Quality, not Quantity- Stop mixing it up!

My plan has always been to make three posts a week of relevant information that pertains to my blog theme.  I was supposed to post last Friday as I normally post M-W-F.  I only gave two posts last week and I felt good about what I wrote which was relevant and helpful.  I normally would apologize for not keeping true to my writing promise- I can't apologize this time.

 Maintaining my goal of three posts a week is ideal. I'm not making excuses.  I honestly couldn't think of anything Friday to write about that was relevant, memorable, and engaging.  Instead of giving "fodder" I felt it was best to simply enjoy the content I wrote and give everyone a break to potentially miss my voice. 

Narcissistic huh?

No I don't think I'm "Mr. Wonderful." - My honesty has always been a gift and curse.  It rubs some people the right way and some the wrong way.  People feel something and that's what really is important in my eyes.  In marketing, if a marketer can evoke an emotion in their product or service,  They have done their job.   If we follow the rules every single time, things get stale like week old bread--they lose great taste.

I've observed different brands and while I'm no expert, I've seen them put out information that wasn't relevant or important just because they seemingly forgot quality is better than quantity.  James Cameron, the director of "Titanic" and "Avatar", takes on average 6-8 years to bring a movie out to his audience.  He reportedly scores bigger blockbusters than other directors who may put out more movies throughout a year. 

It's really hard to create content and ideas that will stand the test of time.  That's no excuse from me and I applaud the rare people who can do this. Nowadays marketing has so much noise from everyone trying to gain attention.

There is a sense of "me! me!"


As marketers most of us honestly think we can help people more than the next person. We all, at times, look like a toddler that screams for attention and doesn't know why they crave that attention.    We're kicking and screaming for people to notice us yet sometimes we can't even answer why we deserve the attention in the first place.

I'm going to try and do what I said I plan to do because it's good to be organized.  I'm not, however, going to send pointless and bland information to follow a quantity.

To those that follow Quality over Quantity, SALUT!

Keeping up with Trends

I saw a very interesting movie called "The Joneses."




 This movie rarely got any press despite having David Duchovny and Demi Moore as the stars.  It had an interesting concept to it.  If you want to watch it, It is available on Hulu.

Premise:
Both stars play a "married" couple that moves into an affluent neighborhood.  The story comes under the pretense that they are a typical family relocating due to their changing of careers.  Demi Moore's character is actually the leader of stealth marketers who use sneaky ways to expose product placement in a daily life. David Duchovny plays one of her "salesmen" that is conflicted with deceiving every day people.  They even have two teenaged kids that are part of the plan.

What makes it unique is that due to their look and popularity with others in the neighborhood, businesses begin stocking products due to the Joneses' recommendations to friends and neighbors.  They become the "trendsetters" of the neighborhood.

This concept doesn't seem so far fetched to happen ( if it hasn't already)  Professional athletes and celebrities have been using this concept for years.  One of the sole reasons I wanted Air Jordan's was because I was a Chicago kid witnessing Michael Jordan and wanting to jump high and run fast like him.

What made this concept scary to me was in the movie, these were just supposed to be "regular people."  I'm always curious to see how marketing will push the envelope when it comes to becoming more personal.

The questions I ask are:

1. Is it Invasive?  As a consumer, I should have privacy from advertising; Yet advertising ads creep up on my phone and even in the sky. (Sky writers)

     2. Do majority people truly keep up with the "Joneses?" - Data says in the innovation adoption life cycle only roughly 14% can be considered "head of the curve." 

So many questions can be asked and no one knows the true answer.  I do believe as marketing moves toward custom messages for specific niches, there will be slightly more invasive motives to truly connect with consumers.  There's really no right or wrong answer other than asking, "How often do you keep up with the trends?"

Brain farts

We all have them.  No matter how sharp you are, you have had a brain art in your life.  I can tell you I recently had one about 1 hour ago.  I was speaking with a Director and pronounced her name "Young Judith."  Of course her name is Judith Young and I knew that- I still had a brain shut down for a Nano second.

We are not alone, Every time I get a brain fart I get quite embarrassed.  I always fear the person on the other end will look at me as a "ditz."  See I don't care if people like or dislike me but deep down, I care what people think of my credibility.  When these moments happen, They make me uncomfortable because I can't control it.  It's inevitable I will have brain farts where I say or do something completely opposite of what I intended to say.

To entertain myself, I decided to look at various brain farts that have occurred to reasonably intelligent people.  Some of these involve simple fundamentals within each profession.  This made me feel a lot better about my brain farts.

Basketball Brain Fart



Player rebounds the ball and normally he should hand the ball to the Point Guard.  The player instead commits a brain fart and attempts to put the ball in his own basket.  Teammates pause thinking "WTF."

Football Brain Fart #2



Normally a player runs into the end zone with the football and it's a touchdown.  This player had a brain fart and dropped the ball before he crossed the line for the touchdown.

Spelling words



Pretty Self Explanatory.

Monday is crucial

Monday is by far the most important day every single week for me.  There are so many songs that detail Monday as a day everyone dreads.  It's the day after you have enjoyed an extremely short weekend that felt more like an afternoon.  Most people in the office laugh at me when I say, "It's almost the weekend."

"Uh...it's Monday Gabe, what are you so excited about?"

I'm excited because with the way my brain works, I look at Monday as my first step toward a hill.  I spend Sunday evening preparing my body and mind to walk up that hill.  If I don't prepare prior to walking up that proverbial hill, I will fall flat on my ass.

You see, if I'm not mentally ready for Monday, historically I have a bad week.  I don't know why but Monday always seems to dictate my work week.

6:10 AM Monday morning I initially feel like this  

Why oh why did my weekend end so fast?! I have to face more corporate politics, smile at people I'm not too fond of and inundate myself with more work.

Then once I wash my face and put on my Monday song, I'm ready like SpongeBob Squarepants



Monday follows the lead.  If you are extremely prepared on your Monday, there is no situation you can't conquer.  You're prepared to take on every challenge and task handed to you.  If you can smile and stay determined on a Monday, you will have this energy at least until Thursday at 6:00PM.  By then you are ready to just...



Now Playing- "TechnicColor"

Occupational Jargon

One of the themes of this blog is the litany of words and responses we are accustomed to using.  There are so many ways to say one initial thing, wording can be the key to sounding more professional.  I meet people all the time and curiosity arises as to what they do and what they are passionate about. 

When I meet these people, some of them are ashamed of their job title and decide to embellish their job title.  I also come across people just out of graduate school that take a pre-elitist view point. 

I present to you job titles in marketing/sales and their real meaning.

Inside Sales- Salesperson calling inside from the company.

Sales representative- Salesperson

Account Executive- Salesperson experienced 2+ plus years.

Account Manager- Ego boosting Salesperson that has to pretend to not be a salesperson. Managing an account.

Business Development-  Fancy name for a Salesperson with Microsoft excel skills. The word development alone tells you what this position does- Develops business.

Client Services- Glorified customer service people.

For you elitist:

Doctors- Salesmen consultant in area of expertise.  A doctor doesn't come out of a PHD with a list of clients. They have to build their business.

Lawyers- Salesperson consulting law practice.  They have to be the biggest salespeople and how often do you see a Lawyer TV ad late nite?

So the next time you ask someone what they do and they say "I'm a lawyer", respond back by with a smile: "Oh so you're a salesmen too."