Fractal. It’s a word that makes me cringe. Along with coplanar, interval, and cotangent, the word fractal represents a complex mathematical realm. But when put in the context of marketing, fractal takes on a whole new meaning.
At the recent MAGNET creative conference in Chicago, speaker Andrew Davis challenged us with a series of “what if” questions. One of them: What if, instead of trying to talk to everyone, you targeted a niche? What would happen if you took a fractal approach to problem solving? 

While you may not know it, you see it on your Facebook Timeline every time you scan the page. It’s hidden in plain sight as you scroll through your Twitter Feed. And it’s most likely been integrated into your favorite blog’s stream of posts. 

When I was a kid, I fancied myself an actor. I went to summer theater camps. I was often in character, and I wore costumes on a regular basis. I borrowed classic movies on VHS tape from the library to learn from the experts (including Gone with the Wind many times, which came on something like 10 tapes). And, I took improv classes. 

Peel back and takeover banners trigger an immediate reaction from me: find the “x” that makes them disappear so I can get to the content I want. Banner ads in general are a nuisance and kind of creepy. The big brother feeling I get when stalked by an advertisement site after site is rather unnerving. 

Marketing has become all about relationships.  Or rather, marketing has returned to its true roots - relationships.  Big budget marketers understand this and work hard for their reward, while small budget marketers are challenged by this low hanging fruit.
Just look at the automotive marketplace for an example. 

Over the years, we’ve seen a variety of client challenges walk through the door. From creative needs to media planning, we tackle it all. So when one of our big clients presented the challenge to engage a very small network market of customers and prospects with a very specific set of characteristics, we didn’t bat an eye. 

Sustainability in business is one of the most challenging problems of our time, one that is slowly eating away at our societal soul. Not that many of us see this challenge as we are confronted daily by the immediate end of the world being screamed at us, or the pain we suffer when we experience our favorite team losing a game, or our deepest desire for the latest bling. 

Is your brand’s social media driven by marketing materials, products, or promotions? Could the content of your social media conversation be copied and pasted from flash banners?  Yes? Then your social strategy isn’t enhancing the perception of your brand or fostering interaction, engagement and relationships. 

We know mobile devices are much more than phones. They’re increasingly used to occupy every moment of free time. Riding on a train? Waiting in line? Have five minutes in between meetings? Your phone is probably in your hands, and you’re probably refreshing your newsfeed, tweeting what you had for lunch, and catching up on the latest news.

Mobile is not the next big thing; it’s the now big thing. A recent study by the Pew Research Center found a whopping 91% of American adults have a cellphone, more than half of which are smartphones (just two years ago, only 35% of cellphones were smartphones).