Walt Kania, Marketing Writer

Thinking inside the box

Picture two groups of creative people.  Writers, designers, illustrators, whatever.

Both groups receive the same assignment:  Get people drooling for this product.  Or get people fascinated with this company.

One group is told:   "Limits are off.  You have total creative freedom.  No taboos, no specs, no media or budget limitations."

The other group hears:  "Do anything you want, but do it in 189 square inches, in two colors, no video, no flash, for only $900, and seven hours. And it must not suck."

Which team will come up with the startling and compelling idea?

Bet on the folks with the impossible constraints. 

AOL-speak: It's all about us.

AOL recently got slapped in the press for allegedly making it extraordinarily difficult to cancel service. A blogger, Vincent Ferrari, actually recorded his Cancel My Service phone call to AOL, which is stunningly horrible to hear.

After the story airs on CNBC, AOL issues a statement deploring the incident. They say they fired the rep in question, and heartily vow to do better.

I thought the language curious:

"This was an aberration and a mistake, and we have to manage these incidents down to zero as best we can."

Manage down to zero? That's a new one on me. Aside from merely being clunky management-speak, the phrase suggests to me that their focus isn't on the customer at all. . . "we will make sure this never happens one of our members again. . .. Their heads are clearly on their own management problems. "We have to institute policies, set a target of zero, implement properly, then track progress."

End game

The loudest part of a sentence is the end.

The beginning is the next loudest.

The quietest part is that middle span which most people never hear.

So end with your very best stuff.

And tuck your bad news and legal crap about halfway across where it will disappear in the fog.