What we're getting into.

First of all, I’m kidding. If you have 87 slides you’re already in trouble. Groove has created executive presentations for some of the biggest names in the business: Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, John Chambers, Jeanne Jackson, Scott McNealy, Jonathan Schwartz, Guy Kawasaki, and a host of others. Many times the deck is for a 2,000-person audience;  other times for a board of directors. In either case, or any in between, there are things to do and not to do in a good presentation. Here are a few to consider.

1. Breathe: Not just you, but the slides. Slides need white space. They need a clear, focused, and uncluttered value proposition if you hope to keep the attention of your audience. If the information seems dense to you, imagine how it will feel to the person taking it in for the first time. Well, let’s be clear. That person will simply stop taking it in. They will start counting ceiling tiles again. Simplify your story and create some space. If you do that and the slides are still dense, create chapters to your story over several slides (or several builds).
2. Tell a story: We are children of Hollywood. We like a three-act narratives:  a clear beginning, middle, and end. We’re used to character arcs and something memorable happening at the end. Your presentation should not resemble French cinema (as much as we all love French cinema). It needs an easily digestible narrative that leads to a clear call to action. Know that your audience expects this kind of storytelling, and deliver to their expectations.
3. Know the pace: It takes three to five minutes to get through a typical slide. If you have an hour, you get 15 to 20 slides. Period. You cannot simply talk faster – and never believe the “rehearsal timings” tested comfortably in your office or living room. It always takes longer on stage. It’s vital that you command the content. Rushing through slides makes it all feel staged, over-rehearsed, or worse, lacking in authenticity. Take your time. Enrich the story during each slide., and move through your presentation gracefully.
4. Time the reveal: Don’t roll out a complex slide, or text lists, all at one time. Audiences like to read and explore. Some are naturally inquisitive. Many are bored stiff. If you roll out a long story be assured no one is listening for the first minute or two. They are reading, examining, deducing, guessing, or already arguing with your point of view. They have visual stimulation and they are taking advantage of it. Meanwhile, you’re losing them. Create a build slide or consider telling your story over several slides. Nobody likes to hear the beginning of a story with the end staring them in the face.
5. Avoid the cheat sheet: Many speakers fear forgetting important points so they bullet their slides to death. And I mean to death. The deck becomes a table of contents filled with every nuance of every thought. Don’t do it. The audience has to believe that you’re passionate about your story. That you could do it in your sleep. A long bullet list just conveys that you don’t know the material, aren’t passionate, and fear the audience. (The only exception is in an educational forum where task and to-do lists are provided for the sake of the audience, not the speaker.)
6. No reading:  Remember that all bullets are not created equal. A few will serve you well. These are the bullets that stop you from writing a tomb. You should never be caught reading your slides. It’s painful. Audiences will start to read along with you – some faster and some slower. It will feel like story time in kindergarten. The only exception: a quote. But again, do not read a long quote. Paraphrase. Add a title or a value proposition from the quote. But do not read slides to your audience.
7. Don’t bury the lead, don’t give away the ending: This is a hot topic amongst the presenter elite. Do you reveal the ending and then build a case for how you got there, or do you save it like a good book? I believe it’s a balance. You frame the conversation, set expectations, and save a hook for the end. Let them know that Butch and Sundance don’t survive the film, but save the explosive Bolivian shootout for your last slide.
8. Nobody cares like you care: Details, details, details. Minutiae kill presentations – even presentations about the minutiae. In a vast majority of presentations your proof points, and all the details around them, are not necessary. Identify the proof exists, tell a quick story about how the proof was ascertained, and move on. Then hand out a whitepaper at the end of the presentation that verifies all that minutiae.
9. Make eye contact: You’re the one on stage, not your deck. It’s your show so build a relationship with your audience. The deck is your supporting cast, not the lead.
10. The last slide is always Q&A: This is the perfect way to start a dialog – and a relationship–  with someone in your audience.
11. Have fun: Even if the topic is deadly serious you should be approachable in your presentation. The audience needs to connect with you, so make your presentation look, feel, and taste inviting. If you’re worried you can’t pull it off, use the deck as an ice breaker. Turn your slides into comfort food. It really works.

We like things eleven at a time at Groove 11 but there is a lot more to keep in mind when creating a deck that’s meaningful, and delivering it effectively so that you  accomplish your objectives. We’re here to help you do just that.

 We’ve all been there. Trapped in our chair, eyes glazing over as a speaker slogs his way through a PowerPoint deck that’s too long, too dense, and just too boring to hold our attention. Counting ceiling tiles can be more rewarding.

Yet a slide deck doesn’t have to be so lethal. The next time you’re trying to think of the perfect words to drive home your message, or the ultimate phrase everyone will remember, do your audience a big favor: remember a Chinese proverb.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Sure it’s a cliché, but there’s so much truth to it that it bears repeating. And it’s well worth thinking about in this context.

