Scott's Blog - Page 48 of 63 - Scott Flood Writing

HOW TO DO PRINT TODAY

January 25, 2012 by Scott Flood

Print can still be very communicative, if you pay attention to how people read these days. Someone who clearly understands that is the publishers of Inc. Magazine, who recently unveiled the prototype for a new title called Build aimed at mid-size companies.

The sample page reproduced here shows how savvy print designers can connect with readers in this era of smartphones, tablets, and Web 2.0. Even though there’s a lot of text on the page, it’s broken into bite-size chunks, most of which use a bold lead-in to allow skimming readers to determine whether they need to read the entire paragraph. In fact, you can pick up the gist of the article just by reading those lead-ins.

I’M SORRY I DIDN’T ANSWER THE QUESTION!

January 18, 2012 by Scott Flood

Many companies use surveys to get a better sense of what customers, prospects, and visitors think about them, what they offer, or even what opportunities exist. That’s a good thing. Many of those companies let the IT department develop those surveys. That’s a bad thing.

It isn’t that the IT people don’t know how to accomplish the task at hand. In fact, they’re very good at it. The problem is that they are focused on getting the right information and aren’t aware that a survey creates an impression with the person who is responding. So they design the survey to ensure that they get every piece of information, regardless of how they do it.

SUCCESS STORY: AUTOMOTIVE PROBLEM-SOLVERS

December 21, 2011 by Scott Flood

For many years (before it was swallowed up by a larger company), Fel-Pro was widely regarded as an innovative designer and manufacturer of automotive engine gaskets and seals. The company sold superior products that unfortunately carried a premium price. It developed a reputation for finding solutions to sealing problems that vexed mechanics and automakers alike.

In an effort to improve its visibility and get the greatest value for its investment in PR, the company asked automotive magazine editors what type of information they needed most and just weren’t getting. Time and again, the editors asked for technical information they could pass along to their readers.

SUCCESS STORY: THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

December 14, 2011 by Scott Flood

Think schools cost too much money to build? Several Indiana state legislators and the state’s governor do, and have made attempts at cutting the cost a primary part of their agenda. A trade group of architects, contractors, engineers, and others called FAIR disagree, pointing to independent sources that show school costs in the state are far from excessive.

But when the advocates for cutting costs occupy the bully pulpit of majority leadership, it can be tough for opponents to make their voices heard. Many in the media were repeating the legislators’ claims as though they were facts. Unfortunately, the story is a complicated, multi-faceted one. How could FAIR get accurate, understandable information in the hands of media, legislators, and other key stakeholders?

SUCCESS STORY: GAS, NOT HOT AIR

November 30, 2011 by Scott Flood

You’re the largest natural gas marketer in the state, and the people you need as clients have never heard of you. What can you do to convince them of your size and expertise?

During the early days of energy deregulation, Proliance Energy — a joint effort of two of Indiana’s largest utilities — quickly established itself by offering purchase expertise to commercial and industrial customers. Their success at keeping a cap on what those customers would have to pay for natural gas ballooned the company into the state’s biggest. But name recognition was still minimal.

SUCCESS STORY: FRIES WITH THAT?

November 23, 2011 by Scott Flood

You’re opening your 25th bank branch in a location that isn’t very visible from the road, in an area that’s already saturated with competitors, and far from your other offices.

Still, Cragin Federal Bank wanted its grand opening to be a huge success in terms of traffic and money. The bank set up a cross-promotion agreement with a local McDonald’s franchisee. Using that tie-in, Scott Flood and Ace Art Director Mike Reiser created what became the bank’s most successful promotion, called the “Great Savor Grand Opening.”

SUCCESS STORIES: DIRTY LAUNDRY

November 16, 2011 by Scott Flood

It’s hard to get excited about dry cleaning. So how can you convince potential customers that your approach to what they see as a commodity service is different?

Morellis Cleaners was a new chain that took dry cleaning to a new level. Forget the images of steamy, stinky roomfuls of strange machinery and employees who looked like they’d been steamed for hours. The company had attractive spaces staffed by knowledgeable employees who took time to educate customers about dry cleaning.

BENIGN NEGLECT: A DEADLY WEAPON

November 9, 2011 by Scott Flood

Most organizations worry that they’re going to lose a customer, client, or supporter because of something they do. But my experience has taught me that more losses are caused by what they don’t do.

Sure, lousy customer service will lose a piece of business now and then. But what I call benign neglect is one of the most consistent ways a business or organization can lose people over time. They’ll slip away gradually, barely even noticed.

SUCCESS STORIES: CHILDHOOD BANKERS

November 2, 2011 by Scott Flood

When out-of-town banks have begun to dominate the local landscape, how do you convince residents that your bank is truly part of the community’s bedrock?

Mutual Savings Bank has been serving Johnson County residents since 1890, choosing to continue its original focus of helping everyday people buy homes and save for the future while other financial institutions merged and diversified. When some of those new banks began to promote themselves as community banks, Mutual needed to find a way to remind residents that they were the real deal.