Gift cards are a stroke of marketing genius. This may not be uncommon knowledge, but since you probably received at least one gift card in the last few days, I thought I would outline the usefulness of a gift card for a company.

Now, gift cards are not as beneficial to you, as they are to their creators. Cash, if you are in the right country for it to be applicable, is acceptable in all stores—barring strange outliers. It is infinitely more useable.

But, to a company, gift cards are brilliant. They do something, several things, which is ultra-beneficial to them. Elevating the simple present way above its unassuming exterior.

The first is that it cements a brand. Even if you prefer a small mom-and-pop shop, or have inexplicably never gone to the store you got a gift card from before, you must now if you want to claim the present. Best Buy on Drew Street, Target in Clearwater Mall, Barnes And Noble on Sunset Point, these stores you may (somehow) never have set foot in before, yet now you must interact with their brands and marketing. It may even make you a regular customer.      

And, though the money from the card is not new cash, the gift card also incentivizes spending more money at that establishment—especially if the card is for a smaller amount of currency.

As an example, if you are at, say, a Red Lobster and your card is for twenty dollars, and you take your family with you, you will assuredly spend more than the card’s value—just based on the usual prices at that restaurant. And, thus, you give them even more money than the card is worth. And you wouldn’t have even put yourself in such a situation without the card itself to get you in the door.

No matter how frugal you might be, it is way easier to end up splurging if you feel the reward is big enough, or if you feel the lack of a full brunt of a cost. It’s the same trick that a massive sale pulls. Macy’s and Steam and so many others use the same method. You end up spending more than you might with normal prices.  Buying more things, moving more merchandise, getting the stores out of the red. Because you perceive it as personally beneficial—as a victory. As a reward. It’s a classic trick of marketing.

Now with all that said, gift cards are still gifts—above all. Acts of kindness from someone: a friend, a family member, a significant other, who cares enough to get you one. It’s not as sinister as I may make it sound. Don’t not use it on principal. It’s just good, clever marketing. And, spending a gift card is a lovely additional portion to any holiday season’s events. Another wave of gifts after the ones you received from Santa and/or all the people you celebrate with. Even if all it is, is a little treat one day from a bakery or coffee shop.

So: enjoy. Have fun with it.        

‘Tis the season, after all.

---

If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com    

Three months later, back we go into the controversy of political correctness and P.R. I’ve said much on the subject over several articles, but now as we are in the winter, we have the potential for a minor P.R. gaffe which will require navigating. And since I opened the can of worms already and never closed it, let’s go right back into the maelstrom.

“Merry Christmas.”

Well, what do you say to that? Obviously, it depends on the person, but if I hear it, I go with the same response. A “Merry Christmas” for a “Merry Christmas.” Even if I did not celebrate Christmas (though I do, and adore it), I don’t mind saying what they want to hear—what is most easy for the person to accept. If I said “Happy Holidays” at that point, that would be rude, at least from some people’s perspective.

And, as I said back in September and October, the whole point of political correctness is to take other’s feelings into account while speaking. You say “bless you” or even “God bless you” when people sneeze, even if you do not believe in the connected religious aspects of that phrase, and no one bats an eye (unless some people do, in which case even I, the one promoting political correctness, think there is such a thing as choosing your battles more wisely) so, for the winter holidays, why not respond with a socially correct response?

Now, for the flip side, since I’m trying to codify this, if you are in a position where you want to initiate the festive greeting: then go “Happy Holidays.” Unless, of course, you know from previous experiences that the person you are speaking with is a person who celebrates a certain holiday. In which case, go ahead and use the appropriate greeting.

It’s not so hard to apply. If you need to put it up in writing, say you’re an employee at a local little café like Angie’s Restaurant on Cleveland Street, and you want a festive sign, then go with both the holiday that is most common in the area and a “Happy Holidays” for safety’s sake.

Again, it is simply an act of respect. Some people do not celebrate Christmas. A huge number in America do, but some don’t. And even if one cannot be bothered to learn all the alternative methods of celebration in the world, it is not hard to stick to the generic “Happy Holidays.”

