MacBook Air Ad Makes Me Cry

The combination of beauty, simplicity and the Pollyanna hopefullness of the soundtrack just make me want to weep. And of course I want one.

[Disclosure: I worked for a subsidiary of Apple for almost a decade and have fond memories as well as deeply ingrained appreciation for the work and genius that goes into making good products user-friendly, simple and beautiful.]

And that, my friends, is what this space should really be about, because it's the stuff that makes me weep. Whether it's a campaign or product, the synergy of elegance and function that demonstrates it was really well thought out and executed with care and attention to the customer and their experience. That it fully represents the brand. And the end result are a lot of happy customers who will buy more and tell their friends (cause I'm a greedy marketer as well as a humanist...).

That's why I am so interested in the intersection of direct and social marketing, because you need to like and care for people to communicate so you will be heard -- and that means sometimes being quiet and listening, letting them do the talking.

I've been thinking of what this means in my own work, and will share some of those thoughts coming up. Please share what you've been ruminating on, maybe they intersect, too.