Why Blogging Matters.

The contrast between the morning I endured in a client's office and my reading and thinking this week could not have been more clear.

In the world of meetings, conference calls, and initiatives my ears were bombarded with talk of innovation, image and the customer identity! I was even told that 500 million people would turn 21 by 2010! And it all sounded self-serving, meaningless and utterly deatched from the real world.

In the world of reading and thinking (which so many would have us believe is filled with hot air, egotism and naivety), I've been assailed with contrarian attitudes, penetrating questions and smart solutions that reinforced that marketing is all about people. People who buy stuff rather than the people who try to get them to buy stuff.

It's not about creating an ersatz approximation of a typical consumer, embodying them with a cliched lifestyle and imagining what they'd like to hear from you. It's about opening your eyes, looking at the myriad people who buy stuff and respecting their uniqueness. It's about marketing thinking that begins and ends with human beings.

It's been a very good week in the blogosphere.