I have a lousy memory. I’m not sure if it’s because I popped a few brain cells during my college days…well, we won’t go into that. Or if it’s because I just get overloaded with too much information. It drives me crazy when I call someone and while I’m on hold, I get distracted and suddenly forget who I called. Now that’s embarrassing! But I know it’s not just me. We’re all victims of forgetfulness at one time or another.

The reason I bring this up is that our poor brains, not just mine, can retain only so much information. And the first thing that goes is the stuff that doesn’t grab our attention and burn itself into the memory banks in the first place. Like an ad for a funeral home, particularly when nobody’s dying. It’s just so much background noise that gets filtered out.

So what sticks? Things that break the pattern. The unexpected. That which is different. And therein lies the secret to all successful advertising. If it’s not different, it won’t get noticed, let alone retained.

A few years ago, my agency created the slogan “Dare to be Different” which was specifically targeted to funeral directors and cemetery operators. Our first ad in the series featured a grim black and white image of a vulture in a tree with the headline “Image is everything. How’s yours?” Its message pointed to the fact, based on first-hand research, that many people have a less attractive idea of the funeral business than what’s real – and the right marketing can address that.

We ran the ad in most of the funeral trades, and as outrageous as the photo was, it grabbed our audience’s attention. There was nothing else like it in the trades. (Yes, a few people were put off by its blunt message, but most got the point and appreciated its surprising approach.)

The next ad showed a hearse decorated as if for a wedding, with ribbons and tin cans off the bumper, and on the rear window, “Just Buried” was spray painted. Its headline, “Dare to be Different,” spoke to the need to step outside conventional boundaries to have any impact.

These ads helped put our agency front and center as a leader in creative funeral advertising. You see, we actually practiced what we preach and put our own money where our mouths are.

In the latest iteration of my agency, LA ads, “Dare to be Different” remains our motto. It’s what is necessary to rise above the noise level. More important, it’s mandatory if one wants to be remembered when a critical need suddenly arises and focus can be difficult. There’s only so much room in the cranium and all but the most memorable gets pushed aside.

So that’s my message to all advertisers in the funeral business. Dare to be Different.

I just dare ya.

I have a lousy memory.  I’m not sure if it’s because I popped a few brain cells during my college days…well, we won’t go into that.  Or if it’s because I just get overloaded with too much information. It drives me crazy when I call someone and while I’m on hold, I get distracted and suddenly forget who I called.  Now that’s embarrassing!  But I know it’s not just me. We’re all victims of forgetfulness at one time or another.

The reason I bring this up is that our poor brains, not just mine, can retain only so much information. And the first thing that goes is the stuff that doesn’t grab our attention and burn itself into the memory banks in the first place.  Like an ad for a funeral home, particularly when nobody’s dying. It’s just so much background noise that gets filtered out.

So what sticks?  Things that break the pattern.  The unexpected. That which is different. And therein lies the secret to all successful advertising.  If it’s not different, it won’t get noticed, let alone retained.

A few years ago, my agency created the slogan “Dare to be Different” which was specifically targeted to funeral directors and cemetery operators.  Our first ad in the series featured a grim black and white image of a vulture in a tree with the headline “Image is everything. How’s yours?”  Its message pointed to the fact, based on first-hand research, that many people have a less attractive idea of the funeral business than what’s real – and the right marketing can address that.

We ran the ad in most of the funeral trades, and as outrageous as the photo was, it grabbed our audience’s attention. There was nothing else like it in the trades.  (Yes, a few people were put off by its blunt message, but most got the point and appreciated its surprising approach.)

The next ad showed a hearse decorated as if for a wedding, with ribbons and tin cans off the bumper, and on the rear window, “Just Buried” was spray painted. Its headline, “Dare to be Different,” spoke to the need to step outside conventional boundaries to have any impact.

These ads helped put our agency front and center as a leader in creative funeral advertising.  You see, we actually practiced what we preach and put our own money where our mouths are.

In the latest iteration of my agency, LA ads, “Dare to be Different” remains our motto. It’s what is necessary to rise above the noise level.  More important, it’s mandatory if one wants to be remembered when a critical need suddenly arises and focus can be difficult.  There’s only so much room in the cranium and all but the most memorable gets pushed aside.

