Driving home the other night I caught the tail end of a Don Henley song as I wondered how ungrateful I must be when hundreds of satellite stations all lacked appeal for me.  A partial lyric from the 90′s song “…how can …survive in such a graceless age…” stuck in my head before I moved on (I definitely didn’t linger, not Don’s best work).

This idea of grace, of making informed decisions and acting with poise and self-awareness, a countenance of dignity and beyond reproach has me thinking of Grace Kelly and Jackie O.  These ladies seemed the epitome of class, and represent a bygone era where acting with circumspect and moderation were important self-governance attributes.

Sigh, but not so in today’s world, where in many ways marketing seems to be continuously pushing the boundaries of propriety.

Following on the heels of the recent Motrin Moms incident comes an act of idiocy by PepsiCo.  Yes, folks, lightening can strike twice.  Mr. Abraham provides details on his AdAge post, but the gist is that the soft drink giant thought this ad would be funny. Or communicate their unique calorie-free product. Or their new tantalizing flavor. Oh, wait.  It did none of that…

Tacky, tasteless print advertisement from Pepsi

Edgy print ad intended for niche German audience be darned, this ad is tasteless and in poor humor.  Precariously standing on a stump platform destined to fall, the ad portrays “One very very very lonely calorie” supposedly despondent in his lack of success of forging friendships or relationships with other soft drink calories.  Or something.

Are calories really so important to us, to our society, that the idea of self-abolishment is acceptable so long as ones waistline is maintained?

Egad, I hope not.

Folks, this is a slippery slope we’re walking. Girls are starving themselves because of glamorized images they see on television.  There is not enough Dove Real Beauty to stamp out “perfection” messaging.

Please, let’s put some grace back into marketing.  Your mom would be proud of you.  I’m thinking Mr. Godin would approve, too.

Sounds like content distribution, doesn’t it?  In today’s terms, that might include blogs, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, the list goes on.  It’s about sharing what you know and think.  About opening doors in the imagination and sparking creativity.  Or for that matter, sparking debate.

The art of storytelling has a rich and complex history.  Generations of cultures matured under the influence of stories shared by family and friends.  Stories evolved because they’d been shaped and distributed among trusted groups.  The geographic influence of the story was far and wide.  Telling stories—communicating concepts, sharing ideas, prompting discovery, suggesting solutions—served mankind throughout the ages as we learned the world around us. How to survive, how to solve problems, societal dynamics and interplay.  How to dream.

Today, storytelling serves marketers by fueling environments created for distributing and directing messages or objectives. As historically audiences may have sat in rapture or curiosity as a story was shared, in the here & now, engagement of the mind, exploration and discussion inspiration are goals for crafting compelling content.  Like a good actor, a (good) brand can capture attention, entertain, comfort, and resolve stories–for its customers, and customers-in-waiting.

Authoritative use of a stage (channel) can be an effective tactic when used as part of a more comprehensive marketing strategy.  One simplified scenario, for example, could be if a brand sought to build some interest around a new or repositioned service offering and developed some intriguing video with well-scripted footage. [disclaimer: assumes discovery, planning, research, and other examination/validation steps in process] The video could be posted, a few blog posts or Twitter updates (from an established presence) could bring the material to the light of consciousness, and the opportunity is borne.  Let the audience get lost in the story (and yours WILL be a good story, won’t it?).

By sharing a branded product or service story, maybe as described above, a marketer effectively prepares the stage for publicity and interest by presuming there’s an inherent entertainment value in what s/he has to offer.  Strong strategy has the marketer recognizing the viral opportunity is more about exposure, entertainment, and experience than it is about education, persuasion, and conversion.   Make sure your viral program has clear focus and objective, and doesn’t get reconfigured to try to achieve too much, or the program is at risk for being diluted.  There has to be a compelling, likely emotion-based reason for someone to become involved. To comment.  To forward.  To believe, or even be annoyed.

Once the seeds of awareness have been planted, it’s time to carefully cultivate the growth of the program through sustained, but not oppressive, methods.  If there are public personalities with a good match to your service, then they could serve as new voices of content distribution, and add credibility to the cause or topic.  Maintain momentum, but do not overwhelm or inundate your target market with “sales” messages for a viral program, lest you suffer backlash from what might appear as a deceptive maneuver.  Consumers expect advertising on search engine results pages.  They do not want it from a trusted resource purportedly directing them toward something of interest.

