Impression Engineers | Information Design Specialty Products

For the past 3 days, I have been trying to pick out a paint color for the bedroom. In the store, the color looked light green, a color I would call “Seafoam.” The paint supplier called it “Reef”, my friend said it looked gray as we painted it, and in the bedroom lighting, I just stepped back and called it “Yuck.” Still a work in progress…

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, it just pointed out to me once again that we all see and understand things differently… How many times do we describe something and know exactly what we mean, but the person we are attempting to communicate to takes what we said an entirely different way?

An important rule to always remember in communication is the KISS–Keep It Simple and Short. So many times, I find I can get caught up in my industry’s jargon or slang, I know what I’m saying, so do coworkers, but when that glazed look comes over your client’s eyes, you know it’s time to stop, rewind, simplify and try again.

"We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are."
            ~Anais Nin. Writer and diarist 1903-1977 ~

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Targeting your customers through "market segmentation" or "selective marketing" is very effective, if done properly.  Unlike mass-market advertising, selective marketing copy is written directly to a specific audience.

Recently, we were asked to write an ad. They sent us the one they had made themselves — it had not performed as expected. The minute we got it, we knew why it did not perform and we were not even part of the market the ad was aimed at.

First rule of writing an ad is to make sure it is written to the target audience. What appeals to them? Humor? Details?  Advice?

But that is really not what I set out to write about today. My son just got home from a business trip to Las Vegas. He mentioned that a Water Park we had good memories of, had closed. We reminisced about the good times we had together there and the biggest slide we had ever seen in our lives, wet or dry. This slide was several stories tall!

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