Blog

I was at a park recently, enjoying the summer weather and reading a book. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a skateboarder going by. I looked up and noticed that this was not the type of skateboarder that I expected.

What I was expecting was a teenage boy skateboarding along effortlessly in the park. But what I actually saw was a gentleman in his 30s who skateboarded smoothly, gliding along the path with seemingly no effort expended. It was actually quite amazing to watch him.

This led me to think about stereotypes. What I was expecting was a teenager, but the reality was something much different. When we think about things, especially in the realm of marketing, sometimes the most effective campaigns are the ads and messages that challenge our assumptions.

Anytime that we can challenge our assumptions in business is probably a good thing. I find we often tend to hold onto incorrect assumptions, beliefs and notions that we either grew up hearing or believing because someone told us, we read it in the media, or we based it on some past experience. But none of these things make any assumption correct. The truth is, the world is changing quickly and our assumptions need to change if we’re going to keep up, especially in business.

-Sue Voyles