Marketing Monster

I must admit that I was overwhelmed by the incredibly welcoming and supportive response that my first blog post brought. There were more than 50 comments left by an incredible array of heavy hitters from Twitter and the social media scene, people who were new to me who kindly took the time to reach out, dear friends and even a few of my sisters. After a day or so, I realized I was standing face-to-face the curse of the sophomore slump.

We all know it.

A band releases a stellar first album with hit singles and major sales only to return with a follow-up that doesn’t match up to first. The second album curse sees reviews that are harsher, sales that are lower and fans who are fewer. Sometimes the second album is so poorly received, the band will crash and burn, forever known as a one-hit wonder.

In sports, there are the vast majority of winners of baseball’s Rookie of the Year award who go on to have rather mediocre careers. Football sees this curse too.

And, students who face an exciting first year of university where they perform reasonably well, become discouraged in their second year by the difficulty and sheer volume of work ahead of them.

Brands have this trouble too. Just look at the success of Dove’s Evolution campaign. Ogilvy & Mather Toronto followed it with Onslaught, which from a viral perspective, didn’t perform nearly as well. Then Unilever was called to task over the mixed messages they were sending by promoting the Dove Self-Esteem Fund on one hand and the sexy girls of the Axe brand on the other.

The fear of the curse stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder or mediocre. I was beginning to see the work that writing a blog on a regular schedule would take. And, after not posting for 3 weeks, I didn’t want to betray the faith of my early supporters with what appeared to be a lack of commitment to this blog.

And then, I got over myself.

Just like everyone who faces their second attempt at something new, I will make mistakes and may second-guess myself. I will have to learn new habits and be realistic about my own capabilities. And ultimately, like any successful band, athlete, student or brand I will have to learn from failures, chart a plan and keep at it. I’m in this for the long-haul.