Plan (what’s your one thing?), maintain focus, cultivate, and self-monitor—those are some keys to a successful viral story.

But as much as I’ve grown weary of the magazine covers, telemarketing calls, text ads, Facebook groups, and personal, hand-scrawled letters sent unsolicited by concerned local citizens on behalf of XXX’s campaign (I made my choice quite awhile ago), its all still there, swirling about.  A whole bunch of noise and static in the near background.  Enough already.  I’m a realist and choose to endorse the candidate whose views most closely mirror my own, and whose fleshed-out plans sound as though they’ll carry the most water.  However, that doesn’t mean I have a blind eye to my candidate’s weak areas, or poor decisions.  I just wish we could stick to the issues.

But really, a couple things bother me about all this.  One is the mudslinging.  I mean, is there no end to the point/counterpoint?  How can anyone make rationale decisions when choosing?  Each candidate is so earnest, working to appeal to the common man.  If everything is the truth, where are the falsehoods?  Or maybe, if everything is a falsehood, where is the truth?  Truth is an enigma, wrapped in a riddle…

The other thing that bothers me is the astronomical amounts of money consumed in this self-righteous quest to convert the confused or ambivalent, misdirect the passionate.  On a state level, I’ve received four separate pieces of direct mail from a single candidate.  The messages on those pieces are very direct, and make sweeping suggestions about the other party’s misappropriation of budget during his/her last term.  I’ve also received direct mail from the opponent, and the messages are syrup-sweet “down home, local grown goodness.”  When you remove the situational facts (that one winner will need to make critical decisions for Iowans), what remains is little more than fingerpointing. And resources–both financial and natural–that get tossed out with the trash (hint: I don’t read 95% of the direct mail I receive).

As intelligent people in an advanced society, can we not construct a more transparent and civilized platform for debate and deliberation?  I hear you rolling your eyes at me.  We’re all entitled one pie-in-the-sky dream.

Like many products or services we consumers purchase, there’s a part of me that’s curious if people ever wonder (long after election time is over) if their political brand actually delivers on the promises made during the courting period, during the competitive feature-benefit comparison (or even the price/value mental gymnastics accompanying considered purchase products).

Will your candidate deliver? Or will you be sold a sweet lemon of a new ride?

As described by me above, a bit clunky, but you get the picture.  When you think about it, there’s kind of like the rote “Have a great day.” expression delivered by bleary-eyed clerks gazing over your shoulder at the next customer in line.  This, in comparison to the rare jewel Pollyanna clerk who seems genuinely interested that you didn’t find everything you needed this morning and calls over a stockman to go grab one for you before you complete that transaction.

A prepared statement delivered on autopilot Vs. a genuine exchange resulting from a concern for customer care.

Now while Pete’s article focuses primarily on transactional messaging (Contact Us forms, Submission forms, etc.), I think the same principles can apply to almost any task-based action available on Web sites.  Think of frustrations you have undoubtedly had with online retailers (who should know better by now!) and even organizations or groups that enable enrollment.

“. . .do media planners even see a relationship between a friendly welcome mat and consumer loyalty or word of mouth?. . . Brands simply cannot endure half-open and half-closed service protocols. Either we conclude service is part of the new marketing equation, or we can do the consumer a favor and put a “still under construction” sign on our doorstep.”  –Pete Blackshaw

At one point, Pete suggests that Healthcare (among other verticals) is a big offender.  While I concur that is likely true for a number, I find it ironic that as my employer releases new updates for our software, we have enlisted the aid of a writer and former editor to help craft messaging that is more useful, better positioned, and where possible, suggests another (next step) or alternative (no results found, try xxx) course of action.

Forms – or other advisory and task-based affirmations/notification messaging – are a great opportunity to really touch the consumer at a very relevant time.  The values of self-expression, availability, control, etc. are prime pickins’ (as is basic usability) when we accomplish what we set out to do – or we don’t.

Each time your consumers are exposed to your brand – in these examples, to simple messaging – they make an emotional determination about whether they’d been “heard” or not.  Whether they matter.  Check out your site and reaffirm you’re sending the right information with the right tone in messaging that rewards the consumer for doing business with you.  And how about solicit “What could we have done differently?” feedback, because you’re interested in discovering areas for improvement?