For my grandfather, sitting on the deck at his Pigeon Lake cottage was not just a pastime, it was a way of life. There was one particular morning on the deck that truly changed my life. Grandpa was worried about our dog, Laker. Laker had been logging 12- to 14-hour days for the past month hunting a squirrel. She would crane her neck to look into trees hoping to catch a glimpse of her prey. Grandpa was worried that Laker was going to get a permanent neck kink and, as a result, decided that we should shoot the squirrel.

With a pellet gun in one hand and a rum and coke in the other, Grandpa and I spent hours that day pulling the trigger. I think we used over six packets of pellets. After each miss, Grandpa would yell “egad!” or “oh crow!” or “dag nabbit!” Mom spent most of the day trying to ignore us. Then, in a sudden fateful moment, one pellet ricocheted off the flag pole and struck the squirrel with a killing blow! We gasped and hurried over to the squirrel. Looking down on it, Grandpa turned to me, and I noticed a small tear trickling down his cheek.

After the burial ceremony, Grandpa looked me in the eyes and said; “Jared, we Smith men were never good hunters. It’s a lonely sport, just not a fit with our personality. We’re people people. And you know what? If I look back at all the success I have had in business, I can’t really take any of the credit. It’s because of the people I have surrounded myself with. If you want to be incredible, surround yourself with incredible people.”

I didn’t know it at the time, but that was it — my life-changing moment. In the midst of the emotion and chaos of squirrel hunting, Grandpa had found a way to impart a wisdom that would eventually impact on every aspect of my life.

Look around you: your family, your friends, your staff, and especially your clients. Are they incredible? If not, it could be time to make some changes.

“It needs to be beefed up…” or “I don’t like it…” is not helpful creative feedback. Feedback is fuel for the creative process, and without useful and insightful feedback, the creative will suffer.
Specific and thoughtful communication ensures the right results are achieved in a quicker timeframe – ultimately meaning that the end product will be more successful, done with fewer revisions, and completed faster!

Take yourself out of the picture

No one cares about your opinion. As Seth Godin says: “I don't want to know how you feel, nor do I care if you would buy it, recommend it, or use it. You are not my market. You are not my focus group. What I want instead of your opinion is your analysis.” Analysis must be the key element of any creative feedback. To do this, remove emotion and analyze the creative based on the objectives and goals of the project.

You are not the target market–even if  you are the same age and sex as your prospective customers. You are inside the machine. You know too much, and can never put yourself in the same position as those people who haven't yet decided to buy from, trust, or visit you. Ultimately, your like or dislike for the creative piece is irrelevant. Will it catch the eye and persuade your primary target market? That’s the question you need to be asking yourself.

Think strategically

When analyzing the creative piece, compare what the designer has done with what was agreed upon in the creative brief. (You started with a creative brief, right?) Is it aimed at the right audience? Does it use language they will respond to? Does it clearly say why you're different from your competitors? In the case of an ad, does it get to the point quickly or is it trying to say too much? Will the visuals draw the attention of your target market? Think about the magazine, newspaper, mailbox, or tradeshow where the piece will appear...is it going to stand out or blend in?
Tip: Always have the creative and client briefs with you when you analyze creative pieces.
You should always be aware of who the client is, what their main goals are, and for whom the piece is targeted when reviewing marketing materials.

Be specific about needed changes

It's okay to make changes. Just be specific about what needs to be different. Give direction–at least point your creative team towards something or away from something. The worst feedback you can give is "I don't like it, but I don't know why" or "I'll know what I'm looking for when I see it." Go back to the above point and answer those questions honestly. Pinpoint exactly where the creative work is not on strategy. Ask yourself if the change you want to make will have an impact on the response rate, effectiveness, or readability of the piece.
To help your creative team produce the best pieces possible, remember these tips when providing your feedback:

1. Offer your analysis rather than your personal opinion
2. Keep the original creative strategy at the forefront of your mind
3. Be specific about what needs to be changed or altered

On Monday, October 19th I had the opportunity to sit on a panel for “The Inspiring Education Provincial Forum” along with The Honourable Iris Evans, Minister of Finance and Enterprise, Dave Collyer, President, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and Katherine van Kooy, President and CEO, Chamber of Voluntary Organizations. The focus of the discussion was to share perspectives on how to enhance education to prepare Alberta for the future.

The discussion was engaging. One of the themes of our conversation that I was particularly inspired by was the concept that education in Alberta could become the core of Alberta’s identity. Like all organizations, provinces have an identity. Alberta, like it or not, has an identity on an international scale primarily associated with oil production and the oil sands. It’s what we’re known for and it’s what our economy has always relied on. In the face of this, I’ve had recurring conversations with various special interest groups about how important “identify diversification” is to the competitiveness of Alberta’s economy. What we’re known for, locally and internationally will directly impact whether or not we can diversify our economy.

Imagine this. Imagine serious commitments from all sectors (non-profit, government, industry, small business, youth, families etc.) to create an Alberta that has the best education facilities, systems and support in the world. If our school systems, universities, colleges, continuing education programs, and early literacy programs etc. were truly regarded as world class – what would happen? I’d argue that we’d attract the best companies, the best professors, the best educators, and the best people. After all, what do we want as individuals? The answer is consistent across all sectors: growth, learning, opportunity. Lets provide it.

