Archive for Brian Rouff

| January 29, 2013
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Inspiration in the halls

A few years ago during the depths of the great recession, a friend who owns a marketing firm in another city decided to go all-virtual. He dismantled his brick-and-mortar office, set up a home networking system for his entire team, and dove headfirst into a brave new work environment. It did the trick. He was able to keep his doors open (so to speak) and maintain client satisfaction with a minimum of angst.

I have to admit, we considered doing the same. And yet, after some consideration, we just couldn’t pull the trigger. More than anything, it came down to one thing: creativity. That’s what we sell around here. That’s the difference-maker. It’s still one of the few aspects of business that can’t be commoditized.

And how does creativity happen? Usually not by sitting alone in an office staring a hole through the computer screen. No, it’s a product of human interaction, sometimes structured, sometimes less so. We’ve written about brainstorming sessions before; they’re an invaluable tool, especially when people have worked together and respected each other as long as we have.

But more often than not, creativity is sparked by happy accidents. The casual remark in the hallway. Some wordplay between co-workers. A quick doodle on a whiteboard. Like a summer storm, it can appear at any moment. And dissipate just as fast.

Phones and emails and Skype are valuable conveniences; we couldn’t do our jobs without them. But they’re also barriers; extra layers that get in the way of true creative magic. I’m sure you’ve experienced teleconferences and webinars where you weren’t completely engaged, even when you wanted to be. It’s because technology trumps nuance. Synergy gets sapped when it’s converted into electrical impulses.

Sometimes the best decisions are the ones you don’t make. I’m pleased to say that we kept our office and our team intact. Sure, some of us work from home from time to time. But the real breakthroughs happen up close and personal. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Brian Rouff serves as managing partner for Imagine Communications.

Contact Brian at brouff@weareimagine.com.

 

Category: Brian Rouff, communication | Tags: , , ,
| August 9, 2012
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Being right may be wrong

In 2002, a colleague talked me into going to one of those empowerment weekend retreats for business owners. I don’t remember much about it except for sleep deprivation and freezing my butt off in the mountains of Utah.

One thing stuck with me, though (besides frostbite). About halfway through, our trainer (an ex-Marine type), said that needing to be right all the time “can cost you your job, your marriage, your family, even your life.”

I’m not sure I completely understood the concept then, but I do now. Apparently, the human ego is so strong and fragile at the same time that our identities are bound up with the need to be right. In most instances, we would rather cling to our belief systems than be happy and successful, even when those belief systems are outmoded and no longer serve their purpose.

Randy Pausch

You may remember computer science professor Randy Pausch, who delivered an inspirational and touching farewell speech to colleagues and students at Carnegie Mellon University just months before dying of pancreatic cancer. The speech, entitled “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” became a You Tube sensation and a “New York Times” best-selling book. Pausch left behind a wife and three young children. “The lecture was for my kids, but if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful,” Pausch wrote on his website. (You can view the entire presentation here.)

A compelling, bittersweet story to be sure. But in a subsequent “Time” magazine story, when asked about alternative therapies, Pausch responded, “I’ve received 10,000 e-mails—that’s a real number—many of them telling me about different remedies. But my first filter is, ‘Has it been through any kind of clinical study?’ The plural of anecdote is not data, so if you know three people that did some alternative cure, that’s positive, but it’s not the same thing as real, clinically proved data.”

I can’t fault him for making a personal choice. But if I were fighting cancer and my doctors sent me home to die and I had three small children, I’d throw the kitchen sink at it. It might not work, but I’d go down swinging. I wouldn’t be waiting for the next clinical study. That would be my personal choice.

Thankfully, the business decisions we make every day aren’t a matter of life and death. But they do impact people’s lives. Most of the time, our bedrock beliefs serve us well. But occasionally, especially during periods of economic turmoil, it’s a good idea to re-examine everything. We just might find that our need to be right is keeping us from reaching our goals.

Brian Rouff serves as managing partner for Imagine Communications.

Email Brian at brouff@weareimagine.com.

