The Year I Saved My (downsized) Soul

A reader review on Amazon.com of Carol Orsborn’s new book The Year I Saved My (downsized) Soul begins with “Carol Orsborn writes well.” I was planning on rolling out this post with similar praise.

Carol, Brent Green, and Yours Truly traipsed around Europe in September 2007. She also speaks well, presents well.

Even so, Carol has gone through the same stuff almost all of us have due to the economic downturn. It’s tough out there. From her book:

Fighting for my survival, I spent my days performing, explaining, and defending, my nights worrying and fretting. To find even a half-hour a night to think about and record the bigger picture of what was going on in my life, and to fight my way back towards what really matters, required more of me that I had to give.

But still I had to try.

While BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer (co-written with Mary Brown) has everything to do with advertising and baby boomers, (downsized) Soul tackles other issues (although the catalyst for her narrative happens to be the marketing myopia of a certain ‘cracker’ client).

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read it. Carol does an excellent job mining the mindset of many Boomers, women and men. Her husband has the best line in the book – and Carol seems to agree, since she’s quoted it more than once in interviews, on Twitter.

Check out the first chapter of The Year I Saved My (downsized) Soul.

Mature Marketing Around The Globe

Heavyweights are huddling in Switzerland:

The 5th World Ageing & Generations Congress will take place from the 3rd to 5th of September 2009 at the Executive Campus HSG of the University of St. Gallen.

The aim of the World Ageing & Generations Congress is to address important topics related to demographic change and its effect on the labour market and social security, on health issues, on the development of new products and markets and on changing lifestyles in society.

Dr. Robert Butler will be delivering one of the keynotes:

Older People’s Rights in the Century of Ageing: Time for a new United Nations Convention?
Robert Butler, President and CEO International Longevity Center USA (ILC-USA), USA
Organised in cooperation with the International Federation on Ageing (IFA)

A Special Session will focus on marketing:

MATURE MARKETING AROUND THE GLOBE – CHALLENGES, CHANCES AND EXAMPLES (PDF)
In order to leverage the business potential of the silver market, corporations need to adapt their
marketing and advertising strategies and processes. Marketing research and market segmentation are crucial issues, as the silver market is very diverse, with the needs and wants of the mature consumers varying widely.

The Session Chair and three participants are members of IMMN: Kevin Lavery, Dick Stroud, Florian Kohlbacher, and David Weigelt.

Yours Truly contributed to Dick Stroud’s book, The 50-Plus Market (Kogan Page), and Florian Kohlbacher’s book, The Silver Market Phenomenon (Springer Press).

So I’ll be floating around there in spirit, and in print.

Have a productive and fun time, gents!

More from Dick Stroud

The King of Madison Avenue

Fun book:

The King of Madison Avenue
David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising
by Kenneth Roman

Famous for his colorful personality and formidable intellect, David Ogilvy left an indelible mark on the advertising world, transforming it into a dynamic industry full of passionate, creative individuals. This first-ever biography traces Ogilvy’s remarkable life, from his short-lived college education and undercover work during World War II to his many successful years in New York advertising.

Depending on the audience and venue, I often include a section in my presentations about the history of advertising. A slide (and it’s not the only one featuring Mr. Ogilvy):

Two pulls from The King of Madison Avenue:

“Look inside the agency. Nobody’s too young for that and, I hasten to add, nobody’s too old for it, either. Why do we have this odious habit of putting all our old people out to pasture when they’re still young…?”

(Jerry) Della Femina remembered hearing Ogilvy railing against young upstarts in the business and the inmates taking over the asylum. “He said it so brilliantly and so well that I got up and led the applause. Then I realized he was talking about me.”

An Interactive Guide to Marketing/Advertising to Baby Boomers

Now available on Scribd:

An Interactive Guide to Marketing/Advertising to Baby Boomers (PDF)
After numerous articles, a book, an updated edition of same, a blog, dozens of media interviews, dozens of speaking/consulting engagements worldwide, and a fair amount of actual work, I thought it was time to put together a concise, organized, interactive compendium of news articles, opinions, and resources. 

But ‘concise’ and ‘organized’ are not in my lexicon.  It’s ended up being more a colorful cornucopia whirling and bursting every which way, less a pocket dictionary.  I think that’s for the better.

If you have any trouble downloading the PDF, email me and I’ll send it to you.

The Troublemaking Triumvirate

Christopher Simpson has resurrected his still warm corpse, Ad Nauseam.  From an email:

… I've very quietly started up Ad Nauseam again. Seems I can't stop commenting, but … I'm not going out of my way to promote the site …

Then I’ll promote it.

My latest is on Ikea's monumentally idiotic Any Place Can Be Beautiful campaign.

I don’t know if Kit or Bob Hoffman of The Ad Contrarian would consider themselves members of The Troublemaking Triumvirate. After all, the concept is merely some arrogant delusion that knocks around in my noggin every so often. Mr. Simpson and Mr. Hoffman are the other two who’ve yet to swig the Social Media/WOMM/Branding Kool-Aid.  I hope they’re never that thirsty.  I hope I’m never that thirsty. 

It’s good to have Kit back blogging.