Rules. Everyone has them, they’re like your personal Jiminy Cricket, but they make sense, you’ve seen the sucky consequences in action, so instead of “intuition” you call them “rules”. You know, the ones like: don’t have sex without a condom, don’t sleep with a guy on the first date, don’t take candy from strangers, never leave your drink unattended, etc, etc.
Yea, I’m sure you’ve broken them all once or twice, but it’s never a good idea and you always learn the hard way after the fact. Years of learning the hard way, and you start to form more of your own “rules”: only set the alarm clock to odd numbers, don’t invite boys back to your place, drinking large quantities of alcohol after giving blood is NOT a smart idea for tiny girls, no matter how many large, frat guys are doing it, and so on.
And, the Golden Rule: Don’t Spend the Night at a Guy’s Place. Of course, these rules get broken too; there’s always an exception right? NO. I’m sure they’ll get broken again, but I’ve finally learned that there is NEVER, EVER exceptions to your own rules. Jiminy Cricket is a smart insect. Listen to him. All the time. Every time. Well, unless he tells you to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. Then, and only then, should you pause for thought.
Are you a huge Star Trek fan? Well, now there are Star Trek urns and caskets available. Resistance to purchase is futile.
Engagement. I used to think the word was cool. Now I’m just sick of it. Guess what? It’s a glorified term for branding that marketers came up with to get buy off on some of the new, “test” items presented to BDC’s. And hey, just like branding, it’s bullsh*t.
Why in the world would we want users to take LONGER during the purchase process. The longer they have, the more they’re going to start second guessing their decision. The more second guessing consumers do, the more likely they’re going to chicken out and not complete the process, meaning they’re NOT going to buy whatever product you’re selling.
Remind me again why we would ever want to make that happen?
Saw these ads from HSBC in the airport and love them. You can never have too many reminders that reality equals each individual’s perception. Check out the rest of the ads at Your Point of View
These past few months I’ve done a lot of traveling – San Diego, Houston, Charlotte, Orlando, Killington, D.C., Minneapolis, Boston and Manhattan. Part of it was in preparation for two years in one place, another part to take care of business and still another for fun.
As always, there were a few rules:
- No pictures
- No dwelling on dreams let go of or dreams yet to come
As always, I learned a few things:
- No matter how often I do it, I’ll never enjoy flying – window, aisle, First Class – not going to make a difference. I’d rather drive, thanks.
- For as much as cities are different, they’re very much the same
- The most important (and my favorite) lesson: It’s not where you are that matters, it’s who you’re with.
Wow, haven’t blogged in awhile, but I’m sure I’ll make up for it in the next day or so; got a lot of stories. Of course, the first one will be about karma: I spend a year and a half working really hard to get everyone on board with this crazy thing called interactive marketing and more importantly with the bad ass factor of an internal “ad agency”.
What happens five months after I leave? My two replacements royally screw up and undo everything I did. Way to go. Congratulations. I’d fire you; luckily your boss is too much of a chicken shit to do that.
Anyway, not quite sure how I feel about the whole situation. Part of me laughs and says, “Karma is an amazingly awesome thing.” Another part is royally pissed and hopes the new agency fails miserably. And, a third part of me looks forward to competing with the new, BDA and once again, kicking their butts, sending them home crying and knowing they suck.
Today is my two year anniversary in Vegas. Crazy. It feels like just yesterday that I made the cross-country journey out here. Literally, I can still remember every rest stop, state line crossed and first glimpses of Nevada and ultimately Vegas.
It was only supposed to be a six month stint; you know, a story as old as time. Two years later, I still consider the condo, furniture and my life in this town as “temporary”. I can’t seem to shake that it’s-only-for-six-months mindset.
Wonder if I’ll make it permanent anytime soon?
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