Lagniappe

If making a product different/special/unexpected/a Godin purple cow gets it more word of mouth, then how do you do the same thing to a piece of communication? (Hopefully, a piece of communication about a product that already has those qualities?)

You can always try to be funnier/slicker/more fashionable/better designed/louder/more outrageous/more (creative) – but everybody else is trying that, too. So, unless you’re absolutely the best in the world (and nobody is, every time), you need something extra. That’s not to say don’t try. Just don’t think that once you’ve done it, you’re done.

All that stuff might get you noticed. But what gets somebody to do more than notice? To engage – for just a second more? Is it always all about the product, or the message – or can something in the execution help spur action, and engage, if only a little bit more?

Thinking about this made me think about: Lagniappe.

Here on the Gulf Coast, especially in a stretch roughly from Galveston to Mobile – and throughout Cajun Louisiana, most people have at least heard the term. Pronounced: (lahn'-yahp), it’s a Cajun term for “a little something extra.”

When you shop at a Cajun grocer, for instance, you might get a specially wrapped small sample of cheese or sausage, or something else good, included in your bag when you check out. It’s a gift – a bonus – for doing business with the shopkeeper. Cajun restaurants do it a lot, too – and the Lagniappe sometimes changes every day.

Do your ads/spots/blurbs/happenings/viral-whatevers have Lagniappe? Could they?

My friend Michael Wilde used to call it “the watchability factor” when he was talking about spots. Putting stuff in that you may or may not see the first time – but that increases the chance that you’ll enjoy it the second and third time.

Playboy magazine did it with the bunny logo. I’m sure almost every male reading this has looked for that logo on the cover more than once. Of course, it took some frequency to develop, but it was a Lagniappe, just the same.

Crispin and Porter did it with punch-out customization in a Mini ad. That one didn’t need repeated exposure to figure out. It worked the first time.

Can you do it online? Almost certainly. You can almost certainly do it in just about any form of communication. Probably even adwords.

Adding a little Lagniappe goes beyond good design, a great visual, a killer headline. It’s something extra – a small reward for anyone who spends a little time with your message. It can help make the message stick, and maybe even get somebody to show it to someone else. It’s something extra, though – beyond the basic concept. Call it a secondary concept, maybe.

I’m not proposing a world of subliminal messages, or scratch-n-sniff magazine ads. I’m just saying that good creative gets better when it rewards the viewer with something that goes beyond quality technique in execution.

Look at the last five pieces you’ve done. Could you have added a Lagniappe to any of them? Now, think about the next one – the one that’s on your desk right now. Would it be better – maybe engage better – with a little something extra?