Results tagged "Marketing"

Can you find me?

1. Find me in this picture.
2. Name the city that I am in.
3. Guesstimate the closest year this picture was taken.
4. Guess as many times as you would like.
5. If you answer correctly, I will interview you for an upcoming For The Birds “Bird Watcher Profile” post.
6. Then I will promote the hell out of your story for a week.
7. All about you. 
8. I am no joke about promotion. 
9. Game ends with the right answers.
10. If you were with me when this photo was taken, you can’t play.
11. Mom, Dad… You can’t play either.

Photography by Photog Melanie Zobian

Meanwhile, I’m guesting over at Guest Bird Robin’s blog.. I like her, she’s spunky.

Hey you – Yeah, YOU. You out there among the wires and sparks of the World Wide Web. What do you think of this?

This post, screen captured above, belongs to Seth Godin. You can read it on his blog here.

Last week, a new national campaign was released called SMART CHOICES. And while most of us obsess about making smart choices on just about everything that we come in contact with, this particular campaign is all about food labeling.. just in case you are too busy to read the contents–or don’t inherently JUST KNOW that a giant rainbow toucan usually reflects sugar content.. Brand images burned into our brains by the age of two–No pulling the wool over Will’s eyes when one tries to convince with the anti-fructose “healthy” version of Trix…but shouldn’t cereal be a little fun? Maybe I am dancing around my point, but I am really impressed by the boldness of this situation. This campaign (brought to you by a council of marketing geniuses) not only targets the zombie “I will buy it if THEY tell me to” consumer, but it is completely hypocritical about its entire existence.. Why couldn’t I come up with this one?

So, what is the big deal? As not just Americans, but as HUMANS (counting extraterrestrials and carnivorous reptiles) we are blinded on a daily basis by mass media, branding and marketing. Almost every second is spent with our senses being bombarded with something. Even the smells and scents of KFC and McDs–not to mention J.Crew and Banana… were created by a strategic plan to pull you in. One can only hope for a little honesty… But now, thanks to the giant machine of progress generating childhood obesity like we’ve never seen, we have SMART CHOICES… a check mark placed on the very products that you were questioning… But don’t worry, you’re smart–and it’s okay now — THEY TOLD US SO.

As if CHOICES were easy to begin with.

Year one has passed!

I began publishing For the Birds on this date circa 2008–wow oh wow have things changed since. Initially, For the Birds was to be a marketing tool for Breakwater Design Studio, and although it does serve that purpose, FTB has also opened up whole new worlds for me… Writing and Internet Social Media. Once shunned–Facebook and Twitter are now common tools that promote, engage… Once feared, writing a very public diary of almost daily observations has given me a personal boost that I never could have imagined… Sharing accounts with readers who then become friends with common interests and concerns… And then my favorite — sharing our lives with existing friends and family scattered all over the world. In short, connections have become a way of life and For the Birds has allowed my family and I to have a mini piece of the pie–actively participating on an almost daily basis.

So, I guess that I need to thank me for jumping into a way of life that I never knew possible… but — as I take my place at the podium to accept the award for 2009 Ego of the Year–I really thank all the readers… to date a shocking 23,247–even those that hit the website and went “what the f is this” and x’d the browser out… I have kept my word and emailed everyone back that has commented–and I have kept most comments private… knowing that privacy is still a major player in the evolution of For the Birds.

On another note, I really want to acknowledge a few other blogs out there that have given me the courage to share in this open forum… In no particular order:

Dooce
Mighty Girl
Suburban Bliss
Gotham Gal
Designing Moms

I don’t think that any of these authors are aware of me or how much they have influenced… If they were aware–I’m sure that restraining orders would be issued. At any rate, I read their posts with the hope that someday FTB will boast it’s own URL (damn you–you evil birders at forthebirds.com) and claim a regular readership. Until that day–keep stopping by–I promise generous helpings of almost daily observations… blood, sweat, tears all mixed with a fine selection of mundane tribulations.

PS. If you want to hear me talk more (The floodgates! Typepad you’re killing me!)–visit me at Twitter.