"Showmanship" Improves Communication

A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Mannequin American

A Sausage Ad That Will Make You Laugh

Mattison's Sausage has gotten itself in trouble with the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority over what some perceive as being "suggestive sausage ads." But come on. You can't even say the word "sausage" without conjuring up some sort of innuendo.

Seriously, click here to see the funny 30 second commercial and make up your own mind.  I think it's kind of clever, myself. And it's definitely memorable and good water cooler fodder. It's also generated several parody ads on YouTube ... which will probably only contribute to additional sales of Mattison's Sausage.

Why "Showmanship" Improves Communication

Some people and organizations seldom if ever consider adding elements of "entertainment" to communications or events. (When's the last time any senior management at your company was involved in a truly engaging presentation, or your company newsletter included interesting, but non-company related articles?) In truth, a little showmanship usually reaps more attention, better understanding and an increased ROI.  Here's why.

When you provide your audience with a little showmanship, you are giving them permission to feel good and to react. You're getting them emotionally involved. Politicians, ministers, motivational speakers and others who "communicate" for a living recognize the value of giving the audience a "show." The "show" doesn't hamper communication ... it enhances communication. It doesn't trivialize the message ... it draws attention to the message and makes it memorable.

Showmanship is simply appealing to an audience in a way that helps convey your message so that it is understandable, valuable and memorable. When you provide your audience with some showmanship, you're giving them a reason to listen, a reason to care, a reason to get emotionally involved. Think about it. Why would you want to invest time and attention in anything devoid of feeling and emotion?

I'm not saying that all of your communication has to be "entertaining" (although being entertaining can reap major communication benefits). But at the very least your communications tools need to include "interesting" and "engaging" elements.     

I work hard at researching material for this blog and writing informative copy for this blog. But do you know what the most popular component of this blog is? It's the cartoon at the end of most posts. To some the cartoon would appear to have the least value of anything in my blog. But readers enjoy it. It's one of the reasons people subscribe to the blog.

After all of my hard work to make this blog interesting, informative and meaningful, should I be upset that the most popular element is the cartoon? No, I shouldn't. The cartoon gets people involved with my blog. It gives them something to look forward to. It draws them in. It's something readers pass on, collect, remember. It doesn't distract from other elements of the blog. It leads readers to other elements of the blog.

The B&M newsletter is popular and wins awards because it delivers "showmanship" in the form of edgy writing and humor. At the same time the newsletter deals with timely and serious marketing issues.  So it dares to be both informative and entertaining.

Look at your:

• Internal and external communications,
• Newsletters,
• Meetings/Presentations
• Training, and
• Marketing

Evaluate the emotional "showmanship" components in each.  Are you giving your audiences reasons to look forward to your communications? Or are you simply "telling" them what you want them to know?  If it's the latter, your communication is self-centered and probably not very effective or memorable. 

As a plug, Brown & Martin, Inc. can help. We've been assisting companies incorporate effective "showmanship" to publications, presentations, meetings and marketing tools for more than a quarter of a century.  And our clients have the ROI and positive employee relations to substantiate the value of our expertise. Whether it's newsletters, direct mail programs, distributor programs, social media projects, employee training or special events, B&M helps company messages to be heard, better understood and remembered.

Now you can go look at the cartoon. I know you're dying to.

Ads that Caught My Attention
According to this ad for Chanel, if you buy the perfume and take off your top, you can be sexy too.

I don't know what to say about the Belgium ad below, for Luxor hot tubs? It does demonstrate the far reaching impact of American issues. Other than that, I've got nothing ...

From Ads of the World. Below is another demonstration of large, complex, outdoor advertising. This one is for Verizon and was created, I'm assuming, near an airport.  I'd like to know how long it took to cut the vegetation.

We Never Made it Big, but we Know a lot of Others Who Did - No. 10

The woman in the center of this photo with the yellow-haired puppet is Lynn Trefzger  Lynn hit national notoriety after appearing on TV's popular "Star Search." She has since performed as an opening act for Jeff Foxworthy, Ray Romano, Smothers Brothers, Tim McGraw, and others. Her off-the-wall audience interplay is highly original and riotously funny.

Lynn's ability to appeal to all ages led to her being voted the "Top Talent" on Disney Cruise lines in 2008. Lynn currently appears regularly on cruise ships and college campuses.  If you see her, tell her that I said "Hi." The restraining order won't let me do it in person. 

Did You Know ...?

You probably didn't know (or care) that Dale Brown, the guy who has a hand in everything I do, was at one time a high school journalism and English teacher.  Some of Dale's students stay in contact with him; primarily those who went into teaching or journalism. One of those is Gene Mueller, (pictured above). Gene is a well known part of Milwaukee's top rated morning news show on WTMJ 620 radio.

Gene recently humbled my otherwise bigheaded partner, by writing a blog about him. I normally wouldn't contribute support to anything that compliments Dale, but the blog also mentions me, so I think you should read it ... you'll learn something about us both. Just click here.