The Microsoft campaign was designed to show real people (like you, hopefully) that choose to use a PC over a Mac. In the process of those ads, they ran into a little girl named Kylie, who said she was 4 years old, and was able to use a PC.

The Old Face of Microsoft vs. the New Face of Microsoft

Suddenly, without knowing it, the marketing monkeys at Microsoft realized that they struck gold with this kid. Soon therafter, we started seeing more and more commercials of Kylie doing what she does best: doing cute stuff with Windows and being adorable.

Recently, they put out an ad with her making a slide show telling about all the great reviews Windows 7 has been getting. The video is posted below. 
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This ad is pure genius, and I’m not saying that because I’m a PC. I’m saying it because it touches on a large audience of people and uses some great psychology to do it. Let me count the ways.

First, you have a little girl, who bubbles with personality and seems to be able to use a PC running Windows Vista. Whether or not she is actually making these slideshows is up for speculation, but the commercial basically tells you “hey, if this 4 year old can use it, so can you.” If you buy into that, then its a lot more appealing to you. Oh, and she’s a cute kid, which is a win for middle to upper class consumers, married couples and females.

Second, the slide show shows cute fuzzy animals wearing hats and other stuff. More cuteness. More awesome. Who puts cute fuzzy animals in their slideshows? The fact that she did (and she’s 4 remember), and did it with cute animals is just cool, because nobody does that (at least not in my circle of friends, anyway).

Third, is that the theme music to the A-Team I hear in the background? This is a clear appeal to anyone over the age of 30, specifically the 30-40 year old demographic. Young professionals will recognize the music, and remember a time when Mr. T was calling people “sucka” and had to be drugged with sleeping powder in order to fly on an airplane.

Fourth, the slideshow shows what the commercial was really getting at: reviews of Windows 7 by reputable sources that say its good. Cute as Kylie is, you won’t believe Windows 7 is good if she tells you its good. You might believe it if someone reputable said it. Additionally, the information is presented in cutesy animal format. If they just had an ad that was like a car commercial, we’d change the channel (Male voice: Consumer computing says, “Its fully awesome!”).

Finally, it removes the stigma that only total losers and geeks are PC users. Kylie’s a PC, so its suddenly OK to be one too. And how is Apple supposed to respond to this? How do you make fun of a little girl and not look like a big meanie?

Now what does all this have to do with psychology? Everything! All of the imagery, music and words spoken are designed to envoke a feeling within the consumer. From now on, I don’t associate the A-Team theme with the TV show, I associate the music with Kylie’s slideshow. This is a clever way to create an association between the music and the ad.

So what does this all mean, and why the heck am I talking about it? After all, I’m a guy trying to help people, and reviewing a Microsoft ad probably isn’t the way to win any popularity contests.

My point is, presentation has just as much to do as the message itself. This plays true for virtually any area of your life that is beyond your control (the Outside World). Microsoft can’t control how many people will buy Windows 7. They can control their presentation of it, and what it means to the consumer who buys it. They could have just told you the message, but they had to get your attention so you would listen to the message. It doesn’t matter how great your message is, if it falls on deaf ears, then the message fails.

Same goes for you. You may be looking for employment, but if your presentation sends a different message then you may have a problem getting a job. If you are looking for a relationship, but present that you’re weird and unapproachable, you’re sending a mixed message. If you want to be seen as professional in your blog or online business, and your website looks like it was made in the early 1990’s (you know what I’m talking about: Arial font, animated gifs, and bad layout), then people may not take you seriously. Are your kids acting out because you say one thing and then do another, thereby sending them mixed messages?

This goes back to openness and awareness. While you can’t change others’ WATER, you can be aware of it. This awareness can allow us to change what we do to connect with others in a dynamic way.

So consider the message that you’re trying to send to everyone around you. Are you being as effective at presenting your message as Microsoft is in presenting theirs? Or are people getting confused because you’re not being clear? Does your presentation match up to what you’re trying to say?  If so, share your story. If not, how’s that working out for you?

By the way, we haven’t seen the last of Kylie. Not by a long shot. Until she stops being cute, or people stop listening, she’ll probably be making more stuff with Windows 7 soon. Pay attention when she does, because there is a team of monkeys working on how to make the message and presentation another home run.

The preacher looking dude above is Howard Beale from the movie “Network,” which I actually have never seen all the way through, but its in my Blockbuster cue. Throughout the film though, he makes a lot of powerful statements about how we percieve our world and how we allow ourselves to be influenced by it.

If you click on his picture, it will take you to a page that has a speech he delivers to people (this happens after his “I’m as mad as hell” speech earlier in the film) both in video and in text format (for people with slow internet like me). Be mindful, because the speech has a couple swears in it.

The idea behind the speech is that he tells the audience and everyone watching, that as a society we allow TV to tell us what to believe and what the truth is. He says:

“Television is not the truth. Television’s a damn amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers, and football players.”

And the internet has become the new Television.

