To make a long story short, the beautiful Cinderella is treated very poorly by her wicked stepmother and obnoxious stepsisters until her Fairy Godmother shows up and allows Cinderella to shine in all her glory and capture the heart of the town’s handsome Prince.

The awful treatment of Cinderella by her step-family is how I feel web content is treated by its “family.” As something that is kept in the background, given second-hand status and not allowed to shine. Is that any way to treat web content, I ask? Web content has so much to offer and yet when it comes to website hierarchy, it’s not looked upon as “sexy.” We want pretty pictures and wow factors before we even think about content. To me, this thought process is fairytale stuff. In reality, your content should come first. Sure, first time users will be in awe of your site’s super-cool look, but, I guarantee that unless they find the information they’re looking for via content, they will not be returning to your site. It may look pretty on the outside, but the inside is a complete mess!

Putting content first means you’re catering to your audience, not yourself. In other words, you’re the evil stepmother. I cannot tell you how many sites I’ve been to where the content clearly disrespects its users. It’s not fresh/updated, cluttered, too much, not enough, all over the place, etc., etc.

Content strategy is about knowing your audience. Who they are, what they’re looking for, what they what to know, what they already know and everything in between. If you’re not putting your content first, you’re not putting your users first – plain and simple.

It’s time to be the Fairy Godmother to your content. Give it some glass slippers, nurture it and let it shine for everyone to see. Only then will your Prince Charming, aka your audience, fall madly in love and live happily ever after.

Not sure how to do that? Don’t fret. I’ll be giving tips on how you can take your content from rags to riches. Stay tuned…

You would think having so little room to work is beneficial to a project such as this. But that’s just it. You only have a small space to work with so what you say in that tiny area is very, very important. The message is everything, you see. The words applied to the card (or any other piece of promotional material) can’t be taken back. They’re out there and if you don’t have the right message for your business, you won’t be reaching the right clients.

“… you’ve got two choices when it comes to your message … it’s all about you [or] it’s all about them.”

The way I see it, you’ve got two choices when it comes to your message. One, it’s all about you. Two, it’s all about them. In option one you’re given free rein to talk about your company, how great you are, why you’re the talk of Twitter, etc. That’s okay. Some businesses are afraid to toot their own horn, so to speak, so why not put it out there?

Option two is about your possible client. Who they are, what they need and where they can turn to for help. Neither message option is wrong. It’s determining which one will work best for you and your clients.

“You need to deliver your message in a succinct and informative way.”

Next comes the content. When it comes to small, promotional materials there isn’t much room to play with. You need to deliver your message in a succinct and informative way. Oh, and you have about one second to do it. Let’s be honest, your promotional item will end up on someone’s desk or in someone’s trashcan if you don’t capture that one person’s attention immediately.

One of the best uses of promotional materials I’ve come across is this two-sided self promotional piece, from type goddess Nancy Harris Rouemy and Go For It Design, featured in the July issue of How Magazine. This piece works perfectly as it showcases her immense talent and does it in a way that is simple, fun, informative and visually stimulating. Love it!

So, what’s in your message?

I realize TV commercials have always been somewhat louder than programming but over the last few years it seems to have gotten worse… way worse, RIDICULOUSLY worse! I must include this practice of spiking the volume of TV spots among the other forms of invasive marketing to which we are all constantly subjected. There’s e-mail spam, pop-up ads, junk snail mail, marketing calls at home and on and on.

What is the thought process is behind this? Was there something wrong with the way we’ve been hearing commercials for the last 50 years? Is there any reason to think that even though we’ve been watching & hearing our favorite program with no issues that we won’t be able to hear the commercials just as easily??

“We are in the new millennium and there is a war going on for our attention.”

Advertisers desperate to reach us must feel they need to come at us harder. We are in the new millennium and there is a war going on for our attention. We used to be a captive audience. We were easy to find. When I grew up all I had to watch, in New York, were channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 & 13. There were a bunch of radio stations but, by the time you broke down the formats, you only had a few of each from which to choose. A few black music stations, a few rock stations, a few classical stations, a few all news stations, a few pop stations, etc.

Today there are endless places for our ears, eyes and minds to wander. We have hundreds of TV channels, countless satellite radio stations, video games, DVDs, books, blogs and websites. We not only have infinitely more choices, we also have almost total control of how and, most importantly, when we consume our media. We use TiVo, iPods, podcasts, Kindles, Netflix and HULU to exert our control.

I suppose the thinking is “let’s grab them… and sell to them… while we have them!” The ironic thing about boosting the volume of commercials is that it doesn’t make me pay attention. I get startled and aggravated. I feel resentful and harassed. It actually increases the chance that I won’t look at your commercial at all. I’m sure to miss the first commercial of the break because I am scrambling for the remote to turn down the volume.

