All After The Insight

We are all after the customer insight. The sole concept of market research is driven from this and shapes products & services. All marketing briefs vaguely define an existing or desired insight to customer's psyche. 

Usually, a desired customer insight is as follows in today's economy "bunların hepsi benim bebişlerim! onları renkli sakız gibi çiğneyip, çiğneyip tüketmek istiyorum." 

When a marketeer puts up such a photo on a brand's page, they want to get this reaction hence see an increase in sales.

You need to put your finger on the insight and drive your campaign from there. You need to ask yourself

- why would anyone care about your brand, really?

- what is the main motivation behind the reason to purchase your particular brand?

- how do the people -who purchased your brand- feel about themselves and your brand? - - how do they perceive you? how do they perceive themselves and other people wearing/using your brand? whats your impact on consumers' lives?    

Think really hard on the possible answers to those questions and create personas. Name them, give them a job and a place to live. Describe a day of their lives and how they interact with your brand. Then, think about the ways to reach out to them and get their attention. 

But, how and why would they be impressed with your message? Content curation and development is a genuine craft. Tailor make the content for your target. Catch them by surprise, make them laugh, woo them if you please.  Its like you are going on a date. You need to act cool but not too cocky, your tone should be warm but not too clingy and you need to keep them on their toes until the end of a perfect night. In your case, it would be 8 to 10 seconds of attention span which an average person have these days. More like a speed date, right? You need to see through them (insight) and chose your words accordingly. 

So, give the lady the reason to love you, to chose you and keep wanting to be with you.       

Midsummer Came Along This Winter

It was about time I get back on the wagon and accumulate some words. At the end, you can only accumulate your thoughts and feelings. Nothing more..

I reckon writing gives me a change to pause for a second to cherish what I've been given. 

I am barely hopeful, maybe as hopeful as Salinger could have been. And it is OK. 

I just saw myself laughing, not a nervous or sarcastic laugh but a genuine one. It was like all Christmas presents wrapped in one, big, fat laugh. It was a brief moment but I was genuinely laughing out loud. I appreciate that blink of a bliss.

I chose to enjoy that moment very consciously. I am in fact very proud of myself. Now, I am digesting the facts in the morning light. And  what doesn't kill us, makes our drinks stronger. I bet Salinger would agree.

It is what it is. You think you play a hand of poker when living your life but you only take the cards from the table and turn them around. It is what you actually do. Nothing less, nothing more. 

So, this hand had an ace in the deck for me. I felt lucky and I am grateful. I don't suddenly expect to e as lucky as this round on the next. But I sure do hope that one day, preferably  when we're both blind drunk we can talk about it. 

Stand Still Until The Next Round

"everything is different, the second time around." - so they say but I reckon not.

Contemplate all you want. Consider a strategic approach and then a blunt, honest one. Retreat all together. Think of all the roads, think of their crossings.. Its a zero sum game, it always is a zero sum game. You've already lost. 

Taking steps is easy, standing still is hard. 

Once you try to take a step forward and hit a wall, there is no coming back from this. So, you really need to calculate the risk. Are you willing to come back to the fur shop and accept mortifying defeat or would you like to gracefully shut up about it? Let's be honest, if you have to force it, its probably shit. No clever move of yours can compare to an authentic moment. 

Don't waste overtime on an already failed initiative. It's a shameful waste of your labor. Accept the failure then take another good look from outside. This time, you should be able see whats broken. Either find another use for it or chuck it out the window.  

Alternatively, you can adjust your perspective on things. When life gives you lemons, you can sit around wondering why or you can accept the fact that you just need to idle around until the next round. Its like in a card game, you're dealt with a shitty hand and you know for a fact that you can't win this one. Are you going to be a soar loser or play the hand as well as you can to minimise your loss? So, shut up about it and make lemonade. 

Press For Champagne Moment

Oh.my.goodness.

It's a fabulous thing  to press a button and a bellman materializes before you with a silver tray of crisp, cold, fizzy champagne. We need more instant pleasures in life; more of one-hour vacations, treats. 

Fundamentals. You've gotta get them right.

