Buy, Buy Baby!

I've been reading a book called Buy, Buy Baby by Susan Gregory Thomas and if I had a must-read list, it would be very near the top, if not the top (and I've read a lot of books in my time!). I wish I had enough money to buy a copy for every parent I know (yeah, its that good). Since our house is entirely consumed by business, economic, and organizational behavior books, I have not been exempt from that equation. I actually really like reading business books, but that's probably a whole 'nother blog entry. Anyways, so this book... its about how companies market for kids' toys and baby products. If you think there aren't some quadratic functions, light-year equations, and some serious algorithms behind the marketing of your kids toys', you got another thing coming. I used to think that marketing was primarily creativity, but since Cortney's been in school, I've learned that good marketing is an equation. Creativity is a by-product of a good equation and the science of marketing. What the book primarily focuses on is the marketing of 'learning' or 'development' toys. Very, very interesting- even if you aren't a parent.

Now fast forward to today- black Friday. Biggest shopping day of the year. And from now until Christmas is the most heavily marketed time of the year. Being the person that I am and especially at this stage in our lives, our Christmas list consists of things that we need way more than we want- a vacuum and a book shelf (how boring is that??). And those are just things that are on the 'wish' list. We really just asked our families for baby stuff. But we only need the bare necessities in that department- babies don't need hardly anything and even if they did, we don't really have anywhere to put it.

But being that it is Black Friday, my mom calls me to see what we wrote to Santa this year and I can't help but tell her that I really want a digital camcorder. And being that this blog entry is about marketing, I am confessing that even with my business-minded background, I have fallen a victim of holiday marketing. I see those commercials with the families opening their presents and the dad is recording the whole thing. Or worse yet, when they show the baby taking it's first step and the security of knowing that they got it on film and they can enjoy it for years to come. I was calculated in that algorithm for that ad! They were targeting me! A pregnant mom! "What happens when the baby comes and we don't have a camcorder to document everything- coming home from the hospital, first bath, first laugh, etc..?" goes through my mind and secretly wishing that I could rewind the clock and look at all of those lame adds that come in the mail about their door-buster deals that are undoubtedly all sold out by this time in the day because I refuse to wake up at be surrounded by all those other crazy ladies at 4 in the morning. I have never ever wanted a camcorder before in my lifetime, but now that we're having a buckeye its suddenly a must-have item, and there it is again...marketing.

It always seems that at this time of the year, we find a lot more things that we 'need' than at every other time of the year. Reason: marketing. With so many ads sent to you in the mail, more commercials on tv, radio, etc. and all of them having a 'one time only' 'lowest of the year' prices, we figure now is as good as any and we're dreadfully afraid we'll miss out if we don't take advantage of this incredible 'midnight madness' deal.

All that being said, and confessing that I am a victim, I'll try not to think about my camcorder too much this season because the chance of us getting one or the money tree on the porch providing one for us are slim to none. But, at this time, I also can't deny that I have thought about the 'after Christmas clearances' and my beloved camcorder magically fitting together somehow.