The 1980s were known as the Me Decade thanks to Wall Street greed going mainstream.
According to this New York Times piece, the tens might become known as the My Decade, if Madison Avenue has anything to say about it.
My, my, my.
Madison Avenue has become obsessed with using the word “my” — along with “your” and “our” — in advertising slogans, as well as in the names of brands, products and even a new television network.
The trend is inspired by a desire by marketers to demonstrate that they understand changing consumer needs by, literally, putting the customer first.
Might this also say something about our need to join? To be special? To belong? It’s kind of twisted that we find community in brands, but we do.
Well, this is the oldest story / trap in the book. Trying to find a trend where there’s none. Isn’t advertising always about the consumer? Atleast, isn’t what it’s supposed to be?
Advertising and Marketing are all about convincing the consumer that your glass of water is better than the next guy’s glass of water…even though both may truly be identical. This would include using surveys to identify the “trend” of consumers to favor the water in the blue glass over the water in the green glass.
A lot of people create very good careers out of defining this subtle difference. Funny thing about it all is, in the end, it’s all still water.