Now, sure, this can backfire, oddly enough. Some can become offended by the lack of “gumption” one possesses to not choose a holiday. But, really, again, pick your battles. The fact people can become mad about people trying to be nice, and become offended by efforts to prevent offense, is too twisting a paradox to dig into now, but again, for the sake of P.R., I would err on the side of the politically correct. If uninformed to an individual’s preference, only respond with the specific holiday they said first, or stay generic.

The winter holidays, all of them, unless you observe some rather fringe traditions, focuses on things like generosity, love, family, kindness, and remembrance of the past. Be it gathering around a tree one morning, or celebrating over eight days, or seven, or any other way, the intent is the same: to bring people together.

So, as we enter this time of year, I wish you a Merry Christmas. A Happy Hanukah. A Joyous Kwanza. And for all I might have missed: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

---

If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com    

This article came as an idea because of the company Carvana. Carvana delivers cars to you. They allow a person in search of a vehicle to, without going to a dealership, purchase a car. Like Amazon and eBay with, well, everything, the world now has another place which promotes the usage of digital services instead of a physical store.

Now, to my mind, this promotes two things. The first is customer power, and the second is a breakdown of normal concepts of errands—of normal ideas, quick to be outdated ideas, of what it means to go shopping. Which is another sign of the world changing in new and exciting ways due to the internet.

Let’s go over the items a person can purchase online. Actually, let’s go one further. Let’s examine some of the things the internet now seeks to expedite for maximum convenience among the users of it.

In no significant order:

Amazon and eBay, which, if you are willing to wait for the product to arrive and not have the instant gratification of ownership, can allow you to purchase pretty much any standard item for delivery.

Etsy. Which is full of many handcrafted items.

Netflix, Hulu, and all the other similar groups, satisfy people’s media needs.

Match and OkCupid and Tinder and such give people a way to find someone to date.

Lyft and Uber now make getting a ride possible on a mass scale without relying on taxi services.

There are even services which allow Publix and other local stores to deliver products to a person in under an hour, and of course:  fast food delivery of the Chinese food and pizza variety has been a thing for a long time.

Now, I understand the potential concern all of this can cause. Because the more this sort of thing expands, and the more services one can obtain without leaving their house, the less reason one would have to go out in Clearwater and see the world.

And, yes, perhaps that is what might happen. But, I don’t think so. I cannot predict the outcome this will have on real-world brick-and-mortar for-profit industries—as that model may phase out of existence. But, that threat is only for the retail organizations unwilling to go fully digital.

Restaurants and fairs and concerts and bars and lounges all exist as a social location, not just a place to buy things. Sure, you might get a coffee delivered. Sure, you might even get food on par with Carrabba’s Italian Grill on Gulf to Bay brought to you. But those do not have the much touted “atmosphere” of a real physical experience. The smells and sounds and touch of a real coffee shop or bustling restaurant is not easily replicated.

If I may make another prediction, I see people not becoming shut-ins, but instead becoming more free to explore. At the beginning, I mentioned the boost of power in the customer, and that is what they will have. This is what the new system will promote. Errands would no longer be all-day affairs, as traveling all around to stores would no longer be necessary. And the purchasers would have more control of their own time.

Which is more time for people to go and party at concerts, go and meet people for drinks, go and see the world. Sure, some might find it as an excuse for the lifestyle of a shut-in, but the majority will, and already are, getting a liberation of time and effort, which can find usage toward creative and positive outlets. Volunteering, charity work, time with friends and family.

Browsing the shelves may not be the same, but the urge for a human connection doesn’t die. No matter how convenient things get.

---

If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com 

Art is everything to marketing. Artistic expression is the purest form of communication we have as a species. It says something without even needing to verbalize it, and it can communicate ideas and concepts not easily defined or confined to one word, one sentence. It can take an entire book to tell something important, or a movie, or a song, or a play, and effective marketing relies on art in every facet—because marketing is communication.

Why does a painting go for millions? Because it communicated something so strongly that enough cared to listen. Why do the advertisements and marketing methods for Apple and Google work so well and have as many views as they do on YouTube? Because they show the power of the product. They communicate their product’s elegance and efficiency.

