What my 4month old son taugh me about Marketing

What my 4month old son taught me about Marketing


Simon is 4months old today, woohoo! Born on XMAS day of 2007, he is my idol. He teaches me everyday about the simplicity and authenticity of every moment. The teacher/ student roles quickly become reversed, and I am fortunate enough to have someone as pure and strong as him to show me what I missed along the way. Until yesterday, I didn't think Simon knew too much about marketing. Lo and behold, he knows much more about it than I thought I did.

There he is, on his back, wearing nothing but a diaper and a toothless smile. He is content. He is in the moment. He is happy simply by moving and kicking his feet, His sometimes sucks his fingers and sometimes he doesn't. He is the epitome of happiness and zen.
Then out of the blue, a visitor, a relative, a colleague who dropped by, or any other member of the older-than-10 year-old-human-being-club shows up.

This person wants Simon's attention. Why? I am not sure yet. Everyone is compelled to sollicit Simon's attention, maybe because of his beautiful smile and energizing laughter. But I think it's not that. They want his attention because it serves them a purpose. Simon's attention is worth something. He is an audience. He is a content human being about to be solicited and interrupted for the sake of creating value. This value is in this case the happiness of seeing his smile, or even the bragging rights about being able to make Simon laugh. Oh well.

So how does one go about to make Simon smile and laugh? The tried and true method is the "wouagadagahoudaga" baby talk strategy. It is entertaining to see mature human beings drop about 9/10 of the social IQ in an instant to come up with a routine that will spike the interest of Simon. The simpler the better really. Classic phrases such as "yes you are cute, you are soooo cute, you know you are cute, yes you do", not only betray the lack of originality, but the fundamental disconnect between target audience and message. Simon really doesn't care. He was happy being. And then he was interrupted. This drives advertisers/people to amplify their buffoonery at soliciting his attention. Eventually Simon laughs. Maybe he's figured out how silly these people really are and he starts paying attention. At this point it is impossible to know if he laughs and or with them, but I digress. Positive reinforcement kicks in and the advertiser remembers the last thing he did before said-smile/laugh and he repeats its over and over to have the same expected response. All is well. Until we bring up the creative churn rate. Simon is smart. He can also get bored. Eventually he realizes these buffooneries really don't do anything for him. Entertainment value, sure, it has some. But when the initial thrill is gone, that value becomes nill. "GIVE ME SOME VALUE" he would say if he could speak. "DON'T INTERRUPT ME IF YOU'RE GONNA BORE ME WITH YOUR MINDLESS BOZO ROUTINE"...eeesh he might have sounded a bit grumpy, but wouldn't you be grumpy too if theres a creative popularity contest going on around you based on who can solicit your attention best. Hold on a sec, there is such a contest going on.

So whats someone to do for Simon's undying attention and focus. Well bottom line: have something not just good but great to give him. Value can take many forms, entertainment is one. Food is another. Making his life better, improving something in his life should be the priority of anyone trying to solicit his attention. I, for one, have figured something out. Despite all the baby talk brouhaha, I have my secret weapon. I know he is ticklish and loves to have tummy tickled. He genuinely enjoys it and that's how I 1st heard him laugh at the top of his lungs. Moral of the story, don't be a buffoon with the people you market to, find their tickle spot and be essential for them. That is what Simon taught me about Marketing.