So that’s my message to all advertisers in the funeral business.  Dare to be Different.

I just dare ya.

There’s a debate now going on in the marketing world as to whether Marketing 1.0 (traditional advertising) is dead compared to Marketing 2.0 (Internet); or is that dead now that there’s Marketing 3.0 (social media).

Or is it all of the above. Or none of the above.

I get the feeling that while the proponents of one side are battling it out with advocates of another, the real question is left completely unanswered: what’s the Big Idea?

It’s ideas that drive people to act, not headlines, not fancy Flash animation, not even the Tweet-of-the-moment. People buy because they look to improve their lives, make pain go away, find a better future, satisfy their egos, or make the world better. That’s where the focus needs to be, not whether to add a new page on Facebook.

Here’s what I mean.

A few years ago, one of our clients, a Jewish cemetery, mentioned that they had a special repository for holy books. It’s Jewish tradition that books with the name of God be buried, not burned or destroyed. So synagogues would send damaged prayer books and Torah scrolls to the cemetery for burial. We thought this was a beautiful tradition and would give people a reason to come out to the cemetery that had nothing to do with death. It would also give local religious schools a reason to teach the role of the cemetery in Jewish life. Out of this we created a special book-burial prayer service, arranged for synagogues and religious schools to bring their students out to participate in the event, and developed a new curriculum dealing with end-of-life transitions. We used ads, press releases, flyers and phone calls to produce and publicize the events.

This was a big Idea brought to life. It touched families, schools, synagogues and the local community.

The media that we chose to promote these events were a product of the Idea, not the other way around!

As you develop your marketing for 2010, plan to let ideas drive the program. Don’t just take those old “Caring Since 1955” ads and translate them to the Web. Ask, what’s an Idea that can connect consumers to us? What are consumers missing that we can provide them? What programs can we offer that will get the attention of the local press? Be idea-centric and you’ll find much more valuable marketing solutions that can make every dollar go three times farther.

That’s the big idea.

Here’s a test regarding the effectiveness of your advertising: WSAC?

What’s a WSAC, you ask? It stands for Why Should Anyone Care?

WSAC is a stronger, more cynical way of asking WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?), the unspoken question we all subconsciously inquire when looking at commercial messages. You have to be cynical because, sure as shooting, your audience is.

So much advertising fails in one of two ways. Either it’s all about the product (or service) and not the buyer, or it’s way too clever for its own good. In either case, the question left at the end of the commercial or as the eyes are turning away is WSAC.

How many times have you seen a funeral home ad in which the headline is nothing more than the name of the funeral home. WSAC?

Or “Serving Families For Generations.” WSAC?

Or “The Caring People to Turn To.” WSAC?

Or even the vaunted “Celebrate A Life.” So what? What’s in it for me? Who gives a $%#@? Why should anyone care?

An audience overwhelmed by thousands of commercial messages every day isn’t going to take the time to contemplate an ad that doesn’t speak to their own needs quickly, honestly, clearly and compellingly.

So the first step in building your marketing is to give serious thought about what kind of message would a disinterested audience CARE about, that affects them personally and expresses how their lives are made better by reading further…particularly when it comes to marketing funeral services that by nature no one really wants even if it’s something everybody needs. And then, once you’ve crafted that message, the next step is to come up with a compelling, eye-stopping – I might even say disruptive – way of communicating that message within the headline and art.

You can say it funny. You can say it emotionally. You can even say it simply. But the result has to be that the audience has a near-instant reason to care, or you’ve just flushed more of your precious marketing dollars down the proverbial toilet.

It pays to be cynical in analyzing your own advertising. Or at least, put yourself in the mindset of a disinterested reader and don’t assume that just because you advertise they will come. You must understand WHY they should care if they’ve never heard of you before and they have so many other choices, including not to act at all. This is what should drive your advertising message, whether it’s in a magazine, on the web or on a bus bench.

And to better hone your skills at this, look at ads from other advertisers and see if they tell the story compellingly, or do they prompt you to ask WSAC. If you have to ask, they’ve missed the mark.

Just be sure others don’t ask that when looking at your ads.