A random survey on the internet says (though surveys are not the most trustable or reliable sources of news—shocker I know) that the most coveted jobs in the world are creative ones. Well, if that’s true, it’s understandable. But, I do want to add the caveat that all jobs are secretly creative. If done to the highest levels, they are art.

A call center employee is not only working the art of communication in the more pedestrian sense. Even if he is on a script, his inflection, his timing, his intention, these determine the art of the sale. They set apart the skilled from the amateur. 

An “artist,” and I am guilty of spreading this idea too, is a term with a lot of marketing behind it, some of which convinces some that they cannot be artists. Anyone, if given the right training, can be an artist. Sure, it might have seemed silly when the term first hit common parlance, but a “hair stylist” at a barber shop like Great Clips at Clearwater Mall, or a “barista” at the local Starbucks anywhere in Clearwater and beyond, is an artist. They have a complex craft with a huge potential learning curve. 

If you doubt me, then let your adult sister/brother/friend with no experience cut your hair. I dare you. 

So, that’s the marketing of this article. That’s the first thing that needs to change. I am all for people who want to be writers, musicians, painters, etc. Believe me, I want more of those working professionally.  But for the people who don’t want to be those sorts of things, who prefer the likes of engineering or computer sciences or the service industry, they still can be artists.

If you are in a job which you feel is not letting you create enough: well, I think there is something you can do to bring esthetics into your work space. However subtle it may be. Everyone is born with creativity. It is a learned thing and an innate thing—and beauty does not have to only come from a few sources, a few people, a few job types.

So, make something worthy of your artistic drive in whatever medium you choose.

---

If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com 

People saw Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens on Christmas day last year. Though not what you would call packed, Countryside Mall’s theater contained people watching the new round of the sci-fi series. How many of those people did that because they had nothing to do on the holiday is a sad speculation I am not willing to elaborate on, but Lucas and Disney made money that day. And was it intentional beyond normal parameters? Is Disney advertising for watching a Star Wars movie on Christmas day as a potential “tradition”—at least until the new trilogy and companion trilogy finishes?

It might be hard to recall, but when the advertisements for The Force Awakens began, they advertised it as coming out in “December 2015,” which marked it as coming out around Christmas time (I even remember seeing an advertisement saying it came out “Christmas Day.”). But, I wonder if this was part of the plan? Sure, it may just be because they had the movie ready to go, but they do schedule these things with a lot of stuff in mind, so why around Christmas?

One potential alternative to my theory is the toys. Star Wars makes a lot of money, astronomical amounts of money, on merchandising and tie-in products, and if the movie is just hitting the eyeballs of the new, young generation, they will clamor for the toys showing up underneath the tree. Heck, I wouldn’t mind a little figurine or a nice light-up lightsaber, and I’m an adult. I can only imagine the number of preteens and young children taken to the movies by their families—those nerdy families who want to share the most famous movie series of all time—walking away with a craving to cuddle a Chewy doll, or run around with Han Solo’s blaster (which you can, assuredly, buy at Target in Clearwater Mall.)

But, as I said in the beginning of the article, I think they also wanted the movie to become a linked franchise to Christmas time. A lot of the target audience is around—free from school, and in a softer version of what the Saw franchise did to itself with Halloween, they could become an expectation of the holiday.

Now, it takes a lot to shove oneself into existing Christmas traditions. It’s got its work cut out for it if indeed this is the plan, but if someone, anyone, can manage it, well, this is Star Wars we are talking about. They are powerful in a way difficult to comprehend. Their advertising, with the right announcement, can cement it as a thing kids grow up watching on the 25^th, just as easily as A Christmas Story, or the Claymation Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, or, and you might accuse me of blasphemy for saying this: Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, even without being tied to a holiday. We do live in the world of franchises, after all.

So, we’ll see if I’m right. We’ll certainly see. With Rogue One coming out this year, a pattern may form, or perhaps not even Star Wars can take control of the holiday. The force of their advertising will decide.  

---
If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com