No one cares about you. Except for you. That should be the first rule of advertising, but it’s not. If you listen to any ads today you’ll quickly identify that most organizations just talk about themselves. Sounds like a bad first date. Me, me, me instead of you, you, you.

Advertising to felt needs is the fundamental assumption that the potential customer only cares about their needs. Not even their real needs, only their perceived needs. These are the needs they feel. If you want to engage their attention you are going to need to talk about what they care about – which is them and their needs, not you and your qualifications.

These are 3 examples from my trade area of New Orleans where organizations only talk about themselves and never about the felt need of the customer in their advertising.

You’ve got 30 precious seconds for most ads, but most people still insist on talking about themselves the whole time. A Better approach is to focus on the need the advertising recipient is experiencing. The goal of branding is to be the first provider which pops into their mind when the perceived need arises. This will require frequency and repetition in your advertising which is why an annual and consistent promotion schedule is vital.

Understanding Calculating The Ad Budget will help you to determine the number of people you can effectively reach with your message based upon your financial commitment.

A good example of local business advertising which approaches the felt need of the customer is the DWI Dr. from Metairie, LA.

The whole focus of the good Dr.’s message is upon the felt need of the customer. When most people are arrested for a DWI it is a life consuming moment of panic and fear. And most of us would not know what to do to begin to take care of the process. The Dr. doesn’t focus on his credentials, his experience, his strategy or the options he offers. He only focuses on the felt need of the customer.

***Please note*** I’ve selected all 4 examples to have the same level of production. I want to illustrate how speaking to a felt need isn’t dependent on the quality of production, but instead on the focus of the advertising.

West Jeff Afjrotc

This is the screenshot from a new website design for West Jefferson High School Air Force Junior ROTC. This built from the Thesis theme for WordPress.

New Logo for NYI

Recent Logo Design project for Police Equipment and Tactical Supplier New York Ironworks in Manhattan, NY.

This is a logo design project for a Technology Consulting company in Greenville, SC. They wanted the shield crest look.

New Logo

This is the logo for a New Orleans non-profit who operates an outpatient addiction program and has a full service counseling center. This was done for free, of course, since 1. My parents have been in addiction recovery for 15 years and 2. Its very important do things for free from time to time. Keep that servants heart going.

This video is of my son and daughter dancing. I used it as an illustration in this sermon I preached at Celebration Church. It was used to illustrate the innocence of childlikeness specifically as it relates to dancing and the fact that children are not self-conscious when it comes to dancing in front of others. The music in the background is Brown Beats by Cameron Paul…its one of the staples of New Orleans bounce music which I grew up listening to.

Jack Hayden Dancing from Manley Miller on Vimeo.

This was a logo I designed as a contest entry for Chapel Dulcinea. This is a free wedding chapel on the campus of Wizard Academy in Austin Texas. My submission won the contest and I was awarded a tuition credit valued at over $3500.

His name was Isidore. He was a jewish-german immigrant in the mid 1800’s who  developed a small fortune in New Orleans as an investment banker and was responsible for electrifying the local street car lines. Isidore also had a vision to expand the consumerism in New Orleans by building a grand department store chain that he would call “white house.” Of Course he wanted to stay true to the french roots of New Orleans so he called it Maison Blanche. His flagship store on Canal Street was built in 1909 and now houses the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans hotel.

To stay true to his vision of expanding his department store chain and his christmas character Mr. Bingle, Isidore began to open other stores around the city of New Orleans. This included a prime piece of real estate on LA Hwy 61 which could take you from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Unfortunately Maison Blanche was not able to sustain its once economic fervor and after multiple mergers and ownership changes the store on Hwy. 61 was closed in the early 1980’s.

The building was then occupied by the thriving First Assembly of God congregation who envisioned using this building as a center for ministry training, evangelism, and a house of worship to the one true God. We all know what happened next when a young and unassuming congregation of worshippers who called themselves Celebration Church acquired this property in 1996. 10 years later after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina – this property would provide Help, Hope & Healing to over 125,000 families.

Celebration Church is about changing people from consumers in our world to transformers of our world. That’s why we will rebuild that property on Hwy. 61 (now called Airline Dr.). What was once the epicenter of consumerism will now become the epicenter of transformation and missonal outreach in the name of Jesus Christ. You can support this vision by giving faithfully to A City Transformed: Investing in Eternity.

-Manley Miller

PS. You might know Isidore’s name because of the school he funded & founded – Isidore Newman High School in Uptown New Orleans which has graduated local sports legends Peyton & Eli Manning.

Just came up with this new logo for CLUB 56 – Wanted to go for a really cool kind of look that had a MIAMI kind of a feel. Originally went with the Miami Vice colors of hot pink and hot blue with white and black, but then changed those out for the mint and teal feel.

My friend Julie Troyer wanted a new name and logo for her youth ministry at Celebration Church in New Orleans. This new name we came up with is DES1RE: We have ONE DESIRE: To DESIRE ONE.  Check it out.