You know what I’m talking about. You sit there on the internet, getting entertained. You go on YouTube for hours on end watching funny videos without even knowing. You go on Facebook or Myspace or Twitter and you want to know what your friends are doing, and how they’re responding to what you’re doing. You’re talking to them online via one of the many chat softwares out there. You’re reading this blog, and probably a few others over the course of the week (like I do) and will likely spend hours doing that as well.

The internet has become the new carnival. Full of its fair share of circus clowns acrobats, scantilly clad ladies and death defying acts.

And if its affecting your life negatively, its one of those evil kinds of Carnivals. You know the really creepy ones like in the movies, where you know something is wrong but you can’t put your finger on it.

Yeah, those kind.

So how do you stop the madness?  Well Howard says, “Turn them off!”

That’s right. Shut the dang computer off and live life. Get the heck out from behind the keyboard and go out there and see life. I talked a bit about this in my interview, but I thought it was a propos for one good reason.

I spent 2 hours today putzing around online.

I got a lot of things done today, don’t get me wrong (cleaned the kitchen, the bedroom, did 3 loads of laundry, and helped my wife with her jewelry business). But I spent more time online than I should have.

Imagine what I could have done with that 2 hours! I have a book that I want to get out the door, and I can’t even take the time to do that.

My point is the same as Howard’s: Get out from behind the monitor and do something with your life. Once you spend your time, you can’t get it back. So before you allow yourself to waste anymore of your life, let me give you a Personal Development Plan for this.

1. Make a list of all the things you wished you could do if you had enough time.

2. Make it a goal to spend only 1/2 hour online. If you can’t do that, then figure out what would be a reasonable time. If going cold turkey works, great! If not, choose to start somewhere and set a goal for yourself.

3. Anytime you feel like spending more than a half hour online, refer to your list and do something from it.

This is just one component of my Internet Addiction model: RAM. The “A” stands for Aversion, meaning do your best to avert yourself from going online. The key to Aversion is giving yourself purpose and finding other things to do with your time rather than wasting it.

So shut the computer off. Seriously. Life is out there waiting for you to live it.

Stop existing. Start Living.

Let me know what you think. I’m all ears!

I’m not a marketing guy at all, just an average Joe trying to make his mark in life. I help people though, and I guess I’m good at that, but every now and then something hits me upside the head and gives me a halfway decent thought. Today I’ve decided to do a little post on marketing, because quite frankly, I’m a little fed up with what a lot of the “smart people” are telling me about marketing my business online. This is also applicable to everyday life, so if you’re here for that, this post is for you too.

Anyway, the story goes a little something like this: the Mrs. and I went one Saturday to a big box store. You know the type: you by 25lbs of sugar because its cheaper to do that than buy the lousy 5lbs they give you at the grocery store. Same thing goes for virtually every other product they sell you. Nothing small, always big. On our list was coffee, and we needed it in a big way! Just so you know, I would be considered a coffee addict. I have a cup when I wake up in the morning, and I have a cup or two at work.

Also little known fact: big box stores tire the hell out of me. I don’t know if its the really high warehouse ceilings, or the rows and rows of isles filled with stuff, or the dirty floors you can skate on if you have the right shoes…but something about them makes me really tired.  Well, when we hit that coffee aisle, I couldn’t have been more encouraged!

There they were in their giant orange plastic bags: 10lbs of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee! Moreover, my wife exclaimed that she had a coupon for said coffee! Bonus! Overwhelmed by the enticing aroma of coffee, we greedily snatched a bag, threw it in our cart, and sped to the register.

When we got home, I ripped that bag open, sloshed some water into the coffee maker and immediately made a fresh pot of coffee. Ah, exlixir of life! It was delicious, but somehow we were still tired. We chalked it up to a long day and took a nap.

Now we went to the store specifically because she was going to school all week and we wanted to be prepared. So the first morning she goes off to school, I got about 6 hours sleep, but I made the coffee and sent her on her way. Later on, I went off to work, and at around noon I had a wretched headache. I chalked it up to getting very little sleep and cursed the new schedule. I stomached through my clients and figured I would just go to bed early and make sure I got enough sleep this time around.

Next night, got 8 hours sleep. Same routine: go to work, splitting headache. This new schedule really is handing out the beatdowns! A few days later, I finally go through a day without headaches, so I figure I must have gotten my sleep schedule on target.

So we go on for a few weeks having coffee in the morning, but we notice that when we headed out to work, we were both drained. We figured it was the weather, because for the last few weeks, it had been raining almost every day. Here in New England, people get Seasonal Affective Disorder all the time, so we figured it was our turn to be bummed because of the weather.

Then one day I go about my routine and make the coffee. Only today, I did something a little different. I read the label. Just for the heck of it. And there it was in bright pink letters.