Everyone has heard of the power of visual communication. We’ve felt it many, many times in our lives; not always consciously. From cartoons and recognizable icons to sophisticated illustrations and elegant photography that has the power to stop us in our tracks. The effect can be instantaneous, riveting, and undeniable.

And when it comes to conveying information in clear, crisp, “ah-ha” ways, we know that retention skyrockets when visual communication is added to support the words. We won’t spew a bunch of statistics to prove our point, but the ancient Chinese would say it’s a thousand times better.

Instead, challenge yourself to “Think visually” when putting a deck together. For example, take everyone’s favorite visual: the bar graph. The next time you’re creating one, ask yourself: Does it have to be bars? Do I really need 8 of them? Must I cover each one with big, clunky numbers and long captions? Does a string of five bar-graph slides in a row really serve me?

Maybe you could create a slide featuring a big, bold visual of the actual subject at hand [a product, its environment, a business tool, a company executive] to introduce the graphs and break things up a bit. Or theme your deck around a central concept – something flexible and extendable – and let that inform the shape your bar graphs take.

Every situation is different, but the important thing to remember is there are ways to convey information that can weave a more engrossing story. Unusual, humorous, or unexpected visuals [and words can be visuals too; just take a look at this] have the power to keep your audience focused so they hear and retain your message and – imagine – actually look forward to your next slide.

In short, let your visuals simplify your concepts in ways words alone cannot. Let them do the work of conveying deeper meaning and revealing hidden truths. Pound for pound, the perfect picture on a PowerPoint slide does more work, more simply, and more elegantly than heavy, burdensome slabs of copy, no matter how deftly they might be crafted.

So the next time you say “As you can see on the next slide…” give your audience something they’re dying to, you know…see. And here’s a hint: It’s not another bullet list.

We don’t mind changing Get into it to Give into it when it’s for a worthy cause. Or two. Or four. For the second year in a row, Groove’s Give Into It holiday giving e-card was a big success.

The e-card gives clients the opportunity to donate to one of four charities via an interactive Flash interface. At the end of the season, Groove tallies up the clicks, and makes a donation to each charity based on everyone’s selections. The donations are made in the givers’ names.

This year’s recipients were Doctors Without Borders, Habitat for Humanity, In Defense of Animals, and Worldwatch Institute. Total donations surpassed last year’s and in the end Groove was able to distribute several hundred dollars to people and animals in need around the world.

Thanks to all of our thoughtful clients who participated. We look forward to Giving into it again with all of you in 2009.

by Chris Lehtonen

Six years ago I founded Asterix Group with the goal of providing clients with the very best of the strategic and creative sides of branding. Over the years clients have called on us to help them reach their goals – turning around organizations, launching products, reaching diverse markets, creating breakthrough campaigns. The foundation of this kind of work always requires an immense amount of trust on the part of our client. They trust us with their business, they trust us to be the very best at what we do and they trust us to be experts in the full spectrum of marketing delivery methods. With so much at stake, and so much confidence placed in us, it keeps me on my toes to make sure that we have the experts and the practices to deliver on our promise.  

When I met the folks at Groove11 earlier this year, I was immediately inspired. I was impressed by the emotive experiences being created by this immensely talented group. As we began to dialogue, the synergies between us were unmistakable – the similarity of approaches, the values, the culture, the color of our logo. I immediately recognized that our complimentary philosophies, combined with the leading edge practices of Groove was exactly what I needed my clients to experience. I saw the opportunity to lead clients into the future.

So after several months of discussion, today, I proudly announce that team Asterix Group has joined Groove 11. [link to press release]

At the heart of this joining of forces is the underlying premise that we are simply better together. We’ve broadened our capabilities and combined our experience to place squarely where we need to be – specializing in disciplines that will make a significant impact on our clients business.

It’s an exciting opportunity for our teams and our clients. It’s exciting to get into it.

Over the coming months we’ll introduce you to new ideas and new opportunities. We’ll be sharing new work that showcases the impact that we are making. In the meantime, we invite you to draw on us as your trusted advisor. We look forward to the opportunity.

by Sean Dunn

Senior managers in large organizations often have as many as ten marketing vendors working for them at any one time: Web, print, advertising, video, event, communications, packaging, executive presentations, etc. This means five to ten writers, creative directors, art directors, designers, and other dedicated, bright people doing their own take on your brand. Does this make sense to anyone?

You would never overtly allow your agency to simultaneously produce five different advertising campaigns for your customers, yet we routinely see widely divergent messaging being developed downstream for those same customers. How can this happen? It happens because the “launch checklists” are not aligned to brand promises, customer profiles and a acute understanding of the customer purchase funnel.

There is history, of course: sales teams do not trust marketing; advancement goals entice teams to eat of their own; an over abundance of “not invented here”. But more often than not this misalignment is not subversive in nature. It is a result of too many cooks in the kitchen. Cooks that do not follow brand driven communication recipes. To be clear, these are smart, well meaning, dedicated employees just trying to make a difference. They want to stand out to their superiors. They want to be thought leaders. They believe they know the goals of the organization better than their peers and they execute their beliefs.

