Gee, you think?

In a random, 1 on 1 focus group, I asked my 14 year old who she'd rather work for-- Dell or Apple. She chose Apple because she loves her Ipod. Supermarket or Sephora? Guess. At 14 she already has ideas on where she'll be working so how can it be such a surprise to know that college kids are not little lumps of unformed clay?

Early on in my career, I was asked to develop a campus strategy for a Fortune 500 company best known for their postage meters. After conducting the focus groups, we discovered that the company was virtually unknown--our target audience had never used their products or seen it used in an office.

So what to do if you're not Apple, Electronic Arts, or Lancome?

The most effective campaigns are viral, spread by word of mouth, and PR.
If you advertise, show people having fun, keep the copy to a minimum and be honest.

Even if you're not a superstar, you can still shine!