Category: Brian Rouff, business, communcation | Tags: , , ,
| June 19, 2012
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Facebook stock decline proves goodwill important to companies’ long-term success

I don’t know anyone who really likes Facebook. Sure, it has close to a billion users who enjoy connecting with old and new friends alike. But I’m talking about the company itself. I think most of us use the service grudgingly, mainly because it’s the best available option. But just wait until something better comes along and watch how quickly we jump ship. Here’s why:

  • Their decisions seem arbitrary and capricious. Personally, I often feel jerked around by changes that appear to be made on a whim. Maybe it’s because they don’t do a good job of explaining why it benefits me. My suspicion is that it only benefits them.
  • I don’t trust them. Again, it might be a simple lack of communication. But I can’t help believing that they are selling all of my personal data (and yours) for big bucks.
  • The movie. If “The Social Network” is even close to accurate, Zuckerburg is a sociopath. And he runs his company accordingly, not caring about his customers or (now) investors. The lack of empathy is palpable. Which goes hand-in-hand with …
  • Arrogance.

That’s why so many of us are thrilled to see the stock underperform. Until now, the organization and its founder appeared to live charmed lives, whether they deserved it or not. So it’s nice to see a crack in the armor. They could use a dose of humility.

It all adds up to a lack of goodwill, which is one of the most important attributes of long-term business success. It doesn’t happen naturally; it has to be earned. Think of the companies that give you a nice warm feeling. Zappos. Nordstrom (for those who can afford it).  Trader Joe’s. Apple. Southwest Airlines. In-N-Out. Google. It’s because they treat you like a person, not just a credit card holder. And they go out of their way to show they care. That’s why we like them. Never underestimate the value of likeability, whether it’s a business or a politician or a spouse.

Not so Facebook. And the IPO is proof.

Brian Rouff serves as managing partner for Imagine Communications. Contact Brian at brouff@weareimagine.com.

Category: Brian Rouff, social media, Social Networking | Tags: , , , , ,
| May 4, 2012
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Marketing lessons from World Book Night

“Excuse me, ma’am, can I offer you a free copy of ‘Friday Night Lights’?”

The woman recoiled as if I were holding a baby rattler. “No!” she shouted, backing away. And then, by way of mumbled explanation, “I don’t read.”

She’s not alone. According to an Associated Press poll, one-quarter of all Americans read no books last year. Apparently they’re as scared of reading as the woman above. And that’s the point of World Book Night, an annual nonprofit event, now in its second year, designed to spread the joy of reading by giving away free books. On the evening of April 23, tens of thousands of folks just like me staked out positions in high-traffic areas all over the world with the goal of distributing millions of books, no strings attached. The event is sponsored by organizations like Barnes & Noble, UPS, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Ingram Book Distributors, the American Library Association and dozens of others.

I had signed up online weeks before and made my selection from an eclectic list of thirty that included “The Hunger Games,” “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” “Because of Winn Dixie,” “The Book Thief,” “Kite Runner,” “The Stand,” “The Things They Carried,” and “A Prayer for Owen Meany.” I chose “Friday Night Lights” thinking the movie and TV tie-ins might help me convince non-readers to give it a shot.

And so I set up shop with my box of 20 books at the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas for two reasons: It’s a high-traffic area. And, with all the Madonna and Elvis impersonators, showgirls, street performers and assorted other hucksters, I wouldn’t be the weirdest guy on the block.

I may as well have been. I spent my first fruitless minutes giving away nary a copy. Some people thought I was passing out political or religious tracts. Others just couldn’t bring themselves to believe that the books were absolutely free. While I fine-tuned my pitch, I resigned myself to a long night.

I made my first “sale” to a hotel security guard who had been eyeing me suspiciously and wandered over to see what the heck I was up to. Instead of tossing me out, he left with his free gift and a tacit understanding that I wasn’t some sort of trouble-maker. At least not on this night.