Alberta, like all organizations, needs a rallying cry – a focal point that we can be proud to be associated with…. I vote for education.

When the engineer from research and development informs the marketing department of an exciting, technically superior new product and asks them to take it to market, it is too late. When the President announces a newly acquired subsidiary and calls on the marketing team to determine how to best integrate it with the corporate brand, it is too late. And when the head of sales requests marketing support to promote a big idea, it is much too late.

Too often, marketing is viewed as the last piece of the puzzle. It is seen as the function that will take a new product, business or idea and figure out how to make the market want them. This is a traditional and short-sighted understanding of marketing.

Good marketing is about determining what the market needs before spending anytime developing a new product. It is about understanding where the opportunities are before pursuing an acquisition to meet them. Good marketing gets its big ideas from the customer and funnels them to sales, not the other way around.

Good marketing doesn’t overcome poor products, brands that don’t fit, or ideas customers don’t want. Good marketing thinks first and acts second. To do so, good marketing must be called upon early and often.

What business are we in? What business should we be in? What does the market need and want? What will the market find compelling? These are marketing questions and should come first. If marketing is not involved in answering these questions, marketing is not playing the right role nor is it adding real value to your organization.

Marketing can help accomplish big things, but only when it is involved right from the start.

Thinking about connecting to your target audience is a lot like getting ready to meet that dream girl (or guy) for that first date. What do you say? What should you say?

One of most important processes in creating a marketing plan is clearly defining your target audience. Deciding what to say to a target audience is where most organizations get stuck and spin their wheels. There’s a limited window of time for marketing to make an impact, and unfortunately, this pressure causes companies to default to what they know: they end up talking about product line, service offerings, company history, and experience. But talking about these things is neither compelling nor effective. If time is scarce, why not respect your audience’s time and really connect with them? Back to our dream girl; she doesn’t want to hear all about you. And remember, she’s popular–she can date anyone she wants! There are three easy ways to make a meaningful connection with your target audience:

1. Develop messages that are relevant, specific, and valuable to the audience

The best way to do this is to determine what it is about the product or service that frustrates your audience. Determine your customers’ pains by simply asking them–and ask prospects too. It’s important to do this well – navigate past typical “good price, good quality, or good service” type responses and really dig in. Having third-party expertise to facilitate this process will help you garner more honest feedback that will inevitably be more useful.

Once you have a list of frustrations from the customer, match what makes you unique to counter those frustrations. Maybe a certain way that you conduct your business alleviates that frustration. If not, then what do your competitors do that alleviate that frustration? Can you do the same or better? Or, maybe no one in the market is working to alleviate that frustration. That’s even better because figuring out how you can do it gives you a competitive edge.

2. Develop a target audience profile and an individual as its primary representative

Developing an audience profile is a good way to capture basic demographics (age, income, etc.), but it fails to really nail down an audience’s personality. To get at this, develop an individual persona that represents the group. Be specific! Give that person a name; outline their motivations, hobbies, and feelings. This might sound superfluous, but it isn’t because it’s much easier to write messages for a marketing piece if you’re thinking of writing to one person vs. to a group. To be really successful at this, consider developing a physical representation of this person–a cardboard cut-out, a custom action figure, a poster, etc. This way the person is at the front of your mind at all times.

3. Develop a Theme or Story

The book Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath gives us a formula to help make ideas or messages stick. They need to be simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and story-like. Stories are a great way to tie in your brand and your messages in a way that resonates with your audience. When done properly, a brand theme or story should diffuse through every part of your business (your office design, your signage, your print material)–think about every single audience touch-point. To be really successful at this, try to apply those elements to your story. The great thing about stories is that it cuts through the clutter too. It’s easy for competitors to say that they do the same thing that you do, but rarely will they have the audacity to copy your brand theme or story.

Be sure to connect on that first date! Find out what your customer’s frustrations are then match them specifically to what makes you unique. Develop a very specific target audience persona and keep a physical representation of him or her nearby as a constant reminder. Lastly, work on a creative story or theme that helps you stand out, hits messages home, and is difficult to duplicate.

Do you find yourself scratching your head when your designer/marketing manager talks to you about whitespace? The idea of omitting information from your marketing material in lieu of empty space may not seem to make sense to you -- if you’re paying to have marketing material produced, shouldn’t you try to include as much information on it that you possibly can? Well, the answer is actually no.

Whitespace is not merely empty space that is not filled by text, images or graphics. It is the strategic use of negative space to give a design a feeling of balance. A page filled with text and design elements, and very little whitespace, can appear cluttered and difficult to read. By introducing whitespace into a design, and being more concise with your choice of text and graphics, your audience will be able to decipher the important messages you are trying to convey about your company.

Whitespace is important for many reasons, but most importantly, it will focus the attention of your audience to your key message. If you have too many elements on a page, you run the risk of your audience becoming overwhelmed or confused, and moving on. Whitespace can allow you to convey your desired message more effectively by giving balance and breathing room to the design.

We live in a society where businesses are competing for consumer’s attention. Consumers are bombarded by these messages every day, and have become experts at blocking out the things that aren’t clear and easy to interpret. Because of this trend, businesses need to be diligent in ensuring the designs they are utilizing are clear and easy to understand. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this, and ensure you’re getting value in your marketing materials, is to use whitespace!