Two Things Learned on Vacation

Hello marketing geniuses. I am just back from a nice, long vacation. One week at the beach with family. I have returned feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, if not a tiny bit sluggish. Vacation was wonderful!

While away, intentionally trying not to learn, I learned a couple of things that are worth sharing.

Came across this factoid in some newspaper or magazine--not sure where or what though, because I wasn't trying to learn:

At least 50% of the time, the content in an e-mail message is misinterpreted by the recipient of the message.

Does that fit with your experience. It does with mine. E-mail is fine for some types of communication ... horrible for others.

Less number two. Learned at the Skee ball section of the arcade. You all know Skee ball, right? You roll a series of baseball-sized balls up a ramp, attempting to land them in target rings worth varying points.

This tiny, little girl on the lane next to me is just plain killing it. She's racking up points in the 250 plus range each round, while yours truly is hovering around the 100 range. She ripping off strips of prize tickets longer than my arm; I am getting three or four tickets, max. My strategy, which was clearly not fruitful, was to try to get respectable points on each toss. Aim for the safe middle, more or less. As I'm watching this little, blonde-haired, ponytail wearing, Skee-ball dervish rack up the points, I begin to observe her strategy. She has the devil-may-care, Kamikaze approach. Aim for the smallest, highest-point target every time.

Finally, sporting an ear to ear smile, she turns to me and says, "Hey Mister. You gotta aim for the 100 every time. You gotta go for the big points, man."

I ask you, the marketing geniuses. In your business, are you playing it safe and aiming for the middle? Or are you going for the big points, man?"