Building A Legacy Through Out-of-the-Box Thinking
Most of the time, when it comes to sharing information that’s technical or detail-oriented, the standard of communication is heavy on the text. Yet, studies have shown that not only do people learn best with visuals, but they retain more data when it’s presented graphically. In a world where people are inundated with advertisements, information, and whose attentions need to be caught in the blink of an eye, pictures can, more often than not, paint more than a thousand words.
This is best exemplified by companies’ use of logos. We remember a company just by seeing their logo, even without reading their brand names. Starbucks recently simplified their logo, removing the text and leaving the graphic of the siren behind.
The Whole Brain
One of the most prevalent theories is that people are either right- or left-brained, with one side being more dominant than the other. If you’re right-brained, it’s said that you’re more artistic and creative. If you’re left-brained, you tend to be analytical, methodical and logical.
However, it’s been shown more recently that when our whole brain works and the two sides work together, focus and recall gets better and easier.
Digital Marketing and the Road Less Travelled
As marketing and its target market become more technologically savvy, the ability to harness, interpret and collect data at faster speeds (and even real-time) has resulted in a tendency to emphasize data and analytics over creativity.
Our guest in the podcast, Victor Palko, has proven that going against the grain actually provides a big return. The necessity for whole-brain marketing is essential in integrating imagery and methodology and is applicable for display across all channels digitally. His background has provided him with a love of art and drawing, and a realization that, in sales, what you sell is not the product but the relationship.
Even when everyone was creating ads in the traditional way, Victor Palko took the road less traveled. He brought out something old and made it new again, resurrecting cartoon ads a la Charles Atlas, which was popular during the 40’s and 50’s. When times get tough, he heard a client’s sales presentation, saw it visually as a cartoon in his mind, and convinced him to provide him with the opportunity to give life to his vision. He gave Victor that chance, and, from there, the rest was history.
The Art of Story Selling through Cartoons
Drawings keep people’s attention long enough to deliver a marketing message and for that message to penetrate people’s consciousness without the hard sell. This shouldn’t surprise us considering – the brain is an image, not a word, processor, and language is complex and self-limiting. The words that make them up are subject to interpretation and some things are lost in translation.
Graphics bridges the gaps in the message that are vital to understanding the whole.
The process of translating information into illustrations can entail a lot of back-and-forths, and intense collaboration between client and illustrator, sometimes taking 3 to 5 weeks depending on the application. Yet, there are tremendous advantages to using this medium:
- Uniformity. Salespeople, when conducting a pitch, can vary in the way they sell. Using a graphic video or illustration ensures that not only is one message communicated across the board but that it is delivered in the same way each time, with no difference in inflection or bias.
- Availability. Graphic illustrations and comic videos can be uploaded and seen at the click of a finger. It will be available 24/7, 365 days a year, providing the target audience with ease of access.
- Simplicity. Cartoons simplify complex messages. A forty-minute spiel can be condensed into three- or four-minute videos that engage your audience, and sustain their attention enough to get the message across without boring them or taking up too much time.
Turning Your Passion Into A Profession
Showing kids that you can make a living doing something you love is a legacy that’s worth building. All of us were born creative, but that creativity is stifled the moment we get yelled at for drawing on the walls, on the couch, or any place that’s not paper.
Drawing is a skill, and it’s something not everyone thinks they can do, so when people see someone who draws well, they can’t help but stop and stare.
In marketing, when all you have is a second to engage your customer, that one look engages the whole brain and is enough to allow your message to rise above the clutter of information they’re surrounded with every day. The language barrier is transcended, and the message is received. Clearly and concisely.
“Traditional marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content marketing is showing the world that you are one.” (Robert Rose, Senior Analyst, Digital Clarity Group)