And how do they get their visions realized? They hire their own vendors to follow their own directives to produce the story they want to produce. Okay, on one hand that is the kind of self-motivated, self-driven leader you want on your team. On the other hand, think about the confusion it causes customers. A customer gets 10 touches from your brand and any one of them that are misaligned or misaimed can tweak the story enough to change the promise heard or usually lost by the customer. While many companies have developed “brand” teams most of these teams focus on look and feel issues – not the alignment of branded messaging.  Companies spend millions launching a campaign but customer are no closer to “getting” their brand promise then if nothing had been spent.

This is how some of my clients have been working with their teams for more than twenty years. The argument was that expertise across delivery channels through one vendor didn’t exist, and dividing the work was the best way to mitigate risk. Well, the expertise story is now moot. Technology has enabled a convergence of communication channels and great storytellers understand all of these channels, as well as the customer purchase funnel and how to create compelling customer psychographic profiles. There is no reason to hire five of them.

As for our well meaning, dedicated mavericks, they have to understand that it takes seven to ten clear, consistent, meaningful touches to reach a customer. Any deviation creates confusion. Some of my clients have started to form internal brand teams to develop customer psychographic and purchase funnel models that become manifestos for all creative vendors. Others are pushing this responsibility onto a single agency. Either way, there needs to be one focused voice, not seven to ten silos filled with mixed messages and minor tweaks that cause major confusion. Demanding alignment of brand driven communications and tactics cannot be underestimated.

by Rick Barsotti

The question is not lost on me: why would two organizations, each growing at a rapid but healthy rate, decide during a recession to grow even faster by joining forces? Most agencies have or will announce layoffs. Budgets are tighter. Competition is more desperate. Timing is bad.

Well, not really.

Groove has always taken the long view in the way we help our customers position their brands. We talk less about the splash and more about the ripple. Even as every one of our clients look for ways to stretch their dollars, we encourage them to remain focused on the value of their brands. How they tell a compelling story, even during a recession, which will remain true to “who they are, what they do and why their customers should care.” While many companies (and their agencies) will turn their attention to the low hanging fruit – price wars, recession promises, exploitation of the base, cut-rate quality – the smart companies are finding cost effective, measurable ways to stay on message. That’s the ripple effect.

Every once in a while we meet folks who really get the sustainable, meaningful value of the ripple. Chris and her team at the Asterix Group get it. They help B2C clients develop brand and business strategies leveraging expertise in customer segmentation, go-to-market strategies and business analytics. They know how to take a brand to market and how to inject brand essence into every customer interaction. It’s what we both love to do.

The combined offerings, built across four key product suites (Brand Essentials, Business Insights, Architectures and Impact), allows Groove 11 to offer end-to-end agency expertise for B2B and B2C clients. More important, by joining forces we have linked two teams who are deeply passionate about building sustainable brands – the whole is absolutely greater than the sum of the parts. And we really, really like each other.

Over the next few months, our team will roll out customer case studies that should help your team navigate this recession. These stories will dive into ways to create meaningful ROI during difficult times and reveal how we are setting up clients to rocket into better times. Of course we’ll mention the splash, but we’re going to focus on the ripple. We hope you’ll join us.

David Aaker, the godfather of brand strategy, says that it takes seven to ten clear, consistent, repetitive touches with your brand for a customer to understand who you are, what you stand for, and why they should care. Most companies respond to this reality by developing the communication checklists when they launch a new product or service – white papers, executive presentations, positioning statements, etc. These documents and field support materials are supposed to get everyone aligned. They don’t. Why? Because the seven to ten touches are about building relationships and that requires people, not documents, to be aligned with other people.

This time every year I have the honor of walking the vineyards of California with some of the greatest winemakers in the world. From Calistoga to Rutherford to Paso Robles and the central coast, my work for Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines and COPIA allows me to hear about the process of making world-class wine from folks like Joel Aiken, Jeffery Stanbor, Tom Rinaldi, Mike Westrick, Harry Hansen, and many others. And each time we chat the conversation turns to the intricate balance of “art and science” in making an incredible wine. It got me thinking about the intricate balance of “art and science” in brand development. It is a balance that far too many brand and marketing teams seem to overlook.

Every customer goes through the same five-step process when making a purchase decision. You do it, too. Think about a recent major transaction and ask yourself if you mentally followed this process: an Awareness stage (who are you?) that answered identification; a Consideration stage (why do I care?) that answered relevance; a Preference stage (if so, why care about you?) that answered differentiation; a Purchase stage (how will you treat me?) that answered relationship, and a Loyalty stage (how will you treat me tomorrow?) that answered sustainable relationship. Web 2.0 has enabled Advocacy (who should I tell?), which presents another entire layer of opportunity. We know the bottlenecks created at each point in the funnel and the work needed to punch through those bottlenecks. We also know that you cannot effectively skip stages – hoping that Awareness will lead to sustainable Purchase or Loyalty (the impulse buy is just not that sustainable).