The Happiness Factor

Smart marketers are catching on to the importance of happiness. And what a good time for that, too.

Today I see more and more of scare tactics, scarcity minded campaigns and so on. And more and more new marketers are learning those same negative tricks.

So I truly welcomed Tim Manners' column in Fast Company, on the pursuit of happiness in marketing.

It's good stuff. Read all of it. Here's a few essential quotes from it:

Fast Company: "Think about the most successful brands in recent memory. It isn't hard; it's actually getting to be a rather predictable list. What is it that Apple, Starbucks, Target, JetBlue, BMW, eBay and Trader Joe's promise? Damned if it isn't the pursuit of Happiness! Why is the list so short? Because most of what passes for marketing today (and yesterday, for that matter) is sheer Misery.

It's as if Jefferson never changed the word 'Property' to 'Happiness.' When most people think of marketing they think of anything but Happiness. We think of the most crass forms of materialism?or 'Property.? We think of bad jingles, intrusive telemarketers, junk mail, and those little cards that fall out of magazines. Try to find a little Happiness by escaping to the movies and what do we find? More ads. Before the movie, embedded in the movie, and after the movie. You want a coupon with that? No? Can we have your zip code then?

A grand total of one marketer -- Philips Electronics -- seems to understand how most of us feel about this. Philips wanted to buy up all the available ad time at movie theaters in Minneapolis and Boston and take credit for not using it to advertise its products. They thought it would be cool to give us a little break and simply run a short message letting us know that they were sponsoring the cinema silence ?"

Sure it's a big business perspective, but I think there's a lot in there for all of us.

I refuse to believe that the only way to achieve results in marketing is to be intrusive, scary, and downright bully your prospects.

It's time for a new paradigm.... much like the Lazy Way to Success... more on that soon. :)

Juho Tunkelo
www.lazysuccess.com