I just moved to Edmonton, Alberta. It appears to be a fairly grungy town. It has some charm, and the people seem great…it feels a bit like going back 20 years at times. They have several buses in their transit fleet that look straight out of a 1970’s sitcom. The other evening I was out for a walk, exploring some of the streets around my apartment, when I encountered a man on a bicycle. He was disheveled, mid 40’s and obviously distraught. He began to tell me his story.

“Excuse me, I’m in a real tight spot. My car just ran out of gas…I’ve got to get my wife and kid home. You see, I’ve got $12, but the gas station needs $20 for a deposit on a gas can. If you can spare me $8 I’ll be able to get a gas can and get home…[pause for heavy breathing]…you can see I’ve been out here for hours and the rain isn’t helpin’ either, eh. Look I’m a real hard working guy, just trying to get home. I’ve got a job and all…[pause to point out work boots strung across handlebars of bike that look as small and dried out as OJ’s black gloves]…[more hard breathing]. All I need is $8, see I’ve got the $12…could you help me out, I’m in a real bad spot.”

Obviously this gig plays out for this guy. The props and the acting were too orchestrated to be one-time shots at getting a buck. He probably took a couple people a day, maybe more…or maybe he had a handful of these 30-second drama’s he could pull out throughout a day. He could easily be bringing in three figures a week…not bad. However there were several things that didn’t connect for me. First, I’ve never heard of a gas station needing $20 for you to borrow a gas can? Second, why would he have a bike on the back of his car? Third, what kind of work was he doing that needed a long business coat, ratty business attire and heavy leather WORK boots? These things are design issues, and obviously he’s not too concerned with them. Because to address them would be too costly. To reduce his asking price would make the whole scam too much hassle…might as well sit on a street corner and ask for change. The bike was necessary to cover lots of ground (greater distribution)…this isn’t exactly the scam you can pull off over and over on the same street corner. To get a better coordinated outfit would have been costly…and probably too cold…a decent pair of work clothes with matching shoes probably would run $20-40 at a thrift store, and that’s big money on the scale of project we’re talking about.

So, “Allen” wasn’t necessarily in the market for a designer or art director. He was just playing the odds that enough people would be taken aback by his presentation and impulsively give him the $8 or any combination of change they could spare under that. He was satisfied with his odds and might tweak what he said or how he presented it according to the audience or what he found had worked in the past.

“Allen” may have no use for me, but I learned a lot from him. And they are lessons design must not ignore.

First, find familiarity. We all have experienced being out of gas, screaming babies and frustrated family members. If we fail to make that connection whether its through a headline or through imagery we’ll loose the audience.

Second, relate the benefit…whether it be helping “a good guy” out or making you the coolest 3rd grader for a week.

And third, ask a for a fair price. Don’t ask the audience to give $100 for a shirt that cost $10 to make…unless its a Tommy Bahama.

Its all common sense really. However, how we get there as designers is often different than the way direct marketers get there. Our audiences are often different as well. But I find that even in direct marketing (especially catalogs) there is still a great spectrum of approaches. Some that are reliant on better design (details) to make the sale, or some see greater value in developing long-term relationships with customers…which also often require more attention to detail and less attention to your sales pitch.

I’d love to have a conversation with some of the leaders in direct marketing about their perspectives on sustained image campaigns such as Skyy Vodka, Airwalk Shoes, or Nordstrom’s Caslon brand women’s clothing…all done by The Lambesis Agency in California. In each case Lambesis created a visual style that spoke with very few words and certainly not many headlines that would make it out of the think tank of a direct marketing firm. In fact, the Airwalk Shoes story was retold by Malcolm Gladwell in, The Tipping Point, as an example of how attention to details emerging within culture (testing them would render them too late) worked to create an epidemic that took Airwalk from skate-shop-shoe to every mall in America.

That’s not going to happen with direct marketing…because epidemics aren’t predictable…can’t be tested and can’t be repeated. However headlines and “tricks or gimmicks” can be. Designers can learn from direct marketers and I believe there are direct marketers out there that are learning from and valuing designers…there just aren’t that many…and I doubt any of THEM would let anyone call them “Makeover Maven”.

Oh yeah…I lied to “Allen.” Told him I didn’t have a dime on me…was just out for a walk. It was a bit too quiet of a street to admit that I had pretty much my entire life savings (cash and checks) in my back pocket, waiting to be deposited in a Canadian bank the next morning.