Daily Mind-ful 13 May 2017 (Marketing is a bad word in England)
I unearthed a book from 1970 about Hong Kong people. What a walk down memory lane, racial stereotypes and all. It’s fascinating to read the unapologetically sexist, romantic depictions of interracial relationships for example. And the photo portraits are divine; I’m curious to understand how a consumer would search for my friend’s deer tooth jewellery and do a little bit of SEO sleuthing. Google keyword planner shows me that the keyword string, “tooth jewelry” is more popular than any other relevant search term, so I type that into Google to see what search results come up. Much to my surprise (but not delight, that’s for sure), my search results reveal an utterly new category of “tooth jewelry,” diamond and gold studs inserted directly into the teeth, rather than, as I had expected, gold and silver jewelry of traditional configuration containing and showcasing teeth; the main takeaway from this exercise is that it pays to do some simple research to ensure that you’re naming and describing your products according to what people actually seek to buy (via Google search); I relay my bemusing experience at Aldeburgh Music to my good friend, Louise, who, thank god, lives in the country and she explains that, especially to older Brits, “marketing” can be a bad word. This is a key but, of course, somewhat dispiriting lesson from my trusted friend who, like me, is a gung-ho, crack marketing professional. I’m lucky to have a friend/tennis partner/confidante who can lend perspective to my new experiences, both good and bad, in the countryside. Like me, she’s Jewish, and sticks out like a sore thumb 🙂
