The easiest thing in the world to do is that which you have always done. I suppose there is at least some validity to the old saying; everything that can be done has already been done, and the trick is to think of it again. However, I tend to disagree. And, in as much as this article is going to live on a blog that concerns itself with marketing, I will focus my remarks through that particular lens, understanding that what I am going to say can be successfully applied to any facet of anyone’s life.

I think that unconscious reliance on the tried and true, even if it re-packaged in new and interesting ways, perpetuates intellectual and emotional laziness and acceptance of the status quo – even if it has the illusion of being refreshingly new. This trap is exceedingly easy for marketers to fall into. Read more…

The beginning of a new campaign is a very exciting time in the life of a marketing agency. We conduct the necessary research to accurately identify the target market, we gather the intelligence we need to devise a message that will appeal to a certain audience, we know the demographics, we understand the dynamics of the particular marketplace and we bring the best and most creative minds together for the intense brainstorming sessions that will bring the compelling messages to life.

There are many answers to the above questions, but I will focus on only one aspect of a phenomenon that pervades the marketing industry today. It is the fact that the individual human being, the person with his or her own set of unique thoughts and feelings that we are trying to motivate into measurable action, is lost in the equation. Marketers tend to forget that, no matter how many millions of people see or hear an ad, it is really only experienced by a vast collection of individuals, not by a collective mind. Read more…