Explainer Network - Animated Explanations Wins Platinum Seal of e-Excellence

A big congrats to Instruxion (the company behind Animated Explanations) for being awarded the Platinum Seal of e-Excellence in Europe, which recognizes companies who have a track record of innovation. Of course, we see this recognition as further proof that video explanations are a valuable and productive element of marketing and education. Animated Explanations is based on Brussels, Belgium and a member of our Explainer Network of video producers.

Here's the description of the award from the award website:

The European Seal of e-Excellence rewards ICT and Digital Media companies with an excellent track record in innovation marketing. Awarded annually since 2003 by the EMF and its Partner Organisations, the Seal is widely known for recognizing companies with:

1. innovative products and services;
2. excellence in the marketing thereof.

Again, congrats to Geert and the Instruxion team!

View With Comments

What Pitchman Ron Popeil Can Teach Us About Explanation

If you've been reading for a while, you've seen us write that a secret to a strong explanation is putting the subject in the context of someone's life.  Don't just talk about what it does, talk about how it fits into their world - how it takes away pain or makes something easier, faster, better.

Recently I've been reading the Malcolm Gladwell book What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, which is a collection of his past articles from the New Yorker. One of the articles is called The Pitchman and focuses, in part, on Ron Popeil of Ronco.  You may recognize his name from late-night TV, where he's often seen pitching a new kitchen appliance like the Veg-o-matic or the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie BBQ. He is a classic pitchman - a pro.

Though I would never call myself a pitchman, there is an element of the skill in creating explanations. Think of a commercial or an exhibit on the floor of a fair or trade show. The pitchman only has a limited amount of time to attract attention and hold it long enough for value to be clear. Common Craft may not sell Ginsu knives, but we do specialize in making value clear, in about three minutes.

There is a section of the story that struck me as particularly apt for explainers. Ron Popeil discusses pitching kitchen gadgets and how VCRs were marketed... 

You have to show them exactly how it works and why it works and make them follow your hands as you chop liver with it, and then tell them precisely how it fits into their routine, and, finally sell them on the paradoxical fact that, revolutionary as the gadget is, it's not at all hard to use.

Thirty years ago, the video cassette recorder came onto the market, and it was a disruptive product too: it was supposed to make it possible to tape a television show so that no one would ever again be chained to to the prime-time schedule. Yet, as ubiquitous as the VCR became, it was seldom put to that purpose. That's because the VCR was never pitched: no one ever explained the gadget to American consumers... and no one showed them exactly how it worked or how it would fit into their routine and no pair of hands guided them through every step of the process. All VCR makers did was hand over the box with a smile and a pat on the back, tossing in an instruction manual for good measure.  Any pitchman could have told you that wasn't going to work.

These days I see a lot of companies acting like VCR makers - handing over a gadget and focusing on features - without indicating how it fits into the lives of customers. Perhaps we all have something to learn from Ron Popeil.

View With Comments

Online Videos, Testimonials and Conversion Rates

It's too easy to just put up a web page and hope for the best. I can certainly attest to this practice for most of Common Craft's existence. However, as we've moved into ecommerce and built some traffic, I've become much more data oriented and learned more about things like "conversions" and "A/B testing."

Many web-based businesses have the same goal: drive traffic to your web site and then convert that traffic into some desired action.  This is called conversion - converting traffic to sales, contacts, newsletter sign-ups, etc. is a big deal and something that's important to understand.

View With Comments

Yaay! Common Craft Stickers

Thanks to John, Maureen and the folks at Sticker Giant for their help with these little guys. We're planning to carry them with us at conferences, etc. If you see us at SXSW or anywhere else, ask for one!

Would you like a sticker?  Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

Common Craft

P.O. Box 18322

Seattle, WA 98118-0322

View With Comments

Being Lightweight: Business Design

This is the third in a series of posts about Being Lightweight.  The first two were about Working with Clients and Tools We Use.

We are lucky to have a product that people like. Our challenge is to experiment and find the best ways to build a business around this product. To be successful we need the business to be profitable, but also work within the life we want to live.

View With Comments

New Social Media eBook - And a Funny Blogger Outreach Video

Wouldn't it be nice if every author actually lived in the world that they wrote about? It's one thing to be an observer, but yet another to be a resident.  That's why it's my pleasure to point you to a new ebook by Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo of Capulet Communications.

View With Comments

On To Bluer Oceans

The transition is complete. Common Craft has become a different company and our first products are coming out in the next two weeks.

A Bit of Background:

In 2003, I started Common Craft to focus on online communities. After being a professional online community manager for a few years (1999-2003) Common Craft gave me a chance to be a consultant for the first time. I loved it - I had a cozy little niche that enabled me to work on fun and interesting projects, like the March of Dimes - Share Your Story community. Even then, part of my services included plain English explanations.

View With Comments

To Be Rather Than to Seem

I'm originally from North Carolina and I once learned that our state motto is "Esse Quam Videri" which translates to "To Be Rather Than To Seem"

If you ask me, this should be the motto for businesses (and individuals) who are trying to adapt to the new world of community, marketing and advertising on the web. The days of "seeming" are over and success in the future is all about "being". Really, there is no choice - the customer now decides what is real.

To Be Rather Than To Seem - it makes sense to me.

View With Comments

Building and Spending Buzz Capital

As I’ve been hinting, I’m getting really close to revealing something new that I’m very excited about. Quite honestly, I’m hoping to build some buzz, as I’ll be looking for people to participate (it's free). In planning for buzz, I like to look at it in terms of something I call “Buzz Capital”.

Like most types of capital, buzz capital is something you build up and then spend. The goal is to spend it at the most opportune moment, thus increasing the returns on the buzz. I'd say that Apple is a perfect example of good buzz capital management.

View With Comments

The Times They Are A'Changin

I've been planning something since January of this year and I'm really excited that it's about to come to fruition. In fact, I can barely contain myself. I'm going to be evasive for now, but it's something that represents the biggest adventure of my life so far, personally and professionally.

In a week or two, I'll start talking specifics and my goal in writing this is to fire off a warning shot to say that things are changing here at Common Craft headquarters. In fact, I think it's safe to say that this blog has a little over 2 months before it goes into hibernation.

The key point for now is that I want you to stay tuned because I'm about to have a whole lot of new things to talk about. It'll be fun, I promise. :)

View With Comments