Prospects are people, too. And even the most solemn among us need a break now and then. More and more marketers are finding they can provide that respite with humor. What they often have trouble with, however, is getting their organizations to break with tradition – the belief that a “serious” business has to be exceedingly dull and joyless to be perceived as professional.

Think about it:  Even Stephen Hawking makes jokes. And you can’t get much more serious than Theoretical Cosmology.

Marketing today is all about creating relationships, and companies need to be the type organizations that prospects can relate to – especially in competitive fields. That means businesses have to become more personable.

So ask yourself: Is your organization ready to lighten up? It is appropriate? Is it worth it? Getting to those answers can be difficult and often requires professional advice. While you ponder, though, here are a few guidelines for engaging in humor:

• Don’t make humor your goal. It should be part of your brainstorming mix, tested against other concepts and approaches. Otherwise, it could be forced and cringe-worthy awkward.

• You don’t have to get a guffaw; a smile will do. The main thing is to get the reader/listener/view to (1) find it humorous (2) share it with others and (3) like you (and we’re not talking just clicking a Facebook icon).

• Make sure your humor is consistent with your brand. It might be funny to point out the foibles of a wayward starlet, but does it push the product?

• Be relevant for your audience. Let them feel joy of being in on the joke, and you’ll make that all-important connection. Otherwise, the joke’s on you.

• You can insert humor around serious topics, especially in B-to-B. Sure, the physicians reading your white paper are saving lives every day, but they share the same frustrations in the process. You can show empathy for the latter through humor, while maintaining the dignity of their field.

• Be product specific. Seriously, how many times have you loved an ad but couldn’t remember what it was promoting?

• Remember: There’s an extremely thin line between “edgy” and offensive. Don’t get too cute or too cool or you might isolate a segment of potential targets.

There are a lot more, of course. Even humor has its boundaries.

But at least think about it. The worst thing that could happen would be a smile on your face.

This past week we launched our first Big Picture Marketing seminar.  Entrepreneur and social media guru, Veronica Pastore and I hosted a group of budding entrepreneurs, business leaders as we spent a day sharing a wealth of knowledge and insights into driving business forward through marketing success.

I wanted to share a summary of key points we left with the group.  These truly apply to business professionals at all levels.

1. A Brand is a Unique Promise – You are inseparable from your brand. Always build a brand Identity and understand the value of your brand equity- BRANDS MATTER!
2. Discover the “Power of Words” – Always spread the word and tell your story.  Hold your team accountable for strong communications – words do matter.

3. Marketing is NOT a “Quick Fix” – Remember, there is NO silver bullet or crystal ball in mapping your marketing direction.  You CANNOT predict behavior.
4.  Referrals Matter – Build a referral program, nurture every referral opportunity.  Be sure to manage the process and always monitor results.
5. Perception is Truth – Perception is the way we receive and translate our experiences – how and what we think about them.   Work to discover how you are perceived and gain invaluable insight into others’ truths. Work hard to transcend the limitations of perception!
6. Be Aware of “Gimmicks” – Focus on long-term results versus short-terms gains.  Quality will always transcend Gimmicks!
7. Internet: Be Strategic – Invest!  Balance content, design and technology, and remember to manage the “back-end” of your website.
8. Build your Social Media Program – Leverage a clear strategy, be clear in your message. Be consistent and explore all channels
9. Invest – Overcome the fear and apathy of launching marketing programs – be practical – beware. Monitor marketing activities like any other aspect of your business.
10. PLAN! GROW! BUILD!

We will be offering the Big Picture Marketing seminar again in 2013.  Details to be announced soon.

Many years ago, I was explaining to a friend the magic of the VCR, with which the viewer could view tapes, stop them and – wonder of wonders – even run them backwards to catch something they might have missed. (Yeah, it was that long ago.)

When she asked if it could be used with regular TV programming, as well, I smiled and assured her that that was impossible.

Idiot!

Me, that is.

If I’d stopped marveling at the present, I might have seen into the future. If I’d somehow acted on her idea, I’d be wealthy beyond my wildest dreams. And if I had broadened my mind, I might have expanded my boundaries.

Admittedly, it’s unlikely that I could have invented TIVO and all that came after, but at least I eventually did gain from the interchange.

Creatively, there really is no such thing as a bad idea – just ideas that can be improved, built upon or used to pry open new windows of thought before being put aside.

So, the next time someone suggests what seems impossible, at least think about it a minute or two. And maybe even jot it down. After awhile, that idea – or some version of it – might not seem so impossible some day, and you’ll have a visionary product, service or campaign to show for it.

Does your web site’s About Us page really answer that question? Oddly enough, many don’t.

As noted in a recent article on Inc.com, though the About Us page is among the most-visited pages on any site, it’s often the weakest, mired in phrases such as “global solutions provider” and “world-class services.” That is, the type of writing that translates to visual white noise and doesn’t work to create relationships.

