Noise

Ever see a guy standing on the side of the road at a freeway onramp with a sign that says "Hungry, Need Food" or something like that? Probably you see them all the time, and pay no attention. This sort of visual/roadside panhandling has become part of the scenery in a lot of American cities, particularly in warm-weather climates. But what about a panhandler with a different message? You may have seen people holding signs that say "Why Lie? I Need A Beer!" and possibly even been amused by them, at least the first time. Colleagues of mine have reported seeing a man in a business suit whose sign said "I Need A Job" and directed the reader to his website, where his (very impressive) resume was posted. There's also a man who works various locations in L.A. with a sign that reads "Wife Wanted. Must Be Rich, Pretty, And Obedient" -- setting his sights fairly high, considering that he looks like something the wolf dragged in (and smells even worse), but I'd be willing to bet he gets more attention than the people with the generic signs.

In electronic engineering you will find references to a "Signal to Noise" ratio -- which compares the level of a desired transmission of information (say, music) to everything else being received by the observer (such as background noise). If the ratio is too low, the receiver will not be able to pick the signal out of the background noise, and the message (whatever it is) will be lost. This same principle is applied to Communications science, with the signal being whatever message the sender is trying to communicate, and the noise being whatever else is going on that will interfere with it. In the case of our panhandlers, the message they want to communicate is "I need money; please give me some" -- but they generally can't, because the noise (in the form of thousands of other panhandlers, as well as other demands on our attention) drowns them out. The guy with the "Wife Wanted" is so different from all of his competitors that he stands out when you see him -- effectively "boosting" his signal and cutting through the noise.

Marketing and Advertising specialists spend years learning how to achieve this effect using different media, and I won't attempt to explain how they do it in this space; I'm just pointing out that like the fundamentals of many other business functions, we as managers need to be aware of these basic concepts when approaching the marketing function. If every company in your industry is advertising in the same channels, you probably need to get your ad there as well (that's where the customers will be looking for you) but you also need to consider how you will cut through the clutter and get your specific message heard. If everybody in your industry is doing sweepstakes campaigns or buy one get one free sales, it will not be enough to just copy these programs. You need to find some way of making your ad different from all of the others.

In the classic Robert Heinlein short story "We Also Walk Dogs" a character is asked to write a new kind of ad for a large company called General Services that does all manner of odd jobs for people too busy to handle them, from shopping and cleaning to walking your dog (hence the title; it's the fictional company's sales slogan). It's interesting to note that when Mr. Heinlein wrote the story this was merely science fiction, but today you can look up such services in the yellow pages. In the story, the company's traditional ads are falling a bit flat, and it's starting to impact their market share. The manager put on the spot thinks about it for a moment, and then writes: "Do you want somebody murdered? (Then don't call General Services!) But for any other personal or household chores done at a reasonable price, call..."

I'm not sure this sort of tongue-in-cheek humor would fly in the post-911 world, where you probably CAN find contract killers advertising on Craig's List (or the equivalent) if you know where to look, but you have to admit that if you saw that ad in the paper (or even online) it would probably get your attention...