So often, marketers play towards a niche — a segment carved out of the market that perfectly merges with your business concept. The niche market is an entirely different topic though, that I will discuss later.

What I want to touch briefly on now is The Personal Niche.

We all have one, whether we are aware of it or not. An intangible definition of what differentiates me from you.

This niche plays heavily to our professional footing. The career we pursue. The environment we prefer. The people we work well with.

Understanding this niche is central to understanding your position in a marketplace of job seekers, managers, executives, colleagues and all the rest.

Don’t be inundated with how others may choose to define you.

As marketers, we have the power to define. As people, we should certainly have the same.

Cadbury has released an Easter campaign centered on their much celebrated creme eggs. The UK company has, in my opinion, drafted an ingenious marketing effort surrounding letting the goo out.

Their Canadian site features the opportunity to play, watch and stream some really innovative advertising.

In an effort to round out my commentary on Marketing, I wanted to highlight this campaign for certainly grabbing my attention.

I’ve never eaten a Cadbury Creme Egg before and I now I most certainly will. Is that enough?

Why I like it:
Innovation – New take on an old classic. The eggs are well known and have now simultaneously broken in with a new generation and resonated with those past.
Appeal – Children and adults, absolutely helps to seal a broad audience.
Viral – Strong digital and viral elements enhance its web presence with numerous blogs (here and here, for example) linking to their campaign. Essentially allowing the audience to market the campaign.
Interactive – Admittedly, this is more of an offshoot of “viral,” but the website (and the campaign as a whole) engages my attention and requires my participation, thereby creating a memorable and positive experience.

The list could continue on, of course, but why not try releasing the goo for yourself and seeing if you agree?

Image: IconDock

As part of my journey in developing and maintaining this blog, I learned a few things. In actual fact, I learned a whole lot.

When I finished university, almost 9 months ago, going back to school was the last thing on my mind. But time away from that academic, results-driven environment was exactly what I needed to gain perspective. After losing my job, as many have due to the economic recession, I thought expanding my skill set was now something I could afford to do, both with respect to money and time.

I started a whole host of online courses based mainly in design in addition to XHTML and CSS ultimately preparing me to create this very site. It kept me busy and motivated to get up every morning. Knowing that I had a task set out in front of me, knowing that obtaining and enhancing these skills were both personal and professional goals stifled the negativity that often persists during difficult times.

Granted, I did not formally enroll in university or college or even receive a certificate for my ‘training’ but I did, in fact, learn that I will never stop learning.

What does this have to do with Marketing?

Very little and a lot at the same time.

Marketing has always represented the challenge of continuous change to me. Perhaps because who we are marketing to is in a constant state of evolution. Or because as they grow, we grow. Or because it is written. Regardless of the reason, for every day I have spent being a ‘marketer’ I have learned something new.

Perpetual flux. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

When I finally decided that I was going to create my own blog, I knew that its name would be critical. Critical not only because of its explicit meaning but also in terms of its symbolic properties.

Much of what I invested into this site was based on its aesthetic appearance since it was very important for me to showcase my love of creativity, particularly design. And so, using the Adobe Creative Suite, I was able to effectively develop a design that I believe is atypical. Ultimately, what it culminated in was a trust and belief in my own eye, so to speak. That is, allowing myself to be comfortable with my eye for colour, layout, scheme and all those other wonderful yet less than tantalizing aspects of web design.

In one aspect, “the eye” refers to my own, a physical entity able to perceive and appreciate design. From a different perspective, “the eye” also references my passion for marketing and the often sought-after yet difficult to achieve inner eye, as I like to refer to it. To me, the inner eye is not an all-seeing psychic-like ability but instead is the integration of marketing theory with the ability to detect successful campaigns, communication and design, both external and internal.

I hope to utilize this blog as a foray into marketing and therefore, as a tool to gain and share marketing knowledge with others. As I am but a newborn in this field, I will readily concede that I have much to learn, and I hope that my participation here along with my job search will supply my seemingly perpetual thirst to know more!