Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Be Innovative And Traditional?

The post title reminds me of the spoof video making fun of management consultancies with the edict by the client to make 3 lines that are simultaneously parallel and perpendicular and the obsequious senior consultants promising it. Being Innovative and Traditional in format, design and copy seems impossible. At least if we’re limiting ourselves to […]

Learn More June 14, 2023

Morning Person or Evening?

Your morning or evening preference is heavily dictated by your circadian rhythm. This morning or evening-ness preference is also associated with your cognitive and emotional effectiveness. I’d love to time my marketing message to when people are more likely to be mentally plugged in, wouldn’t you? This is Personality week (1 of 2) and so […]

Learn More June 12, 2023

The Pseudoscience of Brand Personality

Have you ever been in a discussion about brand attributes or brand personality? What about research studies measuring how much donors think the brand fits certain attributes? Did it feel wildly generic or maybe, contrived? Does anybody think about a brand as being charming or good looking? One of the most well-respected marketing and brand […]

Learn More June 9, 2023

Personality and Emotion Words

Make it emotional is one of my favorite, paper-thin, directives from the department of shallow fundraising thoughts. Which emotion exactly? A positive one, negative, both? This also glosses over the fact that emotion doesn’t cause behavior, it’s the goal. Is my aim to make you feel sad or angry at some crappy or unfair situation? […]

Learn More June 7, 2023

People Are Different But In Predictable Ways

People are different in their motivation and interests and yet the sea of sameness of one-size-fits-all fundraising dominates. The Control ad and a Test ad both going to a single audience; the unspoken assumption is that everyone’s the same. But what if the test failed because it did well with some people but poorly with […]

Learn More June 5, 2023

We Are What We Choose

Are you more outgoing and social or introverted? Are you described by others as being warm, friendly and often helping others? Might people describe you as hard-working, dependable and a planner? You almost certainly had answers for all 3 questions that came naturally and quickly. These are typical descriptors for people and well, you know […]

Learn More June 2, 2023