We'd best compartmentalise  our lives into moments. In the spirit of the moment, we sometimes let go too easily and sometimes hold on rather too tightly. While making the choices and paying the price one should always bare in mind that the moment will not last forever. Have utmost caution when handling moments; their meanings tend be exaggerated. Compartmentalise your moments, and yet again, you'll see your perspective changing. 

When you appreciate the moments you are blessed with, life gets more liveable. Sure, you must have a truck load of I-can't-bare-this-cruelty moments up your sleeve but don't magnify them. Shit happens for you to look for a reason to understand the gravity of life. The concept of this so-called journey is that its made out of your choices and some random stuff. Study how you make them and take lessons for future reference. Your changing perspective on moments and their meanings (/never-ending revelations) will give you a hard time on determining the lessons. All you need to do is to take a look at your actions and their consequences. You'll know better next time. 

Now, make the choice to press the button for some ice-cold champagne. Have your moment of self-indulgence. Enjoy your guilty little pleasure of a moment and sip your champagne (can be taken both literal and metaphorical). 

Try again. Fail better. 

  

Keep Calm and Keep Walking

You have to move on. Keep walking. 

You'll get your hopes up, wander around an idea long enough to idealise it. 

Next, you'll get crashed. Your hopes, expectations, dreams, .. all of them at once. 

It's only normal to find yourself carrying the crown of all-things dramatic. 

Then, you need to snap out of it. Pick yourself up and keep walking.

Drama can't catch you if you don't stop and wait. 

You're Entirely Bonkers

I am Alice and this is Wonderland! We are all mad here. All the best people are.

We try to believe in as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast.

Some of us believe in magic. She'd say "Those who do not believe in magic, will never find it.". She shares her peace of mind and loves to talk about her train of thought. She acts like summer and walks like rain. She is witty and she plays the game way too well. She can charm you as well as she can harm you. She is absolutely fascinated with the life in and out of itself. She might even enjoy a little drama, keeps thinking to herself every cloud has a silver lining. 

Some of us could warm your heart with just a look but she would triumph that over with her belief in love and life. Her giving heart and skills of sharing sunshine would mesmerise you. She is a romantic artsy in love with nostalgia. Her exquisite taste and phenomenal perspective would open doors to a whole another magic land. She may be delicate but she puts herself up and dusts herself off each and every time she falls because she believes that for every dark night, there's a brighter day. 

Some of us are super loveable and has a certain je ne sais quoi. She is full of life, lusting for adventure. Always has big dreams and a huge heart to fit them in. She is the most basic definition of fun and heartfelt but she is sensitive, like a delicate flower. She is constantly one step away from bursting into cheers or tears, living the life on edges. With her kind heart and childish soul, she is a star. 

Some of us are smart skeptics, constantly in war with herself. Logic and reason drives her while her can-do attitude inspires you. She is sharp in every sense, her tongue though stands out. She finds taste in life by sharing and caring. She is addicted to perfection, thus, she is always equipped to fix dramatic situations. She is a drama queen herself and ironically she knows it. Her big heart swallows you in once she opens it to you. 

      

Some of us are new but old school rebellions. She is mindful of her energy and trying to keep the equilibrium, like the rest of us. Her resilience shows in her jokes, by jokes I mean the sarcastic comments. We are yet to know her better, enjoying the ride together. 

There are different combination and permutations of how we fit in together. But since, neither of us gives a shit about fitting in, it's easier. We all know we will never grow up and its a good thing. We'll keep imagining, while our dreams as well as nightmares are coming true. We are all madly resilient because we know we cannot change the cards we're dealt with, just how we play the hand. 

Logic and Wisdom

Logic only takes you so far. It's basically impossible not to build expectations but the mechanism behind that ever working wheel fails to assess its surroundings thoroughly. It's a pretty slow learner, one might say. 

You learn math and start quantifying your world in way of making sense. But two plus two does not equal to four in life because the first <2> is apples and the second is oranges. You fail to realise that not the quantity but the quality of things define their value in life. 

Simultaneously, you learn worth and value are two different things, latter one being less subject to change by time. 

Last but not least, you learn the most basic rule; there is no free lunch. It may be apples or oranges, there may be 4 of them or more of them but there is only one absolute truth; you have to pay for them.

