WorldWide Drilling Resource

The Un-Comfort Zone II by Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. Good Advertising is Rooted in Psychology Back in the early 1990s, the marketing director of a small software company called me for a consul- tation to help them with their advertising. I had been recommended by one of their customers, and by one of their vendors. She explained the company was in crisis. Until recently, they had been very suc- cessful. Their software was a business application which served many different types of companies, and had grown rapidly. During this time, they had enjoyed the tranquility of being the only player in a niche market. Their success inspired the owner of the company to send out press releases, and in turn, the com- pany received a lot of positive publicity. The publicity, however, attracted the attention of several larger software companies, who, upon learning of the lucrative niche market, decided to enter it as well. Soon, the little software company was losing market share to the larger competitors. When I first heard the story, I thought of an old story my father had told me. It was about a little bird who failed to migrate south early enough, and was caught in a snowstorm. Its little wings iced up and it crashed into a barnyard where it looked like it would soon freeze to death. A passing cow then dropped a load of manure on the little bird. The warmth of the manure thawed out its wings and it was so happy it began to sing. A cat heard the bird, dug it out of the manure, and ate it. My father said the moral of the story is: Just because someone craps on you, doesn’t mean they are your enemy; and just because someone takes crap off of you, doesn’t mean they are your friend; and when things are going well, you should keep it to yourself so you don’t attract unwanted attention. On my arrival at the software company, the marketing director led me into a conference room. As I asked her questions about their current marketing strategy, I noticed she kept looking at her watch. After about five minutes, she told me the president of the company wanted to sit in on our meeting. Almost immediately, the door flew open and a burly, florid-faced man burst in without introducing himself. He walked rapidly toward me. Assuming he was the president of the company, I rose from my seat and extended my hand in greeting. He ignored my gesture to shake, and slammed a stack of laminated company advertise- ments on the table in front of me and demanded, "If you know so damn much about advertising, tell me which of these ads worked and which didn't." I was shocked by his rude behavior and thought to leave, but decided it could be a lucrative account. So I took a deep breath and counted to ten. I was a little disconcerted anyone would question my ability in such an obnoxious way - especially when I had been highly recommended to the company. I had ex- pected my expertise to be accepted because of the word-of-mouth referral. After com- posing myself, I was able to respond to his request. Wilson cont’d on page 24. WorldWide Drilling Resource ® 7 FEBRUARY 2017