Yesterday afternoon I went downstairs to take a pee.
As I lifted up the toilet seat, I noticed a new mini-poster hanging on the wall above the toilet. The mini-poster had an artistic graphic on it with the headline, "Guys, please put the seat down when you are done."
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out who created the mini-poster. With a team of three designers, only one of them is female. Looking at the graphic, I was sure it was custom made, which means I knew exactly who created the mini-poster.
Ignoring the fact that I purposefully left the toilet seat up as my silent act of protest, the interesting marketing lesson came the following day when a post-it note rebuttal joined the mini poster.
Written in a male's handwriting, a small post-it note had been affixed to the mini-poster. The note said, "No, please put the seat up when you are finished." While I have no idea who wrote the anonymous rebuttal, I'm hoping that it was not one of our marketing professionals because they forgot one of the most important marketing lessons that we practice here... "know your audience and anticipate the interaction with the message."
See, whomever placed that post-it note on the mini-poster forgot one important thing. Those who are sitting while using the restroom would not be able to see this post-it note. The woman who put up the mini-poster knew that a man would have to literally stare at the message while using the facilities, however, the rebuttal was place in the same location... completely ignoring the fact that different genders face opposite directions while in the restroom.
Annoyed by the marketing oversight, I moved the post it note to the opposite wall so that the women here would have to stare at the rebuttal while using the facilities.
Yes, I understand that this back and forth is just a funny game played in the office. However, we are a marketing company and I insist that even our pranks follow our basic marketing principles.
If you're the guilty person who wrote the post-it note and placed it on the wrong wall; shame on you for not anticipating the intended audience's basic interaction with your message. You should know better. (Plus, its never a good idea to open your body copy with the word "no," but I'll let that oversight slide).
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Rick Hanshaw |
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The results have been amazing! I now understand the entire strategy behind his approach, and I see what I didn't see before. My clients constantly remark about the letter I sent and how mine was the only one they saved. It's all in the approach. Tom's instincts and guidance have been instrumental in building a reliable marketing system that sometimes works too well - what a terrible problem!! |
...The results have been amazing! ...  |
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"If the
prospect understood the proposition, he would not have to be sold
- he would come to buy." - James Patterson, Founder of National Cash Register |
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| Copyright © 2012 Tom Richard |
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The Culprit Speaks
Spoken like a true marketing-junkie, Tom. Schweet headline, by the way.
(I guess when you throw a rock under a porch, the dog that barks is the one that got hit. I'm guilty of the post-it note. Obviously.)
You are correct in your marketing assessment, Tom.
I appreciate the repositioning of the post-it note allowing better visibility for those who sit 100% of the times they use the facilities. See, I wasn't thinking like the fish. I was thinking like the fisherman. Tsk-tsk, shame on me.
I'm thinking I might someday be the type of dad who bickers with his wife and daughter about not putting the toilet seat UP when they are finished. Who made the rule that men are to put the seat down after use?
To you 100% sitters:
• Do you cross the street without looking both ways?
• Do you change lanes without checking your mirrors? Then your blindspot?
• Do you buy clothes without checking the sizes?
See where I'm going here?
If the 100% sitters thought like the fish instead of the fisherman, ironically, they would NOT be in the water. In other words, if women checked the seat like men, they would not fall in.
Disclaimer: Seville is in no way a chauvinist, woman-basher, or insensitive about 100% sitters' issues. He supports chivalry and is a gentleman. He has no problem putting the seat down to save water and prevent washroom war.
But still though.