A Week Off the Grid

I've been remiss by not posting this much sooner. Week before last I went on a trip to Red Lake, Ontario to fish for Northern Pike. I'm not much of an sportsman and I don't particularly like the inconvenience of doing things like, oh I don't know, going outside. But it was a chance to hang out with my brother and some friends and to be off the grid for a while. Yes, no internet, cell or cable. (The lodge had wifi, but I couldn't get it to work on my iPhone and I could have paid for cell service but that would have defeated the purpose of the trip.)

So here's what I learned. First, the world goes on without me. When I got within a mile of the border, I started twittering again and it was like I had never left. Second, when you lift up your head, there's a real world to watch out there.

Why do I mention these two points in a marketing blog? Well, I think there's a lesson here. We are so close to our clients' business that sometimes we forget, it's about what's happening out there, in the real world with real people. Whether or not we are a part of the dialogue it goes on. And if we get so focused, have our heads down, working on briefs, developing concepts, and patting each other on the back, we are in danger of missing what's really going on; how the consumer's feel and what's important to them. Often it's not what's important to us.

Stop for a moment, and listen, who knows what you will hear, eh?