Two good friends of mine were recently blessed with a brand new baby daughter. We all know what a task it is to care of a newborn. After a hard day of work behind them, and a long night of tending to the often-crying baby ahead of them, they try to relax in front of the tube. They take special care to adjust the volume juuuuuust right. Low enough to not wake the baby, loud enough to be able to hear the TV without straining. Then BOOM, here comes the commercial. Wifey doesn’t see the commercial because she is running to hold the baby who is now crying. Hubby doesn’t hear the commercial either because, like a starter pistol, the loud commercial sends him diving off the couch for the remote so he can turn down the sound.

By the time the household has re-settled they have missed ALL of the commercials and it is time for their program to resume. Baby or not, many people who have to dive for the remote simply turn down or mute the sound altogether until their program resumes.

When I go to bed I like to have the TV on. Unless I’m dead tired, I can’t go to sleep in complete silence. I need to have some level of sound. I use the channel guide in the cable box to program shows or movies that are good background white noise as I fade to black. Like the happy couple I must have the volume juuuuuust right so the silence is broken but I can still go to sleep. Unlike the happy couple, diving for the remote is not an option for me since I’m curled up in bed. So what happens? Not only do I not hear the commercials, I have decided not to select the offending channel at all. Some nights I shut out the medium altogether and switch to the radio or, better yet, my iPod (no commercials)!!

By my experience, the hands-down worst offender is AMC. In the ramp up to this year’s Oscars the channel is showing many of my favorite movies. So my cable box is often parked on AMC. I was watching a Forrest Gump & Philadelphia double feature the other night and it dawned on me that I was not putting the remote down on the coffee table. I laid back on the couch with it resting on my chest because, at the start of each break, I would have to lower the volume and turn it up again when programming resumed. It got so bad that I found myself poised like the Sundance Kid ready to quick draw the remote at the start of each commercial break. Don’t take my word for it. Check out AMC for yourself. Bravo also gets dishonorable mention.

I am not alone.

To be honest, I didn’t realize how well documented this problem was until I surfed the web for some background to write this post. I knew there was backlash in the privacy of people’s homes but I had no idea how much this issue is all over the web. I found pages of articles and posts spanning the past few years. Here are just a few.

• “Television Commercials Are Too Loud declares Calif Politician” — Entertainment Weekly
• “Why Are TV Commercials So Loud” — Reader’s Digest
• “Are TV Ads Too Loud” — Parade.com

So they already KNOW this bugs the shit out of us?!?!… Which bugs the shit out of me all over again!! I don’t know which ticks me off more, coming to my own boiling point with this issue or now realizing the full scope of the outcry that has been in the ether all this time. Isn’t it safe to assume that this backlash has been brought to the attention of the offending parties?

Is this an issue worth legislating?

Did you know that U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) introduced the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (the CALM Act) to Congress in 2008? She’s now on my list of everyday-heroes! The bill would require the FCC to “preclude commercials from being broadcast at louder volumes than the program material they accompany.” The bill has passed in the House and went before the Senate on December 16, 2009.

The United Kingdom seems be on the right track with a few things. I won’t EVEN get into the universal health care issue because this post is supposed to be about my marketing gripe. Volume spiking has been made illegal across the pond. The Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, the UK agency responsible for regulating the TV Advertising Code, decreed, “Advertisements must not be excessively noisy or strident.” The code also says, “the maximum subjective loudness of advertisements must be consistent and in line with the maximum loudness of programmes and junction material.″

“I have a visceral reaction to getting bullied on my own couch.”

I’m happy the UK has outlawed the practice and that Representative Eshoo is fighting the good fight in Washington, but does it really have to come to that?? I must admit that I am particularly sensitive to being treated like this in my own living room. Is nothing sacred? At a time when so many of us are fodder for politicians, corporations, fast food chains, car companies and all types of entities that rely on us for their very existence but put our needs last on their list, I have a visceral reaction to getting bullied on my own couch.

The TV industry throws a technical smoke screen at us to explain the bullying practice. I read quite a few articles saying that sound compression differences between programming and spots were responsible for the variance in “perceived” sound. They cite the lack of uniformity amongst the varied production houses producing TV spots as the reason for the perceived sound variance.

If this is the case, why are the promos for network related programming just as abusively loud as the TV spots from outside sources?? Many times the network promo is that first commercial of the break that blasts you off the couch. Why not just set a standard. Outline some specs. Wherever you make your commercials, if they don’t meet these specs they will not get on the air.

There are many different carmakers in America and around the world making all sorts of vehicles. But if they don’t meet the EPA standards, they will not be allowed to operate on the roads in this country. Isn’t it that simple? You mean we can make an atom smashing Super Collider to re-create the Big Bang but we don’t have the ability to apply a technical standard for Snuggie commercials??

Technology to the rescue

Here is the sick part. Blasting us with commercials to get us to buy things we probably don’t want has bullied us into a new market of products to buy that will help us combat volume spiking in commercials. In other words we have to buy this new product we don’t want in order to insulate us from the loud commercials for the other products we didn’t want in the first place. They get us either way!

There is SRS TruVolume technology that is designed to even out volume fluctuations. Fluctuations, yeah right! I wish it were that subtle an experience! SRS comes equipped in certain Samsung and Vizio televisions. On Amazon.com the Vizio TVs with SRS TruVolume will cost you $1050 to $1200.

