Marketer, know me, the 'altered' me?

The Family Life Cycle illustrates moves across stages through which many families pass. For me, the move's now been from bachelorhood, to young married without children (honeymooner), to young (am I?) married with children (parenthood).

Tell you what, the one 'move' that's drastically altered my life has been the last one. To being a parent, a father. Of course, each of the moves has been an incredible journey, but the last one's the one that's had me reconfigure my psyche. Completely. Having Jaden has been a life altering experience for both Alphy and me. And its only been getting better, lovelier and scarier. There's so much of Jaden in everything that we do. From buying a new car, to travelling, to visiting places, to eating out, to shopping at retail stores, to going to hospitals, to reading books, to watching programs on television, to almost everything. Every consumption act of ours sees us taking Jaden into consideration. Our choice of retail store depends on which one's more conducive to kids. Can Jaden move about in the store freely, is there the kind of stuff he eats, is there a play area, those are the questions we ask before we make our choice. Ditto for us picking a place to eat out. How friendly are the service people in the restaurant, is there a baby chair if we want one, and so on.

Note, its not just about products, its about marketing communiques too. If a marketer wants to connect to me, he's got to get his copy right. Stuff like, 'Smart may have the brains, but stupid's got the balls' is the kind of communique that makes me want to throw up. Of course, it works for the nincompoops who are the target consumer segment, but with me, nah. The metrosexual mumbo-jumbo needs to be kept miles away from me. Instead if the marketer wants to sell me a shirt, tell me its the kind I can wear when I wickedly do the splotchy paint job with my three year old. That would get me to buy.

I am not sure if marketers have really understood fathers. That may be because they don't know what its like to be one. For marketers to get to the likes of me, they've got know my altered psyche. One that's been re-configured irreversibly. Marketers need to step into my shoes and know what's it that drives me, now.

If they can , and if they do, I am most vulnerable to their guiles. And that shouldn't be surprising because, after all, I am a father.