Be Like Douglas

I have a small green model frog, a friend bought him back from Port Douglas for me, hence his name is Douglas.

Have you ever noticed how happy frogs look? Their big mouth and wide eyes? They always look like they are smiling.

So Douglas sits in an inconspicuous place in my car and when I feel road rage or car crabbiness or just general poopy-mood I look at Douglas...and yep....smile!

We all need reminders of the simple things, (I also have a bracelet that says follow your dreams but that's for another day...) they're called emotional triggers.

We have good triggers and sometimes bad - but what matters is that we can control them once we are aware of them. Set up some happy triggers in your life that remind you of the simple pleasures and, well, be like Douglas!

Have a smiley day...

Curious behavior

I was driving through the city today and saw the strangest thing. A man walked part way along a crossing in front of the stopped traffic, put his Gloria Jeans coffee cup on the bitumen, looked up and down the street - raised both arms in the air, first 2 fingers held out in a Victory sign, then picked up his cup, continued crossing the road and strode off without a glance back!

I pondered on his curious behavior for a while - what did it mean? Was he a little touched by the excessive Melbourne heat we have been experiencing? Did he care that people were watching or was it his own private ritual? Was it a peace protest for a cause, if so what cause?

Then I started thinking how much like marketing that behavior was. We create ads, posters, banners, promotional items, brochures, blah blah blah - we walk around, put down our coffee cup, undertake some bizarre attention seeking behavior and hope that people get it and are moved to take action.

Hmmm, curious indeed. There is so much buzz around interactive marketing, and I may have heard the term 'me-kerting' bandied about, or did I just make that one up! If so I think it is perfect for what we really need to do now as marketers - it's about ME not the ad or the copy or the company or the product.

So then the question remains, how do we get our curious behavior noticed by the people who are going to be most curious and then engaged to do something about it? And the final message from my peace loving coffee drinker is that we need to be sure that our message is dirt clear...not masked in obscurity.

Happy New Year!

Nearly 2 months

Well so much for regular blogging! No I did not get sucked into the Facebook vortex. Call me old (no I'm not revealing any more about that statement!) but I just don't see the point.

Anybody I want to keep in touch with I do via private forum, and I truly don't like the idea of my personal photos there for anybody to see....I am a little nervous about all these young people with their entire lives exposed there. Hmmm future implications?

Who can say just now.

So facebook was fun for a while.

Where have I been? I wish I could say working furiously creatively but the honest truth is working, not particularly creatively and with a dreadful draining cold.

NOT flu - just a miserable cold.

So I've been wallowing in self pitty - but with Christmas on the boil it is fun times ahead, nothing a creative spark needs more than some tinsel and trimmings huh!
Smile, laugh, enjoy, and live for now....

Facebook fun & wasted time!

Well I have taken the plunge and joined facebook! Not sure of the implications of this for me just yet, but so far I have wasted 30 minutes on a word game trying to beat my best score!

Is this the best use of my time? I'm not sure!

Is this a good place for me to find people I have lost touch with? Maybe, I've looked up a few people and worked out who they are and that I might know them....maybe next time I will get the courage to ask them to be my friend.

On a creative note, it is always good to take on new experiences and see what comes of them, so ultimately this has to be a good thing to do if all I ever get out of it is a new fun experience for a while...

Plus there are some great groups there that might be worth being part of! Stay tuned....