Remembering Bob Noorda

Internationally acclaimed graphic designer Bob Noorda died last month in Milan, his adopted city. Along with Massimo Vignelli and their firm, Unimark International, he helped introduce a unified, Modernist look that eventually featured the ubiquitous Helvetica typeface to the entire New York City subway system.

To inform his designs, Noorda spent everyday in the subway, systematically recording traffic patterns to determine where signs should be placed based on where riders were making decisions.

Steve Heller’s noteable New York Times obituary states that Noorda and Vignelli’s firm, Unimark International, was one of the first to embrace the Modernist principle that a good design could have a positive effect on all aspects of life, not just on business. Knowing the wayfinding system that Noorda created for the MTA more than 40 years ago still assists 5.2 million riders in navigating around NYC every day is testament to this belief.

For more info about Helvetica typeface and the history of NYC subway signs, see the AIGA’s fascinating, in-depth article: The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway.

This article references the 2007 absolutely-must-see documentary, Helvetica, by director Gary Hustwit.

The future is bright. And shiny, too.

Ultimately, the consumer will decide what happens to the emerging digital media platforms. How much information is too much? How many logins and passwords can I keep straight? How much do I want the web-bots to know about me? In the meantime we’re living in a golden age of communication possibilities. This tablet version of WIRED magazine is an interesting demo of those possibilities. Plus, I won’t keep my wife awake flipping the pages. Enjoy.

The Art of Communicating an Apology

Watching famous people apologize is a national sport. Some do it well and some do not. No matter the person, the words are the same: “I’m sorry,” “I’m embarrassed,” “I brought this on myself.” Even if you have the perfect words, without expressing sincere emotion you will swing and miss.

This is exactly where Tiger Woods fell short. No one doubts that Woods regrets his actions. What people doubt is if his public apology was sincere. It came across as though Woods regretted being caught. By showing little emotion during the apology, reading from a script for long stretches, insincere hugs at the end, overly controlled setting, Tiger did nothing to overcome this doubt. People were left believing it was a calculated move to regain the support of endorsers.

Anyone in the PR world knows this was a PR 101 no, no. Everything was set to support Woods, his mother was placed between Elin’s mother and sister, his foundation supporters were visible and he even had the perfect script. Without the sincerity behind the words, though, the effort was futile.

Are we creating value or just communicating value?

I work in communications. It’s my job to communicate the value of my clients products and services to the target market. By doing it well am I creating actual value or just symbolic value? Or, some of both? I particularly enjoyed this often tongue-in-cheek TED presentation by Rory Sutherland who ponders the power of communication to alter the perceived value of goods. Enjoy.

The Hilton is divorcing me

I know, relationships are hard. They take work. And it appears that the Hilton is throwing in the towel on me. I got my walking papers from them in a cold-hearted email telling me that I’m on the brink of losing my HHonors status, one I’ve had for over a decade. They didn’t do what all therapists suggest—communicate! If only they would have asked me about my year; the decrease in travel, the relocation of some key clients, the husband in school that’s put a huge crimp in our typical jaunts. I haven’t changed my loyalty to the Hilton, it’s still my go-to hotel–but life changed a bit this year.

So, why am I airing my dirty laundry about this? I’d like to encourage companies to take a long-term view of their loyalty programs and have dialogue with your users. Loyalty programs can be low cost ways to keep people coming back. Yes, I understand they’re not free – you give away hotel rooms, upgrades, discounts. But rarely does a redeemer-of-points/miles/etc. not also spend money.

When we redeem our HHonors points for a free room, we almost always purchase additional nights, spend money in the restaurant (okay, the bar), buy a soda in the trinkets store, tip the concierge, the housekeeping staff and the valet. We contribute to the revenue stream. Without some benefit from the HHonors program, I will shop around a lot more, I will frequent boutique hotels, I will be less loyal. And they’re not even asking me why.

Humans are pre-programmed to filter. It’s a coping mechanism. If we get bombarded with too much information, we end up remembering very little. If we have too many choices of TV channels, we watch our favorites. If we’re fortunate enough to have a “Favorites” button on our remote, we might even use that to save us from the barrage of channels to surf.  (Okay, I know some of you are saying you love to channel-surf, but I’d still bet you have to be in the mood for it—in the mood for not filtering.)