Decaf Coffee

For the last month, my wife and I had been drinking decaf coffee, without even knowing it. Moreover, we bought the coffee in our desire to wake up from our day. We were so caught up in trying to get what we wanted that we didn’t even take the time to read the label carefully enough. After all, only an idiot like me would buy Decaf Coffee (could someone please tell me what the purpose of decaf coffee is, because I have yet to understand it) and not intend to. (By the way, the wife didn’t get headaches because she packed Starbucks Mochas with her, so her caffine intake was just fine.)

Not only did we not believe we made a mistake, but we blamed everything under the sun BUT the coffee! We thought it had something to do with the sleep schedule, the weather, just being busy in general. We were so convinced that we made the right choice in coffee, that we didn’t even factor it into the equation.

So aside from the fact that I’m a complete moron, there’s a moral in here somewhere:

1. If something isn’t right, it might be because YOU made a mistake. Its so much easier to blame other things than it is to blame ourselves and the dumb choices we make. Don’t be so confident in your choices that you end up kicking yourself down the road. Be sure you are making the right choices for your life or your business, and if it isn’t producing the result that you want, then you may need to do something different.

2. Carelessness can create far reaching consequences. If I had taken just a couple more seconds to read the label, I would have saved myself from days of headaches that didn’t need to be there. I also would have been a lot more alert for my clients and I likely would have been a better counselor to people (try being empathic when you feel like you have a knife in your skull). Careless choices can cost you time, money and effectiveness.

3. Get all the details on a “great deal.” It might look good, and sound good, but it may not be what you want or need. Remember that any great deal is only there to sell product. We fell into the marketing hook, line and sinker. We needed coffee, they had it, and with a coupon! They sold us coffee, which is what they were trying to do to begin with.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, be careful, and know what you’re getting yourself into, especially with your business. Advertising is of course, a crap shoot, but other than that, understand the time or money demands on a project before you get into it. If you don’t know, there are plenty of people who do, so ask around. Also, ask people to critique your stuff. Maybe you think its totally awesome, but that’s because you like yourself and believe in yourself (all good things mind you). However, getting some constructive criticism can prevent those far reaching consequences.

Life is the same way. You may think you’re making all the right choices, but something doesn’t seem to be right, and no matter what, you end up with bad results. You’re miserable, but you’re not sure what you have to do to make things better. So try something different, and take a look at what you could be doing wrong.

Don’t be stupid like me. Discover what you might be doing wrong, and fix it before the headaches ensue.

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Are you addicted to the internet? There’s a test you can take online to determine whether or not you are. As far as statistics go, I said you could Google Internet Addiction Statistics and find them. Here’s what I found: 

 (From Websense) “The survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive across a swath of 305 employees, determined that the average worker spends more than one entire workday each week surfing Web sites that are not work-related.”

(From Stamford University) ”The researchers found that 68.9 percent were regular Internet users, which is consistent with previous studies, and that:

• 13.7 percent (more than one out of eight respondents) found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time
• 12.4 percent stayed online longer than intended very often or often
• 12.3 percent had seen a need to cut back on Internet use at some point
• 8.7 percent attempted to conceal non-essential Internet use from family, friends and employers
• 8.2 percent used the Internet as a way to escape problems or relieve negative mood
• 5.9 percent felt their relationships suffered as a result of excessive Internet use

Among those polled, 67 percent confessed to visiting Web sites for personal reasons. Compulsive workplace shoppers claimed 24 percent of those polled. News junkies came in second at 23 percent, pornography hounds at 18 percent, gambling at 8 percent, and auctions at 6 percent.”

So it seems as though Internet Addiction is a big problem. How do we fix it? More on that later on this week. In the meantime, check out my interview and let me know what you think!

Now on the one hand, I ask this question: What’s new here? People have been using social networking sites to have affairs since they’ve been in existence, so how is this any different, other than its bold statements and “Affair Guarantee.” If Match.com and eHarmony.com can make money getting people together, why can’t this site make money breaking relationships apart?

On the other hand, just because people have been having affairs, doesn’t mean you should encourage or help them along in doing so. Their slogan “Life is short. Have an affair.” is an imperative statement (meaning giving you an order, like “Listen!”). Its one thing if a site is up, and its there for anyone to access and connect with people at their discretion. For example, you can’t blame Facebook or Myspace for being the cause of people having affairs, because it is the person making the decision to do so. This site, on the other hand, encourages an affair, and guarantees you one for the low, low cost of $249.

So this raises another question: If you tell someone to have an affair, and they do, is it your fault that they have an affair, or are human beings responsible for their own actions? Its like asking the question: Do guns kill people, or do people kill people?

The bottom line here is morals and values. What are your core beliefs about love? About relationships? About marriage? About sex? Do you believe your relationship will work, or is it bound to fail like all the others?

I am a firm believer that life is what you make it to be, including relationships and yes, sex. If you’re truly unhappy with your relationship, then start talking to your significant other about it. If you want to slap that person in the face for your own selfish reasons, be my guest, but you probably won’t learn from your relationship experience, and it may be that you’ll end up getting in and out of relationships for the rest of your life. Your call.

www.NewHopeCounselingOnline.com