That was just the crack in the dam I needed. Within seconds, I had distributed books to a man in a wheelchair, a husband and wife from Romania, a few young adults with multiple tattoos and piercings, and a man who rounded up his entire family and asked if they could each have a copy. Once passers-by decided the promotion was legit, I was down to an empty carton in less than 10 minutes. I probably could have given away 1,000.

For me, the whole thing amounted to a fascinating sociological and marketing experiment confirming that:

  • The public has learned not to trust free offers.
  • People are followers.
  • Transactions can be tricky even when no money exchanges hands.
  • You need a strong opening line (I finally settled on, “Did you know tonight is World Book Night? Thousands of people all over the world are giving away books like this one.”)
  • You want to quickly co-opt the authorities and get them on your side (or at least get them to leave you alone).
  • I want to do it again next year.

Maybe I’ll see you there.

Brian Rouff serves as managing partner for Imagine Communications. Contact Brian at brouff@weareimagine.com.

Category: books, Brian Rouff, business, communcation, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , ,
| April 11, 2012
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Art and commerce

We just finished designing a cover for the first book in a three-part series about vampires. We’ve worked on at least a dozen book covers over the last few years, and we always find these projects fun and challenging. Fun because we get to stretch our creative chops. Challenging because the main purpose of a cover is to sell books. So there’s always some give and take, which leads to intriguing internal discussions as we seek to find the most effective middle ground.

When you stop to think about it, the process is a microcosm of what we do around here every day. The push/pull of art and commerce is a constant in our business. And we’ve learned that the key, as in most things, is balance. If we veer off too far in one direction or the other, results suffer.

That’s where judgment and experience come into play. Balance is a vital concept, but it’s not always as self-evident as you’d think. But when we put our heads together, along with our various perspectives and histories, the pieces fall into place. We always say that six or eight brains are better than one. I think vampires say that too, but for different reasons.

Or maybe that’s zombies.

Brian Rouff serves as managing partner for Imagine Communications. Contact Brian at brouff@weareimagine.com.

Category: books, Brian Rouff, business, Uncategorized | Tags: , , ,
| March 28, 2011
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‘I Don’t Like It’

“I don’t like it.” — When it comes to evaluating marketing materials, we’ve banned that phrase from our office. Not because people aren’t allowed to not like something (is that a double negative?), but because it’s not particularly helpful. “I don’t like it” boils down to only one thing: personal taste. You’re entitled to your opinion and I’m entitled to mine. But unless we support our arguments with valid reasons, they’re essentially meaningless.

Here are some more meaningful phrases:
- “I don’t like it because it’s too cluttered.”
- “I don’t like it because it doesn’t reflect the client’s identity.”
- “I don’t like it because the message is unfocused.”
- “I don’t like it because we took the easy way out.”
- “I don’t like it because it doesn’t live up to our standards.”

You get the idea. Internally, we’ve created a culture that values these types of interactions. We know we can disagree because we do it out of respect and because we know that everyone has the client’s best interests at heart.

The real challenge takes place when the client says “I don’t like it.” Usually, he or she can’t articulate the reasons beyond a simple gut reaction. It’s our job as marketing specialists to extract the logic (or lack thereof) behind the statement. As it turns out, sometimes the client is right. We’re open to that; we’re just as capable of making mistakes as the next marketing professionals. But sometimes the client is wrong. Then it’s up to us to build our case. Here’s what usually happens. The client remains skeptical but gives us the green light to test our approach. That’s where the rubber hits the road. The burden of proof is on us. But if we’ve done our homework and put all the proper pieces in place, there’s a good chance that everyone winds up happy.

Every now and then, a client will dig in and say, in so many words, “My way or the highway.” We never take these moments lightly. We give each the consideration it deserves, carefully weighing the pros and cons, bringing all of our experience and judgment to bear. In the end, we might decide to part ways, especially if we feel our integrity is on the line. That’s when you’ll find us on the “highway.” We’ve learned that the occasional metaphorical road trip isn’t such a bad thing.

Brian Rouff serves as managing partner for Imagine Marketing.
Contact Brian at brouff@imnv.com.