But you can fix that, as the article notes, by taking an approach that focuses more on your prospects and their needs and supplying facts vs. superlatives. There’s a lot more, but we encourage you to take the time to read the article and take it to heart.

And, of course, we stand ready to deliver an effective web site and an About Us page that gives the right answer when prospects ask, “Who are you?”

After all, they really wanna know.

Jason Ryan Dorsey, author of “My Reality Check Bounced,” gives presentations on how the various generations communicate. This is important for organization as, for the first time, four generations are working together in the marketplace. Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute attended one of those lectures and took it further, noting that this phenomenon has great impact on how we market to this wide variety of people. According to Pulizzi, Dorsey explained the current generations as:

Generation Y (born 1977–1995)

This group has grown up with the feeling of entitlement, which has created, in many of them, the idea of delayed adulthood and a belief that one truly becomes an adult at the age of 30.

Generation X (born 1965 – 1976)

This group is naturally skeptical. Its members believe that actions speak louder than words. Gen X is also the most loyal generation, not to brands or organizations, but to individuals.

Baby Boomers (born 1946 – 1964)

Mantra: Baby Boomers judge success by work ethic. How hard do you work? How many hours do you work in a week? Baby Boomers believe there are no shortcuts to success.

Traditionalists (born before 1946)

Mantra: Extremely strong military connection. Traditionalists are, and always have been, comfortable with delayed gratification.

So how do you communicate to these disparate groups in the ways that foster relationships and convey your understanding of them?

Honing in on Gen Ys, Pulizzi notes that they are the texting generation, advising that companies start there and then go to email – though this group generally only reads the subject line. Whatever you do, however, don’t call them, as they see it as an invasion of privacy, and don’t use calls to action that ask them to call YOU, as real friends text.

There’s more, of course, as Gen Y and every other generational group learns and consumes information their own ways and with their own preferences.

This means that now, more than ever, you have to ask: To whom are we communicating and are they getting our message? And, as always, the multi-generational Next-Mark can help.

My new favorite authors are the people at Groupon, an email service that provides deep discounts on products and local services.

Maybe their sense of humor wouldn’t appeal to everyone, but it makes me read the description of every item for sale on that day’s email – and tell others about them.

I mean, who wouldn’t be interested in kitchen tiles “in the forest pattern, hand-picked by squirrels” or a spa treatment that makes you feel like royalty “without the hassle of posing for playing-card portraits”?

In addition to merchandise and experiences, the site also offers advice, for instance, a recent “Guide to Kindness,” which advised: “Adopt a pet! It can be someone else’s pet if you’re like 90% sure you’ll do a better job.”

There’s a public service aspect, as well, such as the cautionary note provided for visitors of Dade City Wild Things, reminding us that: “Lions are unpredictable creatures, which is why you should never approach them in the wild or depend on them to babysit your pet gazelle.”

When I think of the writers, I see them as people typing away at their keyboards and laughing at their own tortured jokes. But the important thing is that I think of them as people, not a corporation.

The point is that, backed up by some great service, the site has made a real connection with me and keeps me coming back to see what’s new and, yes, to buy stuff. Wouldn’t we all like customers and prospects like that? Is there something to be learned here?

I’m not saying that all corporate communications, web sites, blogs, etc., should be funny (although it might make the world a better place), but they should be human – and maybe even occasionally surprising.

Think about it. I, myself, am going shopping.

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These days, it’s all about your company or brand’s “story,” which (perhaps mercifully) has replaced the 60-second “elevator speech” in communicating what an organization or its brand is all about and, most importantly, creating a relationship.

In that regard, PR News recently offered some suggestions, including:

– To get a feel for your brand, ask yourself which character it would have been on the TV show “Friends.” Then ask yourself why.

– Expand your vision. It’s not just about your products and employees, but how you can help people in the larger scope of your business and/or expertise.

– Look around you, mining the stories from all departments and business units, including customer service – the frontline when it comes to knowing what consumers want to know.

– Get personal, using profiles of the people behind your products and anecdotal lead-in to your stories.

– Take every opportunity you can to establish your brand as the subject-matter expert in your realm.

Admittedly, you might have problems picturing your company in a “Rachel” haircut, but you get the idea. Stories are about people. People relate to people. Get them to relate to you on a personal level.

Kudos to Microsoft, but not necessarily for the new logo design. Four colored squares. Sans serif font. As the Grinch would say:  “Cut, print, check the gate. Moving on.”

Actually, they have probably done the right thing by simply reducing the Windows(R) element to its abstract essence. No perspective, but after a trillion online and print impressions over the coming years, it will still evoke Microsoftness. When a company spends more than $9 billion on R&D every year, they tend to spend a bit on advertising, too.

So, enough about the logo. To me, the smartest thing about the rebranding effort is the lack of a tagline to go with it. True, Microsoft hasn’t stuck its latest line — “Your potential. Our passion.” — on much lately, but the absence of a tagline to accompany the new logo means that the marketing folks at Microsoft have decided to go tagline free for good. Okay, for now.

