So I’ve started to try and tune in to things a little better from day-to-day and yesterday something caught my eye, which opened my mind a little and reminded me of what everyone else is like.

Just another day… almost

It was just another coffee break.

The hill was slightly hidden by the soft mist of light rain.

And there was a very clear, very near rainbow, as often happens in this neck of the woods.

Unlike the other times, there was a second rainbow right nearby, not as bright, but there none the less.

The three of us in the kitchen saw them and thought they looked interesting enough and made a few comments like “Now there’s 4 pots of gold at the ends,” “It’s probably going to Taiwan bank at the other end,” and “that’s quite unusual.”

But we obviously weren’t the only ones who had seen it.

The deluge

In comes one of my colleagues and comments on how amazing it is, looks for a little longer and leaves.

Then another comes by, on her cellphone, telling her friend on the other end that she sees it.

By the time I got back to my desk, at least four other people had seen it, and probably many others. My other friend who went out to see it after I got back had gone to see it because someone else had told her, and it wasn’t one of those who I knew had already seen it.

We’re all different

I was reminded, just like being reminded that Firefox is not the only browser (just the current reigning champ), that everyone is different.

The rainbow that I didn’t pay too much attention to was very exciting for many other people, and created a small viral effect of people passing on the message to everyone else.

You never know what will make people excited

Although I take these little things for granted, there was enough appeal to get at least a few of my colleagues out of their chairs and out to the kitchen.

For marketers, having a complete understanding of your target market and what makes them excited and happy and can get them to take action in the way you’d like them to requires more than just the mechanics of the same old boring marketing efforts.

You really need to know them like a good friend would. And then maybe they’ll trust you, and even tell others.