The Case for Conversation Starters

Have you ever been in a meeting that began with awkward silence? Or perhaps you have an upcoming meeting with a new team and you’d like to find some way to help bring them together? With a few “conversation starters” in your back pocket, you can warm up a group and help build unity. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• The best part of my job last week was ____.
• My favorite day of the week is ____ because ____.
• If I could take any class for fun, I'd take ____.
• I would never order ____ from the menu when dining with clients.

Marketing to Moms
High Pointers recently attended the Marketing to Moms conference presented by Parenting Magazine (the first of its kind). Below are a few insights about Mom, and we’d be happy to share more. You can also visit the conference Web site at www.m2moms.com.

Big Spenders: Moms are 44% of the women's market, but they account for:

• 55% of spending on consumer electronics
• 51% of spending on food
• 48% of spending on home furnishings
• 47% of spending on clothing

Web Wins: Internet is Mom’s most highly consumed daily form of media (94%) with TV next (90%) and e-mail third (89%). Source: Haystack Group

Seven Secrets: To build a strong relationship with Mom, you must:

• Provide quantifiable value
• Keep it simple
• Be straightforward
• Inject her voice
• Connect with her emotionally
• Build trust
• Save her time and money

Sense of Smell

A woman’s sense of smell is keener than a man’s. Male or female, your sense of smell is least acute in the morning.
Source: Sense of Smell Institute, www.senseofsmell.org

A Review...
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Economist Steven Levitt believes that complex phenomena can be understood if we find the right perspective and ask the right questions. In this thought-provoking analysis of a number of social issues, he searches for the hidden incentives behind human behavior. He turns the data inside out to examine questions like “If drug dealers make so much money, why do they still live at home?” and “Does parenting really make a difference in how our kids turn out?”

Levitt and Dubner turn traditional wisdom on its head and while the result tends to be a little scattered, it definitely gives you plenty of fodder for cafeteria or cocktail party conversation. For those who like “the Minnesota connection,” Levitt graduated in 1985 from our very own St. Paul Academy and Summit School.

HVS/American Hospitality Management
When HVS/American Hospitality Management took over management of the Swiss Chalet Inn, a chalet-style hotel set in the mountains near Ruidoso, New Mexico, they called on High Point Creative to help make their new Web site among the first found by potential guests. The links we made and listings we recommended using our Pinpoint^SM process helped to increase the hotel’s Web site traffic by 1,308 visits per month in just three months. For more information, check out the case study in our Project Showcase.

American Medical Systems
When American Medical Systems wanted to invite women to a special health experience called WomenShare, High Point created the script for two radio ads to help boost attendance. One woman in particular heard the ad and drove more than 45 miles to take part in the event. To listen to the radio spots that originally aired on FM 107 and 108 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, check out the case study in our Project Showcase.

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