Do You Fear Marketing? Howard Davidson Does Not

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Got a fear marketing? Do analytics make you want to curl up in bed and not get out for days? Do creative briefs make your head pound like an iPhone on the wrong setting? Does targeting customers make you twitch and sweat?

And then – the bullies. The marketing bullies. The clients that want the ad to reach a demographic your research proves beyond doubt isn’t interested in the product. The account manager who just knows he/she could make better ads than the copywriter and the art director. They all come at you, stomping on your strategy, punching your creative until it’s punchless, stealing your budget money until you’re left with outdoor and sales brochures. Not to mention that annoyingly perky account manager who starts the Friday morning call with Happy Friday! Oh wait. Then there’s the What’s up for the weekend? Don’t get me started.

I’m brought to mind of all of this business because of the United Nations. Specifically, UNICEF and its Comics Uniting Nations partner. Comics Uniting Nations has been using the comics medium – yeah, the place Superman and the Avengers come from – to tell its stories and empower children around the world.

Their latest challenge is bullying. And they’ve gone marketing on it. They’ve built a contest asking kids around the world to create a super-hero powerful enough to tackle one of the most evil villains a kid can encounter – The Silence. The Silence is who keeps kids from revealing who their bullies are and making them go away. As depicted by the creators at Comics Uniting Nations, The Silence is as dark, scary, and foul as they come – hooded, hidden behind a featureless mask, shrouded in blood red. UNICEF is counting on kids to create the hero who will end The Silence.

We’re all afraid of something. So, first let me tell you a secret about Howard Davidson: I’m afraid of dogs and cats. That cat playing the piano on YouTube? Terrifying. It’s irrational, and I’m working on it. Cats just creep me out. I think every street has a weird elderly cat-obsessed lady. Fech!

And here’s another fact about Howard Davidson: Poor marketing strategy scares me, too. Because I think marketing is fun. Marketing strategy? Better than clam chowder. Lead generation? More luscious than lobster. Brand awareness? More fabulous than working from home and Chinese food delivery.

Don’t be bullied by the people who are afraid of trying something new. Don’t be bullied by bland strategy. Be like Howard Davidson. End The Silence.