Welcome back to a Friday edition of Marketing Insights!!!!
I don’t have a theme for this post. It’s just a few random thoughts on a variety of topics.
Topic 1: 420 Day
My Social media news feed and even some of the traditional news channels are talking about 420 day. For those who aren’t familiar, it’s also referred to as “Weed Day”. Many of the posts I saw were actively promoting daily specials and events around it. Imagine what Bill O’Reilly would say, if the Factor was still on the air? He’d have clips of “Reefer Madness” running while he lamented the downfall of American Society.
As a marketer I got thinking, with many states legalizing it and other states allowing medicinal dispensaries to operate – there is a new industry that will need to promote their businesses. Depending on how you feel personally on the matter, maybe many of us would not want to market this product – but there is a lot of money being spent in setting up these businesses and a large pool of customers. Marketing will be needed. It’s something worth watching and keeping an eye on.
Topic 2: Work-Life Balance
At least once a day, a post on IG or Twitter comes up with some inspirational quote about “Work-Life Balance”. I’ve read many articles on this topic and even saw a decent TED talk called “The Fallacy of Work-Life Balance”.
Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s, this concept of “Work-Life” balance wasn’t discussed. People went to work, had families and somehow managed to balance both. It wasn’t a big deal. If you got stuck late at the office or had to put in extra-time on an important project, you did it because it was required to complete the job. You significant other or children understood that there were certain times that the balance would be a bit off – but it would eventually get restored.
I think in the past 10 years or so the balance has shifted too much to the Life side of the see-saw. Recently I read many companies are requiring that work email accounts be removed from employees smartphones and if they contact them after hours, they have to be compensated.
In 2018, apparently when something bothers people, we decide to ban it or create “safe zones” where people can live in their own bubbles. If you don’t want to respond to a work email after hours, you can ignore it. Read it and them move on with whatever you are doing. The ability to have access to your work email and network on mobile devices is what allows people to work remotely or set flex hours. If you remove this ability to have access 24/7 to work email, then major issues that come up are not reported right away. and the old song “9 to 5” will become a harsh reality. Especially, if work is the only place to access the tools you need to do your job.
The hard separation is more about forcing the balance rather than trying to find it within yourself and what works best for you.
That’s it for tonight. Thanks for following us and please let us know your feedback and thoughts on any of the posts we have up. Have a great weekend!!!!
Bedford Street Marketing Insights 