Marketing Has Trained Me To Be An Optimist

In the under- statement of the century, I’m generally sarcastic and wry. While it doesn’t always really affect my mood, it’s a skin I’ve developed to help keep myself entertained and humbled, (sarcasm allows you to constantly turn humor back onto yourself).

In the face of a struggling economy, stock market and the “new economy,” I’m truly flooded with jokes about the failures of current presidential administrations, economic policies that are laughable, and the general panic of the financial media. But I bought stocks last week. First time in about 7 years. And I did it because of marketing.

I bought Deutsche Telecom, owner of T-Mobile in the wake of the G1 arrival news. On a personal level, I think the phone is rather basic and is just an iPhone competitor, nothing revolutionary. But I genuinely believe it has the potential to take digital advertising to the next level. As TV and print budgets continue to get cut in the coming year or so, that money will continue to come online and whether we like it or not, it’s going to partly go to Google. Search continues to make up 40% of most online budgets, and with mobile search taking off, the G1 is going to send millions of searches to Google a day.

Did I drop the bank on DT stock and plan my retirement around it? Of course not, but I did feel I was playing my part in keeping this economy moving forward, and not yanking all my money because that is how the market crumbles. I felt it was symbolic to place some trust (and funds) into companies that are looking to grow in this time period, and online advertising companies are at the top of that list. Granted we are in a bit of a cocoon because major brands will always spend advertising dollars, and right now online happens to be the least expensive medium. And it’s growing. Online opportunities are not going backwards, they are going forward.

Maybe it’s selfish to be thinking solely for my own industry, company, colleagues etc., but I think we are going to be ok as a whole in this country. I think things will stabilize in time and I think we will all find ways back on our feet.

Bottom line, I think their is a right time and place for everything, and digital advertising is poised to support lotsof dollars in the coming year.