Change – Available Now!

With inauguration day fast approaching it seems like everyone is trying to cash in on the act before Tuesday. Some are relevant, such as the endless droves of commemorative Obama plates, coins, magazines, while some struggle a bit trying to force a fit. 

I snapped this photo from my local grocery store. Someone has obviously sold the chain on the limited edition MAKING HISTORY cardboard bookshelf (they somehow manage to reduce MAKING HISTORY to a SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!-like call to action). Just put this baby together and load 'em up with all the Obama books you can find and your store will be on top of all of this "Change fever." The problem? Look at the bottom shelf. They ran out of legit and pulpy Barack books and decided to face up the shelf with some Grishams from the trade paperbacks. Dreams from My Father, The Audacity of Hope, The Partner, The Summons ...

The point? Relevancy counts when you decide to go topical. If you have a relevant way to tie into the news of the day then go ahead. But if you end up stretching your brand's story in a way that doesn't make sense then you look like the rest of the masses trying to cash in on the story du jour.