Visual Cues Affect Behavior
A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Mannequin American
Visual Cues Affect Behavior ... So Why Don't More Businesses Use Them?
Many people surround themselves with visual reminders of what they want to accomplish, what they want to be and how they want to act. And it works.
Visual cues affect perceptions and behavior, and some organizations act on that insight. Many medical facilities now feature photos of patients, and staff identification badges have messages emphasizing patient service. Laminated patient satisfaction questionnaires are posted on walls to help remind staff of the focus on patient satisfaction and also to let patients know the importance of patient feedback.
In manufacturing facilities, initiatives to improve quality often begin by cleaning and painting the buildings, because orderliness sends a visual message consistent with an emphasis on avoiding defects.
Nonetheless, many organizations do not make use of their physical spaces to cue desired behaviors and attitudes. Most office buildings are completely nondescript. Although the buildings may be architecturally attractive and nicely decorated, you can't tell anything about the work or mission of the organizations by looking at the décor.
Companies can be much more thoughtful about how visual cues influence attitudes and behaviors. Managers should think about what employee behaviors and what customer reactions they desire and then blatantly use visual cues that are likely to help inspire them.
More Visual Cues ... Lost in Translation
For the past two years the Shanghai Commission for the Management of Language Use has been trying to eradicate the scourge of humorous signs from its city. The campaign is partly modeled on Beijing's herculean effort to clean up English signage for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which led to the replacement of 400,000 street signs, 1,300 restaurant menus and such exemplars of impropriety as the Dongda Anus Hospital ... now known as the Dongda Proctology Hospital. Gone, too, is Racist Park, a cultural attraction that has since been rechristened Minorities Park.
"The purpose of signage is to be useful, not to be amusing," said Zhao Huimin, the former Chinese ambassador to the United States who, as director general of the capital's Foreign Affairs Office, has been leading the fight for linguistic standardization and sobriety.
New Tradeshow Engagement Tool ... BoothTag
From Exhibit Systems: If you haven't heard of BoothTag before, you'll probably be totally familiar with it by the time you leave your next tradeshow.
BoothTag is a barcode scavenger hunt for tradeshow attendees. People attending the tradeshow look for BoothTag barcodes at tradeshow booths and scan them with a Microsoft Tag Reader application for their smartphone. Each attendee earns points for every tag scanned and the top prize winner earns a prize. At the BizTech Expo in Milwaukee the prize was an iPad.
As an exhibitor, the BoothTag account provides you with a virtual Rolodex of all of your connections. In addition, exhibitors may create bonus BoothTag points that encourages additional attendee engagement. For example, a bonus item may be: "Talk to John Doe at X booth to learn about Acme product Y." A bonus item barcode is worth 10 points to the player scanning it.
For more information, go to http://www.boothtag.com/
Lord Vader is on TomTom
This made me laugh out loud. It's a video of Darth Vader recording his voice for TomTom's GPS. After the half-way point, which is about a minute and a half in, Darth becomes very funny. Many buttons died to bring this to you. Click here to see the video.
It's Baaaack
Like a phoenix rising from the flames, Polaroid has returned.
The PIC-300 has the familiar snap-and-wait action, spitting a photo from a slot in its top whereupon the internal chemical pack goes to work to develop the image. The camera itself has four exposure settings, an automatic flash and runs on four AA batteries or a rechargeable li-ion (all included).
The image is rather small at 1.8 x 2.4-inches versus the old 3 x 3.1 image size. The camera is $90 and the film costs $10 for a ten exposure pack. Seems kinda expensive when you consider that we've become cell phone-toting people who get digital pictures for free.
Click here to read more.
Is This Advertising?
In the UK it is illegal to show tobacco advertisements on certain television programs, like sporting events. A barcode painted on the spine of a Formula-1 racecar is causing problems for Marlboro and the Ferrari F1 cars sponsored by the cigarette maker.
"The barcode looks like the bottom half of a packet of Marlboro cigarettes, says prominent English physician John Britton. "I was stunned when I saw it. This is pushing at the limits. If you look at how the barcode has evolved over the last four years, it looks like creeping branding."
The doctor claims that because the races are aired on TV, it constitutes a breach of UK law and the entire F-1 series should be taken off air until the cars are changed.
Unless the cars are running under barcode scanners during the race, I can't believe spectators would be able to identify the barcodes as representative of Marlboro.
Kraft offers Wienermobile for a day on eBay
From Leslie Bonk: Kraft Foods is letting eBay bidders vie for a chance to ride in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, with proceeds benefiting the Feeding America hunger-relief organization. The top bidder will get use of the vehicle for a day, along with supplies for a 50-person cookout and a year of free hot dogs. Let's all chip in!
Adult Muppets Part of New Game Show
A group of puppets from the Jim Henson Company will be unleashed as part of a new late-night game show for the game show network, GSN. "Late Night Liars," debuting next month on GSN, features a panel of saucy and uncensored "celebrity puppets" alongside actor-comedian Larry Miller as the show's host.
"Late Night Liars" is billed as a raunchy comedy game show, each episode will feature two human contestants facing off against a panel of four "celebrity puppets" who are drunk and telling half-truths. Contestants vie for cash prizes by deciding whether the puppets are telling true or false stories.
"Jim Henson made a great discovery many years ago when he realized that pretending puppets are people is far easier than dealing with people who are puppets," said Miller.
"Late Night Liars" begins 11:00PM EDT on Thursday, June 10, 2010 on the GSN channel.
Chip Martin's Blog Honored by Peers
To be perfectly honest I don't put much stock in awards ... unless of course, I'm the recipient. After working in the marketing communications industry for over 30 years, I've received my fair share of formal recognition. For instance, the Brown & Martin newsletter that I've edited for over 20 years has been acknowledged with several honors, including four Paragon Awards of Excellence from the Public Relations Society of America.
On Tuesday night I received my fifth Paragon Award of Excellence. And in all humility, this one means a lot to me ... because it was for this blog ... and because it will help provide job security for another year.
You're reading the only blog to be recognized with such a prestigious award. Judges said, "Chip Martin's blog is a delight to read and reinforces Brown & Martin's image as a company that believes business can be fun." (Too bad "business" isn't a bit more profitable. But I guess we can't have everything.)
So to all of my regular readers ... please take a moment to leave a "comment" below and let me know what you think of my blog. After all, your opinion means more than the opinions of a panel of judges.
I don't ask for much ... but a few comments would be nice. Come on! Write a comment below! Do it!
