Musings in Marketing

Friends,

Photo sharing is a key part of the vacation experience. The rite helps bring you closure and proves to friends and acquaintances you were actually somewhere (hopefully somewhere nice). As I try to dust off some neurons and get re-acquainted with my job, I thought I’d spare you the curated greatest snaps parade. Instead, I’ve curated a different kind of album. For your enjoyment and edification, here are some road trip lessons in marketing.

Know your sweet spot. Sure, “whale hunting” is alluring but, if like these mosquitos you try to go after a target you are not ideally suited to succeed, you may be crushed.

You may win outside your target. Notice anything odd about this picture? Other than the fact it’s a storm drain grill? If you look closely, this Mt. Rushmore auditorium fixture reads “Urban Accessories”. Incongruence is fun. And that’s OK.

Messaging can be powerful. This mountain is not tall enough to make the list for the top 100 peaks in the U.S. However, if you read the sign, you get a an altogether different picture.

The enduring power of sponsorship. Remember US West? Well, eighteen years and two name changes later, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial theater does.

Demand generation works! Wall, SD is an unremarkable small town of less than one thousand people. Yet you see ads for Wall Drug several states away. This sustains a sprawling complex selling all kinds of clothing, guns, jewelry and useless trinkets. They even make donuts! Of course, you don’t have to drive over 400 miles to get donuts. There are plenty of local choices -even some holes in the wall.

Obvious is best. Subtlety is for artists. If you’re trying to get a message across, direct and to the point is the way to go. Take this sign. The national park service could have just decided there are not a lot of places you can go from here (after all, this spot is surrounded by foreboding cliffs). Still, I bet this sign has saved lives. Like this trail, this post has reached the end of the road.

Happy Friday!

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Ashes to Ashes

Friends, I don’t know about you, but my household tends to use things a tad beyond their reasonably useful life. Cars, razors, pillows... heck, we squeezed the last BTU out of our home’s 25 year old thermostat —15 years is for rookies. This week we bid our fire pit farewell. Structurally unstable and rusted to the core, this contrivance was well on its way to returning to the soil. Memories of s’mores, cigars and shared spirits come rushing back, as does the six foot tall cardboard peach burned atop it, which caused the first stress fractures in the waning days of 2019. Good times! I suppose nothing lasts forever, but memories can add a sense of permanence to the fleeting. So go, grab a donut and make some new memories!! Happy Friday!

To an end to Covid Games

Friends, As 2021 comes to an end, it’s time to remember and be grateful for another year of life – there’s much for which to be grateful. Sure, some things could have gone better (they always can), but on balance things were good. At the González household, the cathartic process of capturing this year’s essence to burn at midnight is wrapping-up. This year’s theme, “Covid Games from home” uses Squid games (Netflix’s unlikely breakaway hit) as a way to mock the two main Covid variants of concern (Delta and Omicron) and commiserate about working from home with all the weirdness it carries along. Comfy slippers combined with dressing-up from the waist up for zoom meetings (not to mention the quarantine fifteen). As I hope for lots of snow and no wind (lest we need to call an audible on the midnight burn) my thoughts turn to my friends in Boulder county and hopes for a quick recovery. May 2022 bring an end to confinement and lots of opportunities to share donuts. Happy Friday!

BIrds of a Feather

Friends, The early bird catches the worm, however, as the sun rises I’d much rather have a Denver omelet than a diet of worms . Ready to fly the coop, my ducks all in a row, I ponder one more time whether a bird in hand is truly worth two in the bush. Egged-on by my quest to tuck away a nest egg, I’ve decided to change industries and hope that, like the phoenix, my career will also rise from the ashes of change. After all, I’m no spring chicken –my crow’s feet and gray bely my age – however, I have to trust my judgment and believe you can’t catch this old bird with chaff (whether or not folks think me an odd bird for my actions). And so I shall attempt to soar like an eagle, aware that counting my chickens before they hatch would be ill-advised. As I learn to talk turkey in the language of cybersecurity, I will endeavor not to hide my head in the sand, choosing instead to be like a duck – calm on the surface and paddle like hell underneath! And while my excessive use of bird-inspired

Friday Donuts

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