It’s not like they’ve had a brilliant heritage of tagline wisdom. As best as I can tell, here’s the whole lineage in recent memory:  “Where Do You Want To Go today?” > “Life Without Walls” > “Be What’s Next” > “Your potential. Our passion.” Maybe you see it, but I don’t find any “Just do it.” winners in the bunch.

There are really only two solutions for any decision about a company’s tagline:  work the challenge ridiculously hard until you find the only word or set of words that completely expresses the essence of the brand, or shut up.

Let’s look at a handful of examples in the tech world:

VMware:  “The power behind your cloud.” I think this works in an “Intel inside” kind of way. Maybe not perfect, but good.

DELL:  “The power to do more” I think they license this tagline from The Home Depot. Not sure. What I do know is that DELL’s “power” tagline does absolutely nothing to draw from its heritage as the first technology company to actually personalize their products. So, why not “DELL:  The power of YOU”? Just saying.

Xerox:  “Ready For Real Business” Gee, Xerox, what kind of business were you ready for until now?

Norton: “Protecting the Stuff that matters.” Like. It lets the customer decide what to be insecure about. Plus, in the tagline world, the word “matters” is really, really hot.

IBM:  No tagline. Correct.

So, with Microsoft, with such a disparate range of products and services and such a long and involved brand history (sounds like IBM), the only option is silence. No tagline at all. Congratulations, Microsoft. “You’re going to like the way you look. I guarantee it.”

A Sept. 10 headline on businessinside.com proclaimed, “Investors Not Impressed with JCPenney Haircuts.”

At first I was thinking that surely, as investors, they could afford more upscale stylists. I mean, you get what you pay for.

Then I realized the title referred to the chain’s latest “innovation” in which it was actually bringing back something it had done before – offering free haircuts for kids.

Déjà vu all over again.

Earlier in the year, I blogged about the company’s huge and overly loud announcement regarding its intent to revolutionize retail with “straightforward pricing.” The promise was that they would offer no confusing sales, rather, month-long promotions “in sync with the rhythm of [shoppers’] lives” and “best prices” that are reserved for the 1st and 3rd Fridays of every month (while supplies last). Oh, and it recently had a “clearance,” which is not so much a sale as it is, well, offering merchandise lower prices. I think.

Apparently, it all made as much sense to other consumers as it did me, and we’ve stayed aware in droves. This phenomenon led its new CEO to announce plans to “simplify pricing,” while transforming its stores into mini-malls of “shops” a la Target.

As near as I can tell, this latest announcement has been more low-key, with only an insert in the local newspaper to alert me to the availability in those “shops” of value-priced apparel, such as snap-on vests for toddlers.

Some analysts see Penney’s past six months of sea changes as examples of the genius of its CEO, who came from Apple, Inc. Others see it as an exercise in grabbing at straws, hoping to stay afloat.

It will be interesting to see if this softer opening works better than the blaring trumpets. Either way, there are lessons to be learned here about confidence in concepts and managing expectations – your own, as well as your customers.

Apparently,

I hate to beat a dead horse (although it does take less effort)

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What’s the big news this morning about JCPenney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP)? That the struggling retailer has extended its free haircuts for kids promotion. But investors do not seem to be impressed, as shares are lower in early trading, along with the broader markets.

As we said earlier this morning, this free haircuts promotion is just another smoke-and-mirrors effort to regain customers since Ron Johnson joined as chief executive after a stint as head of retail at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Johnson revamped merchandise pricing almost immediately after his appointment, but sales at JCPenney dropped more than 20% in the first reported quarter afterward.

Despite its lack of success, Johnson trumpeted a modified version of the plan again less than a month ago when the company released more bad earnings:

“We have now completed the first six months of our transformation and while business continues to be softer than anticipated, we are confident the transformation of jcpenney is on track. The transition from a highly promotional business model to one based on everyday value will take time and we will stay the course,” said jcpenney CEO Ron Johnson. “This month we simplified our pricing, launched the first of our new shops, and accelerated our marketing efforts to focus on brands, products and value. Early response to these efforts has been very encouraging.”

The quarterly numbers gave no support for the success of any transformation.

However, August saw a sudden surge in insider buying after four years. A director and CFO Michael Kramer cumulatively bought more than 7,200 shares, worth more than $170,000, either to take advantage of the company’s good valuations or as a way to help restore investor trust in the company’s prospects.

Still, the view from here is that the fact that free haircuts are considered a big deal at JCPenney is just another sign of how much the retailer is grasping at straws.

After opening at $28.54, shares were down as far as $28.16 in early trading. The 52-week range is $19.06 to $43.18, and the share price is more than 24% lower than six months ago.

Read more: Investors Not Impressed with JCPenney Haircuts – 24/7 Wall St.