it simply is." &
"You want some respect? Go out and get it for yourself."
Another twofer. I think these two quotes speak for themselves. Don is a philosopher!
“We're going to sit at our desks and keep typing while the walls fall down around us because we're creative - the least important, most important thing there is.”
Ahhh, creative. The one job where "everyone" feels like an expert. Who tells their doctor where to make the incision? But, everyone knows the logo should be bigger!
Creative is the least important, most important thing. The strategy drives success. The timing and the offer and the target and the staff training are where you should focus most of your efforts - but without standout, emotion-evoking creative, your ad is a tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it.
Peggy: “Sex sells.”
Don: “Says who? Just so you know, the people who talk that way think that monkeys can do this. They take all this monkey crap and just stick it in a briefcase completely unaware that their success depends on something more than their shoeshine. YOU are the product. You- FEELING something. That's what sells. Not them. Not sex. They can't do what we do, and they hate us for it.”
It's just a matter of time until a bank takes the GoDaddy route to advertising. But you know what's "sexy" about banking? The way we effect people's lives. The way that EVERY life change involves a trip to our branches or website.
And, just for fun:
Don: It’s your job. I give you money. You give me ideas.
Peggy: But you never thank me.
Don: That’s what the money is for!
Don: [In a flashback from the second time they met] “I'm sorry, it's just... I've left some messages for you.”
Roger: “And I've ignored them, that's my message for you.”
Did I miss a classic quote? Want to expand on any of these? Be an ACTIVE participant and add to the “comments” below.
Want more fun with quotes?
We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too. Contact us to see how.
With nearly 205,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog. If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues. Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing. MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker. Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.