What philosophy brings to the table is wisdom, to be more precise, theories of justification on the matters of reality, values, reason and existence. Wisdom is a uniquely formed virtue. Wisdom gives you the ability to think and more importantly act using your theories drawn from your experiences, thus, your justifications. 

Wisdom is both relative and absolute. Wisdom requires calculation of the possible outcomes and suggestion of the optimal action to be taken at any given point. While doing these it finds ground on truth and rational judgement. 

Basically, logic lies at the heart of wisdom with a slight nuance. Wisdom requires learning from experience. Logic doesn't teach you it only shows you. 

Life should be getting slightly more confusing right about now. 

You've gotta get the fundamentals right. Get the basics right and you'll develop from there. So, tiger's intention of eating you is strictly independent from your inclinations but your actions directly effect the outcome. Life may eat you whole if you let it. Your positioning towards life's drama, basically your capability of manoeuvre, will define the outcome. Not your good intensions or wishful thinking. Don't think life is giving you lemons for no logical reason. Life being life is reason enough. It's a tiger and tigers bite. And, it hurts. 

Enough with the analogy. 

Just don't be naive. 

Build your inevitable expectations fairly but know that life won't be fair. When reality shows up knocking on your door for a check, acceptance is the only way out. Let go of your fear, face your demons and come to realise the serenity of acceptance. Then, you'll learn. 

  

When Dark Gets Darker

I've got words to say. I can't keep them inside. I've wanna scream at the top of my lungs. Life needs to hear this. 

My words won't be pretty. To be fair, I can be mean when I wanna be. And, mean doesn't even begin to describe how I am feeling. I feel like an ancient dooms day mythology full of wrath and destruction. 

To keep calm

Chin Up Princess, If Not The Crown Falls!

Attitude is what will define you. 

When anything that could go wrong, really goes wrong, you've gotta hold your ground. Your attitude towards life's drama is what makes you real. A self-aware woman quite naturally analyses her situation and expects certain outcomes - some of which are bitter - on an ongoing basis. And, when the inevitable drama takes place, her true colours are revealed. 

You cannot put the drama queen tiara and let things burn. You've gotta hold your shit together. You've gotta 'man up!'. Own your responsibility, embrace the pain and the failure. Know that it's gonna pass in a little while. 
Take a deep breath and look at past data. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out its not the first drama of your life nor will be the last one. 
You'll live. 

The pain and suffering feel so real because they belong to that moment. All things feel real when you're in the moment and feels like infinity at the same time. 
But it lasts only as long as the echo of that very moment. 
No way near infinity. 
So, when the ache feels like never-ending, remember one of the fading away glories and calculate retrospectively.It will be over soon and you'll survive. 

Your perspective on things are ever evolving. Your judgement, though, is heavily affected by your subconscious. It takes a while to adjust to drama. Sleep on it. But don't go to sleep feeling defeated. 

Put your chin up. 

Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown.   

Fear - False Evidence Appearing Real

To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is basically the summary of my life. Hence, the explanation of my erratic / desperate behaviour.

Fear terrorises you, numbs you and sucks the life out of you.

It's just a cruel joke that our belief systems are formed as a reflection of the society. We experience life and pay the price in absolute solitude. Yet, our perception of reality is shaped by the surrounding souls around us. We get blinded by our expectations which are put in our minds as a result of the encounters with these souls. We bomb into reality and the whole world comes crashing down with disappointment. But that one is a solo ride. 

You will not be lonely if you like the person you are alone with. So, you'd better start getting to know and love yourself. Don't be afraid to take a decision and make a mistake. Take responsibility when you fuck up and face consequences knowing that you've ended up here as a result of your own choices. Defeat is not the worst failure. Not having tried is way worse. Not learning anything out of a failure is the worst. Forgive yourself if and only if you learn something from your failures. Embrace life's shortcomings and move on. Don't get stuck on setbacks and stop thinking how tired you're. Keep moving on. Life can't catch you unless you stop and wait and ponder. Basically, don't give a shit to life's drama.  

Fear of disappointment and fear of failure will overshadow all your decisions. Don't let that monster eat you alive. Anything that can go wrong will probably go wrong no matter how much you fear from it. Your worst nightmares may come true. So what? You are the one who is going to orchestrate the show. Set the pace yourself. Stop caring so much. Don't give a shit.