If that’s too rich for your blood you can purchase the MyVolume Volume Leveling Adaptor at the SRS store for a mere $100. This box is supposed to attach and upgrade normal televisions so you can “stop the spikes” and “end the spikes” as it says on their website. The HDMI version of the product won an Innovations Award at the Consumer Electronics Show. To me that underscores the reality of volume spiking. The problem is so pervasive that SRS got an award for coming up with technology that effectively deals with the abuse.

According to The Gadgetress of The Orange County Register on her recent blog post, “SRS Labs’ TruVolume takes all audible signals, ignores the extreme lows and highs and focuses on the middle range volumes. Loud bursts in this middle range are typically TV commercials. Its technology can distinguish between talking levels of the announcer to the sudden crowd cheers in the game to the obnoxiously loud TV commercial.”

By the way, I am now a fan of The Gadgetress! I totally got sidetracked reading several of her stories and I now follow her on Twitter. If you’re a gadget geek like me I suggest you do the same! Now back to our regularly scheduled tirade…

You know what’s funny? I’ve never seen a TV commercial for the SRS Volume Regulator. This is the one product that SHOULD use volume spiking in its TV commercials. In this case it would actually be good marketing. Picture yourself late at night watching Terms of Endearment and all of a sudden… “ARE YOU TIRED OF LOUD TV COMMERCIALS THAT WAKE YOUR BABY OR SCARE YOUR PETS CAUSING EITHER TO HAVE MESSY ACCIDENTS IN YOUR HOME??” Perfect, right?

There are cheaper TV Sound Regulator boxes for about $50 but these less expensive options apparently don’t work with TiVo and HD. These are for people with older TV sets. You get what you pay for, except for these loud ass TV spots. Seems like you have to pay to NOT get those.

I confess that given the problem of volume spiking the SRS products do seem like the best passive defense. Call me stubborn but I refuse to buy it on principle. I will not buy an add-on for my TV that works just fine except for advertisers and networks trying to get in my face. Can you imagine if 3D television was the normal broadcasting format? The commercial for Exstenze would be loud AND probably have an all-naturally enhanced 3D penis extenze-ing at you from your TV screen. Oye! Besides, once we all get this box or souped up TV they will think of some other way to harass us in our living rooms. So let’s just move onto the next front in this battle without me plunking down $1200 for an SRS equipped TV or $100 for a Volume Leveler.

I’m going on offense! I choose to continue the fight by exercising remote CONTROL. I’m grabbing my TiVo remote in arms like William Wallace to fight for the sovereignty of my living room sofa!! Rest in peace Billy Mays but your ghost will not force me to submit. They are going to have to pry the remote from my cold dead hands!

As I survey the web I see the seeds of TV viewer revolt. I take heart in the people who declared they would never watch live TV; only shows on DVR so they could ignore the commercials. I loved the guy who said he has a DO NOT PATRONIZE list and he always writes down the names of products that use volume spiking in their spots. Some say this is a good reason to cancel cable and pick up a book. Many have been moved to write their local representatives. There is even a Facebook group supporting the CALM act.

Couch Potatoes Unite!

It may seem like a lot of emotion over loud TV spots but I feel them and support them. In these days & times I look at it this way…

• We can’t find jobs
• We can’t afford to go on vacation
• We can’t afford a night at the theater
• We can no longer assume when we step on the brakes that our cars will stop
• Credit cards are charging us interest rates that make the vig on a mob loan seem like a get-by loan from family
• Banks are hitting us with $35 bounced check fees for a 50¢ overdraft
• We can’t get healthcare
• We don’t like the people we didn’t vote for and aren’t satisfied with the ones we did

We’re getting beat down at every turn. Can’t we just sit at home (if you still own one) and watch some friggin television in peace??

Conclusion

Despite the aggravation many of us feel about volume spiking I’m sure there is some Ad man out there to tell us, “it ain’t pretty but it works.” I haven’t seen any data and that’s not my experience but perhaps that is true. The car salesman is generally not looked upon kindly and his sales rap is notoriously vilified but it hasn’t changed since the invention of the car dealer. If you have to get a car, you have to deal with the car salesman.

Even though we have some means of defense, we have to deal with loud commercials in one way or another if we are going to continue to watch TV. And we will continue to watch. Any of my friends will tell you I’d rather turn off the gas than my cable.

My ultimate frustration is that all this is a bunch of noise and aggravation with nothing gained for the viewer OR the advertiser. Much as I hate it, I would grudgingly concede the effectiveness of this practice if I saw that it actually worked. The problem is not my being able to hear your commercial. The problem is your product or the effectiveness of the spot you produced. If your commercial isn’t working or your product isn’t selling then you should look at your message and your creative.

I saw your spot and I heard your sales pitch. I either want your product or I don’t. I try to put myself in the mind of the advertiser and I fail to see how making a commercial louder is going to make viewers like what they see any better. It won’t change their estimation of the product. The only thing they risk doing is turning people from neutral to hostile viewers and that can’t be good for business.

TV advertisers, do you hear US now??