Category: Brian Rouff, Dice Angel, Imagine Marketing, Las Vegas advertising firm, Las Vegas authors |
| February 21, 2011
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Big rewards gained via small marketing changes

Sometimes small changes in your business model can reap big rewards. Take Little Caesars Pizza Hot-N-Ready Pizzas. For those who haven’t tried them, Hot-N-Ready Pizzas live up to their name. Just bop into a Little Caesars anytime and you’ll see a stack of medium cheese and pepperoni pizzas for five bucks each. No ordering, no waiting. The entire transaction takes about a minute.

Maybe once a month, my wife will ask me to pick up a Hot-N-Ready pizza on the way home. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you consider that we never ordered from Little Caesars before, I’m sure it makes a difference. Especially when you multiply it by the tens of thousands of new customers they’ve developed through this one simple innovation.

Now nobody’s claiming that Little Caesars makes the best pizzas in the world. They’re just okay. But sometimes okay is good enough, especially when they fulfill the promise of the Hot-N-Ready name for a fair price. Notice they didn’t name them “Hot-N-Delicious.” That would have been a stretch. I believe the name is an essential ingredient (along with cheese, tomato sauce and a darned good warming table).

Speaking of good names (and good ideas), have you heard of a company called “Throx?” The word is a combination of “three” and “sox,” which is exactly the way they bundle their products. The tagline is “Socks with a Spare.” Creative packaging solves the pesky problem of lost or holey socks, something we’ve all faced (usually at the most inopportune times). As they say in those Guinness commercials, “Brilliant!” I’m sure their competitors are kicking themselves for not thinking of it first.

What’s the one change you can make in your business? Take a long weekend to think about it. Schedule a company-wide brainstorm session. Maybe the answer is right under your nose. Or on your feet.

Brian Rouff serves as managing partner for Imagine Marketing.
Contact Brian at brouff@imnv.com

Category: Best Selling Las Vegas Author, Brian Rouff, Dice Angel, Imagine Marketing, LAS VEGAS MARKETING FIRM |
| October 27, 2010
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Transparent when transparency wasn’t cool

Here at Imagine, we like to say we’re a different kind of company. Saturn (the car folks, not the planet) used to say that, too. But they’re not around anymore, so we co-opted their tagline. I hope it’s not bad luck.

Of course, when you say things like that, you need to back it up. We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard or people will be quick to point out our shortcomings. Recently, we were given yet another opportunity to walk the walk. Ehsan Kaveh, a loyal and valuable team member for more than eight years, resigned a couple of weeks ago to make his way in the world. He handled it in a very professional manner, giving us two week’s notice to ensure a smooth and orderly transition. Most companies, upon getting that kind of news, fire the employee on the spot. My wife worked for a place where a security guard escorted her ex-coworker to her desk and watched while she cleaned it out, making sure she didn’t steal any paper clips or rubber bands. I’ve never understood this kind of thinking. It’s bad for morale and bad for business.

In the past, when I’ve called companies to ask for a particular individual, I’ve been told that person “is no longer with us.” Makes it sound like he or she is dead. Even worse, they never tell you where that person went (whether it’s heaven or a competitor). So I’m left wondering what happened and how it will affect my dealings with the company. It’s also prime breeding ground for rumors. Not a smart way to handle things.

We don’t want to be those guys. We’re more transparent than that. In fact, we were transparent when transparency wasn’t cool (with apologies to Barbara Mandrell). So here’s what happened. Ehsan decided to move on. No hard feelings on either side. We’ll miss him. We wish him well. And the door’s always open for him to come back and visit – especially if he wants to show up with a couple of pizzas around lunchtime.

Brian Rouff is the managing partner at Imagine Marketing.
Contact Brian at brouff@imnv.com

Category: being transparent, Brian Rouff, Dice Angel, Imagine Marketing, Las Vegas advertising firm, Las Vegas authors |
| September 22, 2010
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“We’ll Figure it Out”

My business partner Alex Raffi has a favorite saying: “We’ll figure it out.” He says this when we’re in the middle of a particularly sticky situation; some graphic design challenge or technical compatibility issue that isn’t in the manual. (Confession: We don’t even own a manual.) We’re on a tight deadline, the client is counting on us, and we find ourselves, once again, in uncharted territory.

