Leaving spaces for the viewer to fill.

My friend Lorraine Harrison sent this commercial in an email with the simple word, "awesome" to describe it. I agree. And what I'd like to point out is how powerful a message can be when the viewer is left to fill in the empty spaces.

From the start you wonder what you are watching. The mime of car driving is quickly communicated but the "why's" start running through your mind. Why are they acting out this play? Why in the living room? Why does the little girl have angel wings? Or are they fairy wings? The mind of course, answers all the trivial questions along with the big one: "What's the message?" When it comes it is particularly satisfying because you, the viewer, completed the story. You got it beyond any voiceover's ability to "get it" for you. Kudos to those who produced this commercial, and to all those in advertising, marketing and communication who dare to trust their viewers to engage their brains in order to maximize the message, the emotion, and the lasting impact of their efforts.

Happy New Year 2011

One thing I am happy about in 2011 is that AT&T will no longer be the sole network that supports the iPhone from Apple. I have been an iPhone user from the beginning and have always liked the phone. I have not been so happy with the AT&T service. To be fair, AT&T's strategy was to cover large population areas, therefore lots of people. Chief competitor Verizon chose to more fully cover the country, including smaller towns, which happens to be where I live.
So when Verizon finally made it official that the iPhone will be available in early February, they can count me as a new customer, happy to switch from AT&T. There actually happens to be a 3G Verizon tower in Shady Dale, my home town, only 2 miles from here. Judging from my tiny "bars" on my current iPhone, AT&T's tower is nowhere near as close... and it's certainly not 3G.
I also see in the news that AT&T and Verizon will set off another marketing war: AT&T will once again say they have "more bars in more places" (does anybody care?!?!?!?!) and Verizon will tout their new ability to support the iPhone. The news reports that both companies spend just under $2billion every year to snare customers in this lucrative market. Well, that's supporting the marketing and advertising industries, so I shouldn't complain. I just think that if AT&T had spent some of those billions on their network, you wouldn't be seeing the mad rush to Verizon that I intend to be at the front of.