With Christmas on the mind, ceaselessly musing, I find an interesting comparison between the art and science of gift giving and the art and, yes, science of marketing.
Think about your childhood, Christmas morning, the expectation, the gift. Santa may have let you down when he did not deliver the flying car your five-year-old hoped for … but, I am sure you can recall one moment of extreme joy. I was gifted a Panda Bear as a young boy (capital P and B because that was his proper name) and Steel Tec later in Elementary School. Remember Steel Tec? It was awesome! It’s like Santa knew me and knew exactly what would make me happy!
Why didn’t Santa just leave me $20 to go buy whatever I wanted? Why would your joy be depleted if you opened an envelope of cash instead of unwrapping that bike?
The difference is thoughtfulness and care. The difference is Santa knew me really well—more than my name on a list.
I love the latin word cūra, meaning: care, carefulness, concern, thoughtfulness. The root word “cura,” which means “to take care of,” is used in the English word accurate, literally meaning, “done with care.” Gift giving is more than a monetary donation. Gift giving is carefully and thoughtfully bringing joy to those you love.
In order to be thoughtful and show you care, you have to know the person! The more you know a person, the more thoughtful you can be. You tend to care more for those you know more. Isn’t that true in our marketing too? If we don’t know our customer, how do we know our product or service brings them joy? If we know our customer even more, can we not be even more thoughtful in how and what we deliver?
How accurate is your marketing? Is it an envelope of cash or a thoughtful gift that shows you care?