The other night I had the pleasure of going to a jazz club.  I think jazz is a particularly wonderful form of music.  So, once there, I sat back to enjoy the evening and marvel at all those musicians playing to beat the band.  They all have to work with the same basic musical tools — say, a trumpet, as did Dizzy Gillespie or Miles Davis — to make a statement, to be distinctive and to create their own voice in the midst of a cacophony of sounds.  It can’t be easy.

The lead trumpeter used a special trumpet, the “bent” trumpet, to replicate the sound of Dizzy Gillespie.  It’s still debated: What was the origin of that trumpet, with its bell that bent upward at a 45º angle?  Did someone really sit on Dizzy’s trumpet, accidentally, during a job, and the show had to go on?  Whatever the origin, the constriction altered the tone and created a sound that captivated the world. The “bent horn,” now a Smithsonian treasure, became Dizzy’s trademark.  It emitted a sound, a voice, distinguishable at 200 paces to any self-respecting jazz aficionado.

Thelonios Monk started out with another basic tool  (in his case, the piano) and became a world-renowned, distinctive “brand” that set him apart.  He had what some have called an “unorthodox” musical approach that combined “percussive attacks” and “dramatic use of silences and hesitations.”  He had a unique musical presence; a voice all his own.  Others might have had access to the same piano, but they couldn’t deliver the same benefit to the audience.

The value of a distinctive voice, of course, applies to more than jazz.  Those of us in social marketing and public service advertising must worry about it as well. A standout PSA needs to strike a distinctive note.  After all, any campaign will be running amidst thousands of other voices, all clamoring for the public’s attention and all using the same instruments: public relations, TV, print, press, direct marketing, and so on.

So whether you’re playing jazz or developing strategic communications like PSAs, you need to ponder the same things:  How do I cut through, stand out, get noticed, liked and remembered?  Remember the trouble with trumpeters.  They can add to the noise but never be heard.  Or they can create a unique voice, stand above the fray and leave a remarkable impression.

For more information on how to develop a unique PSA voice to get your message heard, click here.

[source: Wikipedia]

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 8:54 am and is filed under Branding, Marketing, PSAs, Social Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.