field notes

Gone are the Mad Men days of consumers dutifully eating up marketing messages served to them on a silver platter. Today’s consumer is in the driver’s seat. But the real challenge for marketers is how to navigate consumers in the right direction and willingly engage with their brand. 

This is especially difficult when the road is littered with distractions that, ironically, we created? In Don Draper’s day, the average consumer saw 500 ads a day. Today, that number is as high as 5,000 with no shortage of boilerplate info-graphics, whitepapers, blogs, videos and microsites vying for consumers’ attention. Couple that with a serious case of device ADD and complex B2B messages – it’s no wonder that today’s marketer has trouble making connections that translate into real business value. 

According to Google, 57% of the time when we’re using a smartphone, we’re using another device. And Forbes reports that when people watch TV while working on their computer, they typically spend no longer than 5 seconds on a particular screen before shifting their focus to the other.

If I had to pick, I would tell you that I’m more of a left-brain thinker than right. I was ready to dive into an art degree in college when the practical side of my brain told me that I had a better sense for business. But I’ve always had a passion for the arts, which has put me at odds with this polarization. Knowing vs believing. Reality vs imagination. Words vs images. Where do I belong?

On your way home from work, you stop at the store to pick up some more milk. As you’re walking back to your car, reflexively your iPhone appears in your hand and you swipe through a pile of emails. A clever subject line catches your attention. But what’s this? Who could possibly read this mouse type email content?! You fumble the milk as you try to pinch the screen, almost walking into another car leaving the parking lot. Forget this! You’re at your car and delete the message before you ever had a chance to see what it said.

Just north of Silicon Valley and just south of Napa, Fruition Sciences is using real-time sensors to monitor the hydration levels of grape vines. Farmers in dryer climates like California are quickly adopting this technology to create perfectly hydrated grapes and save thousands of gallons of water per year.