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I know a few people think marketing is evil because it’s designed to influence behaviour. Usually I disagree with them, though not categorically.
Marketing can be highly positive where it’s used as a tool to educate people about important issues, like back when we found out that eating a medium size bag of movie popcorn and a soda is equivalent to eating three McDonald’s Quarter Pounders and 12 pats of butter. That’s a good thing to know and educating the movie-popcorn-buying public resulted in immediate changes in how movie popcorn was made. Hurrah marketing.
Or the recent Method cleaning products commercial that educated while making us laugh and squirm, just a little.
Sometimes advertising — mistakenly equated with marketing — IS plain dumb, I’ll give you that. And dumb ads give all advertising, even the clever ads, a bad name.
But sometimes marketing and advertising go way beyond dumb. Take Dace, a local fashion label. Their new anorexic paper doll campaign is sure to be a winner. You can go to their website, download an anorexic paper doll, and then download a set of three fashion plates for your emaciated, famine-ravaged doll to wear.
I’d like a moment with the brilliant minds who ran with this idea and encourage them to give their collective heads a shake. In fact, I sent them an email:
“I’m appalled at your recent anorexic paper doll promotional campaign. Here’s something you may not have considered when you made that choice. Paper dolls are for little girls. Little girls are inundated with images telling them normal size is too big. Little girls grow up into young women who carry those beliefs with them. Are you hoping to reinforce the message?”
Dace blew a really great opportunity to showcase beauty, rather than an impossible beauty standard. I’m pretty disappointed that they haven’t moved beyond that whole illusion and taken a more enlightened stance. Instead, they are using advertising to perpetuate outdated views about beauty.
Two thumbs down for Dace.
If you want to give Dace two thumbs down too, you can email them at info@dace.ca, tell them on Twitter @daceclothing, or let them know via Facebook under “dace clothing.” Oh, and then there’s the old fashioned phone: 1.604.694.2442.
By liz gaige, August 26, 2010 · Filed under Advertising, Articles
So far we’ve learned that ongoing learning is a MUST for business success.
- There are some things you’ll learn by trial and error and there are some things you can learn from other people’s mistakes. This is good, it saves you time and heartache.
- Knowledge comes in many different learning formats and flavours. Fantastic, variety is the spice of life.
- The more you know about your subject matter, the better decisions you’ll be able to make. Excellent, we want to make good decisions, see item 1 above.
Yes, you’ll need to learn stuff. But it may surprise you to know that it doesn’t have to be painful. Here’s how you can make your “lessons” a lot more fun than your high school English teacher ever thought possible:
- Choose to have a positive attitude and embrace that you don’t know. If you can let go of your (completely illogical) need for perfection and immediate competence, you might be able to lighten up and actually enjoy the process. Take a lesson from the way kids naturally learn when adults don’t get in the way. They explore, immerse themselves, and absorb knowledge while they play.
- Embrace your inner Curious George. Remember him? The monkey that got into trouble all the time? Well, note to self: he always managed just fine in the end. Take another lesson from kids and embrace your sense of wonder, no matter what the subject matter. Keep asking Why?, Why?, Why? and How come? and watch your innate sense of curiosity begin to wake up and embrace the joy of learning.
- Embrace the world as your classroom. In fact, get out of the classroom, your office, and the coffee shop altogether. For me, trips to my local farmers markets, artisan craft fairs, and cultural festivals are a great way to learn about consumer trends and see things from a new angle. I am always amazed, delighted, and inspired by the unending creativity I find there. Plus, I get to shop at “school”.
- Tap into new ideas and perspectives that challenge your usual way of thinking. It’s easy to get stuck doing the same old, same old. But there’s more than one way to do anything. Seek out alternatives that offer you a fresh outlook and a broader perspective. Find a website, a blog, or an alternative magazine and be open to acknowledging if not fully accepting others’ points of view. (TED Talks are a great place to start.)
You can ignore or fight the need to learn but it’s you and your business that will suffer. Instead, embrace learning but do it your way, in the kind of classroom that works for you.
By liz gaige, August 25, 2010 · Filed under Articles
In my view, this month’s topic “Earn More, Learn More” is stated backwards. Successful business is about learning more so you can be more effective. The “earn more” part is a natural outcome of putting new skills and knowledge into practice.
Learning more might be learning more about your customers, what they like, why they buy, and where they buy. (This is also known as market research.)
Learning more might be brushing up on your marketing knowledge and skills. (See other posts here on the Market Navigators blog.)
Learning more might be connecting to a group of like-minded business people who are willing to meet on a regular basis and share knowledge, resources and ideas. Creating a strong network of people you trust enough to refer to your friends, family and colleagues is also valuable as a resource to learn from and share with.
Learning more might mean taking a yoga or meditation class that allows you to stay more focused and be more effective at the office. It’ll reduce your stress level too, so those little bumps in your day stay molehills rather than becoming mountains.
Learning more is NOT about sitting in a classroom and having flashbacks to high school math or physics class. News flash: Learning can be fun! Expand your definition and embrace ongoing learning as a way of life that will have positive ripples into your business.
By liz gaige, August 11, 2010 · Filed under Articles, Marketing - General
No matter how good you are at what you do, it always pays to look for ways to improve. There are a multitude of opportunities to learn and not taking advantage of them makes the road to success that much longer.
I’ve always said I want to learn from my mistakes, but I also want to learn from those of others. It’s time consuming to make all the mistakes myself! Why should I take the long route?
Let go my ego (not Eggo), and get thee to a seminar, workshop or course. One that will make you a better person, a better boss and/or a better business person. Knowledge is money.
By liz gaige, August 4, 2010 · Filed under Articles
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