4.13.2011

A Story About Marketing

In the United States, we are bombarded with more than 3000 advertisements per day! Some are passive, some are aggressive, some make us want to buy right now, some plant a seed that slowly grows, and we act on it days or weeks later and we don’t even realize it. That’s what happened to me over the past few months, and I just realized it today. Check this out.

I have a satellite dish and DVR so I can easily record my favorite TV shows and watch them later, when I have time. One of the advantages of this is that I can zip through the commercials and watch a 1-hour TV show in about 40 minutes. But sometimes a commercial catches my attention and I watch it. Sometimes I watch it over and over again. That’s what I did with these two commercials.

You can watch them here--

2010 KIA COMMERCIAL

2011 KIA COMMERCIAL

Cool commercials, right? I loved these commercials from the very first time I saw them. But, here is the strange part: On April 1, 2011, my Cadillac was gushing antifreeze all over my driveway, rendering it un-drivable. I had to work the next morning so I needed to find some transportation, fast. I had an appointment that afternoon to meet with my friend, Troy, who is a salesman at a car dealership. I walked the lot with Troy, looked at a few used cars, and settled on a black 2005 Kia Spectra. We did the paperwork, paid for the car, and I drove home happy.

Just today, April 13, 2011, it hit me. Those two TV commercials--the ONLY car commercials I have ever loved, and watched over and over again--were KIA COMMERCIALS! No way! Yes way! I’m still a little in awe over this. Do you think that’s just a weird coincidence, or is it awesome marketing?

If you have a similar story, I’d love to read about it. You can email me here: 
duanemyers2000@yahoo.com.

Now go take on the day!

Peace, out.

 
Check out Duane’s YouTube Channel

4.04.2011

I Bought a Cadillac--Big Mistake!

I bought a Cadillac on January 11, 2011. Not a new Cadillac, but still a very nice 2002 American made luxury car. I have wanted one for a long time so I finally treated myself. I know it’s not a practical car. It’s bigger than it needs to be and it has a much bigger engine than is necessary to get me from point A to point B. The MPG is pathetic, around 16. So why did I buy it? It was part of my experiment to start living my life in a state of wealth and abundance (see my blog post “The Secret” from November 4, 2010). The hit to my savings account made me uncomfortable, but that was just the beginning of my grief.

I enjoyed driving the Cadillac. It was a smooth ride, lots of black leather and polished wood accents inside, with a GPS navigation system and DVD player in the dash. The Northstar V8 engine purred like a kitten but when I pressed down on the accelerator, it roared to life to declare, “I am the king of the road!”

The snowball effect--
It began with a dead battery. The dealership where I bought it happily replaced the dead battery with a brand new one. It was winter, dead batteries are common in cold weather so I didn’t worry about it. Then the heater didn’t work. The dealership was happy to fix that, too. Cool, I was happy.


As I drove home, a text message scrolled across the dash, “Check tire pressure”. Fine, I stopped at a filling station and checked the tires. I added air to 3 of them and filled up the gas tank, $64. Then I was back on the road.

It started to snow and the windshield wipers came on automatically--Cool! I tried to use the windshield washer to clean the glass better. It was empty. Turned on the fog lights, one was burned out.

Next day, the dash text message was back, “Check tire pressure”. I did. One of the tires was over-inflated so I let some air out.

Next day, noticed that passenger side of car always had hot air blowing from the vents. Not a problem in January, but something that needs to be addressed before summer.

Next day, dash text message reads, “Change oil”. I pushed “clear” and it went away.

Next day, dash text message reads, “Change oil… Check tire pressure… Headlights suggested”.

Next day, dash text message reads, “Change oil… Check tire pressure… Headlights suggested... ABS... Check brakes... Service engine”.

Next day, I noticed drops of oil on my driveway. Checked oil, it was a quart low. Added oil.

This harassment continued until April 1, 2011. I drove home after a long day at work. Got out of the Cadillac and walked toward the house. I smelled antifreeze, turned and looked under the car. Antifreeze was coming from the engine compartment and running down my driveway--LOTS of antifreeze!

FOR SALE
Evil Cadillac
Cheap!

So what did I learn? The Cadillac had 183,785 miles on it when I bought it. That’s why it seemed like a bargain at $5999. Cadillacs are quality luxury cars, but they don’t last forever. You can buy cheap like I did and spend a lot of money on repairs, or you can pay more up front and get something with a lot less problems. If you figure in the “cost of frustration and inconvenience”, this was a very expensive lesson for me. I hope you learned from it, too.

Now go take on the day!

Peace, out.


Check out Duane’s YouTube Channel

4.03.2011

Results from “Where’s Duane?” Survey

Here is what I learned from your replies to my last post, when I asked if you would rather have more frequent posts.

I was a bit surprised by some of you. I think that’s a good thing because I learned some things. The main theme to your responses was that I should write about what’s important to me. After all, that is what you enjoy, and the reason you surf on over to Duane’s World. Thank you all for that.

The second thing I learned from you is that quality is important. You don’t want to waste your time reading pointless nonsense from an uninteresting author, and neither would I.

I will do my best to give you my best. Thank you all for your support. I truly appreciate every one of you.

Now go take on the day!

Peace, out.
 
Check out
Duane’s YouTube Channel