boy in a bubble

Everytime I read David Armano's blog, I realize how much more there is to learn. His post from the other day about bubbles communicates a valuable lesson to designers, marketers, and brand managers. We are all students.

As his illustration above points out, we are restricted by the boundaries of our own humanity. We can only know as much as we can absorb. Everyone's got their own bubble. The guy who works at the bodega on the corner lives in a completely separate bubble than you do. And sometimes, you're marketing to that guy. Or other people in bubbles that are outside of yours.

What a cool way to illustrate the importance of research and discovery. We can't just assume that what would work for me, would work for the audience I'm speaking to. I see this as a constant issue in agencies, with creatives and clients. Because it's entertaining (or not entertaining) to me, then that must be the same for the audience we're speaking of. Nope. Think outside of your bubble.

I have a friend at a larger agency who actually had a manager say "I don't listen to podcasts. Nobody listens to podcasts. Those aren't effective." Heh. Can't see outside his own bubble.

So here's to popping bubbles and stepping outside of your zone today. Have fun.