One Year Later

I recently passed the one-year anniversary of my first blog post. I had every intention of posting something on the very day of my anniversary (which will go unmentioned here so as to avoid calling attention to exactly how overdue I am). But before I knew it, the day passed, and so did a week or two before I was able to begin this entry.

I started this blog with the intention of calling out marketing campaigns or practices for their successful (or unsuccessful) attempts at cutting through the marketplace clutter. But part of the reason for my falling behind in marking my anniversary may be that I became a victim of the very clutter I intended to take aim at - everyday life and an overload of information that I am trying to process.

In my first post I mentioned a conversation that I had with a friend about Barack Obama. This was way before he launched his presidential campaign and Obama Girl became a YouTube sensation. (That video cracks me up.)

So, I checked back with her to see if she had a better idea of who Obama is on year later. Here's what she had to say (syntax is all hers):

barack obama is a democratic presidential hopeful and is a senator from chicago. (i think) he wants to pay teachers more, so he's peaked my interest!! i still get most of my news from the internet on my yahoo page, and will scan ajc.com/usatoday.com on occasion. i am a people magazine junkie, but that doesn't really qualify as news. other than that, i'll hear important things by word of mouth.

I'll continue to post my thoughts on the marketplace, so long as my personal clutter doesn't get in the way. But, I am not going to limit myself to just what marketers do - I plan to address all the different channel consumers use.

Facebook's recent announcement has me thinking. Another post for another day, I suppose.

Where Obama and Oscar come together

With my first blog posting, I feel I am setting a precedent for all future writings. So this seems like a good time to say that there will be no set formula or tone to this forum. The constant theme will be me expressing my opinions on life as a consumer in today’s cluttered world. Having worked as a publicist and marketing manager, I’ve experienced marketplace clutter first-hand from the perspective of trying to get my message across an already-crowded marketplace. But I am a consumer too and am intrigued by what hits home and what misses the mark.

In a recent IM conversation, a friend said: “If he's not on Sesame Street or in prime time, I don't know him!!!” We were talking about Barack Obama. Not exactly a household name, but given his appearances on Oprah and as the keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he hasn’t been living in obscurity either. But her comment struck a cord with me because despite the abundance of information channels available, our over-programmed lives are such that if a message isn’t placed properly, we’re likely to miss out on some useful information.

Well, if it’s so useful, why am I not finding it? Because it’s a marketer’s job to find you and move you the consumer to action, i.e. buying, voting, etc. With so information channels available to consumers, picking the right one to share an idea it’s that much tougher for marketers.

So, from here on out, I’ll be sharing my observations of what has hit home with me – the good, the bad and the ugly.