Know-How Exchange : SEO/SEM

You could localize the tag.

Have you done solid keyword research from which to work from?

Dear miramckissic,

"Everything that there is to know is already known."

Reminds me of that quote from Rumsfeld " ... we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know."

Why on Earth a very large boxing glove on a stick wasn't strategically deployed by some Whitehouse flunky while he was spouting all this claptrap I'll never know. Sigh.

But, anyway. Let's get back to your question.

"Everything that there is to know is already known."

What? You mean, about your product?

Nonsense!

Whatever it is, whatever solution your product or brand provides, wherever it's used, how ever it is manufactured there is always—ALWAYS something you don't know, there is ALWAYS something new to say, some "off the wall" voice, some bold new dance move, or bizarre sidewise glance that needs to be brought out—kicking and screaming bloody murder if necessary—into the steely light of day.

In advertising, in marketing there is never—NEVER "nothing" to be said.

Ever read Zen literature? I have. It made my brain ache. But from reading this stuff I learned all kinds of Jedi-ninja-stealth mind tricks, much of which I never thought would come in handy.

But thankfully, today's your lucky day!

Ever listened to the sound of one hand clapping? It sounds like this: _________________________ Here's another one for you.

When asked what is the opposite of light, MOST people will say "Dark".

Know what? They're wrong.

The true opposite of light is NOT dark, it's an absence of light.

In the world of physics there is a chasm of difference between
the two.

Ever heard someone someone describe some major shift in thinking or technique as a quantum leap? The person doing the describing is at best, poorly informed and at worst, an idiot.

Quantum physics describes the tiniest change or shift imaginable multiplied by the tiniest of tiny tiny things that are microscopic dots on nothing. That's how small a quantum leap is: teeny weeny.

But as small as it is, it is still a change and it can still be described as SOMETHING.

Let's get back to your brand.

There IS something: some hint, some allusion, some metaphor that connects or that turns the brand or product or its use (or its non use) into some new message.

Either that or there's something about your brand that's so blindingly obvious that no one has thought to mention it BECAUSE it's so obvious.

True story for you: a creative team and account team are all sitting around, pulling their hair out trying to come up with some new copy for a car in the 1960s. The main idea they've settled on is the vision of a snow plough (plow, same difference) driver.

The car is the Volkswagen Beetle with its 13 lbs of paint, its air cooled engine, and its near indestructibility. So, there they all are—brilliant creative minds wrestling with the problem of connecting the car with this bloody snow plough.

Idea after idea is born and then burned at the stake. "No, the client won't buy that!"—"Nah! Too obvious!"—Nope! S'been done!"—"Not on your Nelly! We can't AFFORD that!"

And so on for days and nights.

How long it truly took I don't know, nor do I care. It's a great story. Don't interrupt. But on it goes and no one NO ONE can solve it.

There is NOTHING NEW TO SAY.

Everything that there is to know is already known.

There are no unknown known unknowns.

Until, from nowhere, someone—one of the account people I believe—someone wonders out loud "How does the man that drives the snow plough GET to his snow plough?"

The clouds part. The sun shines. Angels sing on high "Gloria in excelsis!" Answer: he drives a Volkswagen.

Bingo! Thank you Mary, Jesus, Joseph and all the saints! https://bit.ly/VWSnowPloughAd

Turn your product, your brand upside down, inside out, back to front, take it apart, set fire to it, submerge it in fathoms of water, freeze it, bake it, fry it, boil it, ROAST IT! Give it to little kids and let them finger paint it! Cover it with whipped cream and sprinkles and put a bloody cherry on the top but THINK of some new way to use it.

What happens without the product? What happens with half the product? And so on. Think!

Your answer is out there. Your answer is IN the product, it's PART of the brand. Find it. Stop looking at the problem as it IS and look at it for what it COULD be.

That's where you'll find your lever; that's where you'll find your point of difference, your new story: think of new uses for old things, old ideas turned anew, old ways of thinking repainted and polished and you'll find your solution.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Can you provide some more info on the brand and the kind of work you've been asked to do -- either on the board or off? THat would help us help you.

kellyann