Know what happens? We figure it out. Always. Sometimes it doesn’t look exactly the way we had envisioned it. (Usually it’s better.) But after all these years together, our team has confidence we can make things work. That’s because two (or five or eight) heads are better than one. One of my standard jokes is that, when we put our heads together, we have a whole brain. Like most jokes, it’s based on truth.

This, it seems to me, is the essence of creativity. We don’t care how we get to the solution, just as long as we do. Elementary school teachers would hate us because we can’t show our work. (But we can duplicate it.) It’s a messy process. Creativity always is. Sometimes, if we think they can “hang” (as my kids say), we’ll invite the client in to collaborate. But most clients only care about the final product, as well they should. It’s similar to when I drop my truck off at the mechanic’s. I don’t want to watch them take the engine apart or see dozens of pieces strewn all over the garage floor. (Besides, they charge extra to watch.) I just want to come in, pick it up, turn the key and hear the engine turn over smoothly.

That “can-do” attitude has permeated our entire organization. It’s become part of our cultural fabric. It reminds me of that old inspirational sign: “The difficult we do immediately. The impossible may take a little time.”

But not too much time. After all, we’re on deadline.

Brian Rouff is the managing partner of Imagine Marketing.
Contact Brian at brouff@imnv.com

Category: “Can-do” attitude, Brian Rouff, Dice Angel, Imagine Marketing, Las Vegas advertising firm, Las Vegas author, Las Vegas public relations firm |
| August 18, 2010
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Determining who is “deserving” – marketing applications for any situation

A few months ago, I wrote a blog about dog marketing strategies. My grandson and I went to the animal shelter and noticed that the way the occupants presented themselves greatly influenced whether they found a new home.

Recently, it occurred to me that homeless people are the same way. Now, before you get all politically correct on me, I’m not equating dogs with the homeless. What I am saying is that marketing impacts every aspect of our lives. (Of course I’d say that; I’m a marketer.)

As I make my appointed rounds, I always keep a buck or two handy in case I run into a deserving homeless type. (My wife says I’m a soft touch and she’s probably right. But it’s not all altruism. I’m sure I could use the good karma.) How do I determine who is “deserving?” It’s completely superficial, I can assure you.

Here’s a partial list of who gets the nod:
• Anyone with a dog
• Anyone with a crutch (or a limp)
• Anyone with a kid
• Women
• Men in military garb

Now I realize that some of these are just props. But that’s okay. They get extra credit for creativity. And speaking of creativity, I’m also a sucker for clever signs:
• “Time Traveler – Help! Need Money for New Flux Capacitor.”
• “Homeless Jedi”
• “Will Code HTML for Food”
• “Betcha Can’t Hit Me With a Quarter”
• “Will Take Verbal Abuse for $1.00”
• “Out of Luck, Need a Buck” (I love poetry I can understand)

On the flip side, here’s how not to get my money:
• Just sit there
• Look crazy (like you’ll hurt me as soon as I roll down my window)
• Act overly aggressive
• Drink beer
• Have your expensive bike or backpack stashed behind a bush

And here’s how not to get my repeat business (because many homeless folks stake out the same corner):
• Don’t thank me
• Look disappointed
• Reach too far into my vehicle
• Display a sign about needing money to leave town (and never leave town)

I hope I’ve made my case that the basic rules of marketing apply no matter the situation (or even the species). I’d enjoy hearing from you. A dollar for your thoughts.

Brian Rouff is the managing partner at Imagine Marketing.
Contact Brian at brouff@imnv.com

Category: Basic Rules of Marketing, Best Selling Las Vegas Author, Brian Rouff, Dice Angel, Imagine Marketing, Las Vegas advertising firms, Marketing Impacts All Areas of Our Lives |
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