What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know.  It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.

Mark Twain

I like to compare what I do in communications to building a house.  There are many different ways to get to a finished house and not all houses are the same.  Some are designed by architects who put out tenders to construction companies who then, after winning the tender hire subcontractors.  Others are dreamt up and built by the dreamers using their own hands.  In what I do I can either be hired by the client or an ad agency to execute to varying degrees on an idea of theirs or our own.  Also, as demonstrated on “Holmes On Homes” and maybe in your past marketing efforts there are folks out there who bullshit you out of your money leaving you with a half finished reno or message!

In building a house or communications message, none of the finished products are inherently superior to the other just by how they got to being, but there are some benefits and dangers involved in each method.  For one, the more people involved in the process the easier it is for someone down the line to “fix” a mistake caused by inexperience, lack of knowledge or attention to detail, but the more people involved, the more complex the process and the more cost.  With less people involved the process can be simplified and the costs can be reduced but inexperience, lack of knowledge and attention to detail can be disastrous as there are few others (if anyone else) to catch errors.

The major challenge facing small to medium sized companies right now when it comes to hiring independent contractors to execute on their communications is they can be faced with an assortment of “experts”.  These “experts” can throw around key words, stats and phrases to leave the impression that they “live” whatever they are professing to know about marketing, web, or video.  But there is more than knowing the latest catch phrases, popular websites and/or having read the latest evangelical book or blog on the subject required to be able to effectively communicate your message.  Success in telling the story comes from being able to combine solid knowledge of the media involved, knowledge and experience in technically executing for that media and having the ability to effectively communicate with the client and even more importantly, the target audience.  It’s not rocket science but does require hard work, which some are adverse to.

At PHI we believe the secret to communication success is having a team that is willing to work hard to understand the company and target and put a supreme effort into the execution of the message, all within the company’s budget.  Our team’s depth of experience in various industries, working with various products, and in some cases, being a manager on the client side making marketing or advertising decisions gives us a practical, street level understanding of what works in a real business and what doesn’t. At the end of the day, sales and the need for sustainable cash flow is what business owners want out of their communication expenditures. However, a company’s sustainability is only obtained by telling its story through meaningful, targeted branding, PR and advertising that will reach the actual customer.

You know your business better than anyone, and PHI’s team will help you articulate that knowledge (and story) into something that resonates with your target.  Catch phrases are optional but if you call in the next two hours we’ll throw them in for free (you only pay added shipping and handling).

SW

Tags: Catch phrases and experts, communications, Production Rules, Scott Westerlaken, Social Marketing, TV Advertising, web video