First, when they start publishing this stuff in the traditional media you have to know it is not as 'far out' as some would still insist. Here's an item — a contributed column, actually — appearing in The Appleton-Post Crescent based in Wisconsin. It's by Kathy Fredrickson. She's a small-business marketing consultant and the director of development and marketing for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh College of Business.

She's saying if the establishment old-timers in marketing today don't get with it soon — and at least indulge some of the new ideas of the up-and-coming Generation X employees — the elders will lose their leadership edge… they'll be pushed into the background. Key take away: want to stay young and relevant? Get with the program.

She offers a great line which I think perfectly summarizes the old way of doing business and how the newest generation sees it:

Gen X marketers are old enough to remember boomer mentors teaching them how to market during a time when media relations was a dialogue with reporters, photos were meticulously airbrushed by artists and the only commercials on television were crafted by agencies.

Share This

Where can you get a free haircut, a free meal, go swimming, use a readily available bike or umbrella for an hour or so, workout, get a cheap massage, see a doctor at no cost and, oh yes, think really, really hard.

This article about a walking tour of the so-called Googleplex, written by Dean Takahashi and appearing at InsideBayArea.com, has absolutely nothing to do with our main theme's and perspectives here. But I couldn't resist. It's Monday; it is dead-heat, airless summer time; and, there has been so little in the way of entertaining news for several weeks. I figured everyone's happy imagination could be sparked by this story… especially if you work on the east coast of the United States.

Why is it no corporate equivalent of this exists in, let's say, Massachusetts? Sure, maybe the Valley is more competitive. But, do biotech people in the Hub work any less hard or any fewer hours, for example? Does their hair grow more slowly? Is their daily Monday through Friday commute on 128 workout enough?

In my next life I'm coming back as a wicked geek… a word I use, by the way, with great admiration, not derision. Next time I'm nine years old and everyone is going out to play stupid baseball, I'm staying in to master the Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.

Share This