As more and more communications try to reach us the consumers, we become more adept at blocking out what’s not relevant. It becomes harder for marketing messages to breakthrough–and in turn, harder to change someone’s mind or get them to think differently about a brand.

Take politics for example:  Politically, many of us are divided, and the filtering we do reinforces these divisions and helps us firm up our own beliefs. Odds are strong that we’ll find Web sites, news channels and print media that help reinforce our political ideals.

We do it because validation feels good. Having other people help us prove the rightness of our views gives us a sense of belonging and helps us feel a little smarter. What makes this a problem is that the more we listen to sources that show us our viewpoint is right, the harder it becomes to listen fairly and objectively to other sources. And the harder it becomes to change our minds.

It doesn’t matter if we’re talking politics, coffee or cleaning products–the filtering mechanism maintains its power.  There are groups and Web sites that will make us feel at home and feel justified in our beliefs—some of them may even be further cementing negative views of your brand.

Have You Hugged Your Target’s Amygdala Today

Studies have shown that emotionally arousing events are more likely to be recalled later than more neutral events.  That’s because strong sensory stimulus causes information to bypass the short-term memory and go directly into long-term memory. It is a matter of survival.  Things that are very painful or scary should be remembered so as not to be repeated. Touch a hot stove once and you pretty much have that down. Conversely, more is more with things that are pleasurable. So, biologically speaking, memory is a very useful thing indeed.

Marketers know this and have tugged emotional strings in their targets for years. But marketers are rarely rigorous about making an emotional connection. Especially when there are pressures on sales, our industry tends to hit ‘em between the eyes with rational reasons to buy.

The research is clear, and the implication is as old as the species:  activity in the amygdala, the so called pleasure center in the brain, at the time of encoding information correlates with retention for that information.

So, don’t hit your target over the head. Get inside their heads and give their amygdalas a gentle hug.

Connect Here

Dave Florin

President/Partner

Dave’s job is to see that we serve our clients with the latest and best practices within our wheelhouse: target-market-driven communications. To do so, he has attracted top talent from around the country, added new areas of knowledge and set new standards of performance across all our disciplines. Dave’s passion for client service, creative quality and brand strategy resonates throughout our walls. He teaches marketing planning twice a year at the University of Wisconsin and has been an invited speaker for organizations like the National Retail Federation, the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, the International Institute for Research and the Investment Council Institute. Dave’s client experience includes Nestlé, Famous Footwear, Culver’s, Coca-Cola, General Motors, American Family Insurance, Coors, PerkinElmer and JanSport. Dave is married and has three daughters. He is an avid reader who enjoys the great outdoors and anything Wisconsin Badger–related.

Sean Mullen

Vice President/Creative Director/Partner

Sean lives to inspire great work—ideas that surprise, engage and differentiate—to build great brands. Recognized by nearly every important advertising magazine and award show, Sean has won more awards than you can shake a marker at. Providing a unique blend of verbal and visual thinking, he’s as comfortable with a research deck as he is with a Pantone book. His portfolio showcases effective, award-winning work for clients like Famous Footwear, Fiskars Craft and Garden Tools, Montana Gourmet Knives, JanSport and Nestlé. In his spare time, he’s been known to guest lecture at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin. If he’s not at home with his wife and two children, check the garage. His bicycle won’t be there either.

Peter Bell

Associate Creative Director

Having spent most of his life on, in or next to the ocean, Peter enjoys surfing and riding his motorbikes whenever humanly possible. When not surfing or riding his bikes, Peter has managed to earn both national and international recognition for his work from such fine institutions as Communication Arts, Graphis, Print Regional Design, The One Show, HOW Design International Awards, Step Design 100 Showcase, the ADDYs and even Dirt Rider magazine (for Product of the Year). In the past, he has brought amazing energy to clients large and small including Harley-Davidson Motor Company, The History Channel, Polaris Snowmobiles, JanSport Daypacks, TaylorMade Golf and Trek Bicycles. Here at Hiebing, Peter’s talent and expertise have been fundamental in work for Famous Footwear, Virent Energy Systems and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Outside of work—and surfing—Peter juggles his time between his wife, three girls, two dogs and very long motorcycle rides.