call to action Archives - Waypoint Writing

Sesame Street opening scene, season 49 — Sesame Street muppets introduce an episode of season during the show’s 49th season.

Sustaining social distancing is stressful for most of us, including the most introverted in our midst. For those of us who already work from home, pre-COVID 19 crisis, we’ve pretty much perfected our processes for maximum productivity.

But, the pandemic threw a curve ball our way, too, and left most of us without reliable child care — whether that’s from grandparents, a nanny, or daycare.

In this household, social distancing means super close proximity between professional commitments, deadlines, goals… and my 16-month old. As such, we spend a lot of time on Sesame Street (anti-screen folks, judge away and then go away).

What I’ve noticed from increased quality time spent social distancing in the company of my toddler and our repeat visits to Sesame Street is that even this iconic children’s show knows the value of a CTA (call-to-action) and uses them consistently. (We’ve not watched every episode, but we’re working on it!)

Why does a call to action (CTA) matter and why did I even notice this in the first place? Read on to find out more… (see what I did there?)

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As much as I do love classic holiday movies, from the actual classics like White Christmas to fresher fan faves, a la Elf, I did feel inspired this year to seek out something new on the screen to celebrate the season.

For some reason, the new release, The Man Who Invented Christmas, based on Les Standiford’s The Man Who Invented Christmas – How Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits, didn’t make much of a splash in my neck of the woods. Whether limited in distribution or because of my failure to snag a ticket before it left theaters, when I finally decided to see it, piqued by its hint at creative marketing, my only choice would have been to drive to a small town in Massachusetts nearly two hours away from my office. Bah humbug.

So, I bought the book – which is what I normally insist on doing before checking out its reflection on the silver screen.

Here’s the gist of the story and a few reasons why I think it’s meaningful to today’s marketers…

Continue reading “When You Know You’re that Good, aka Chuck Saves Christmas” →