One in every four American adults is a grandparent. Nearly 80 million of us are grandparents now and growing by leaps and bounds as we baby boomers become more of the proper age to be grandparents. Most of today’s grandparents are aged 45 to 64, with the median age of a new grandmother being 50 and grandfathers is 54.  

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These are not your grandparents, who we all thought were over the hill and inactive and ready for boot hill by the time they reached 60. No, today’s grandparents are still working, still active and enjoying the fruits of their labors.

And what do we grandparents like to do? Spoil our grandchildren and have them spend holidays, summers and long weekends with us. We want to teach them how to golf, fish, ski, throw a football, bake cookies, make S’mores, float a river or go hunting. Their over-achieving parents don’t have the time to do that today, so it’s up to the grandparents.

When developing and marketing a residential product or resort geared toward this audience, remember, we can pay cash and demand immediate access as time is running out and we may not be here for a long time but we’re here for a good time.

Several weeks ago I wrote about KFC offering free college tuition to any new parents that named their baby Harland, after their founder. I still haven’t heard the results yet, even called the company to see what they could tell me about the promotion. Well now Domino’s Pizza has had to call off a promotion in Russia that offered 100 free pizzas per year for 100 years to fans who agreed to get a tattoo of the brand’s logo and share it on social media. Why, because over 350 Russians got the logo tattoo and qualified for the free pizza.

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That consumers would go to such permanent lengths for free pizza for life could be an indication that Dominos has some serious fans in Russia; or that tattoos are not a big deal for some, but certainly 100 free pizzas a year for life certainly is.  Most of Dominos and KFC is an indication of how brands can take their marketing stunts a little too far and possibly harm a brand’s reputation − an important lesson as brands appear to be less risk-averse in an era when consumers are very interested in viral social media content. This tattoo promotion may have boosted social media engagement, but the franchise could also take a major hit with having to serve so many pizzas, not to mention the bad will of pulling out of the promotion altogether. Be careful with what you wish for is the lesson here.

I’m a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas cards. But today, most brands want to go cheap and send a digital e-card that just doesn’t convey the Holiday Spirit I feel the holiday deserves. Most of the e-cards look alike, are self-promotional in tone, and come across to me as a last-minute attempt to get something out to your clients and friends for the holidays.

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This year, beginning this month, let’s all make a point to leave the pointless self-promotion and me-too holiday messages in the past and attempt to capture the spirit of the holidays and convey your firm’s genuine and warm holiday wishes to your clients and friends. I’m talking about it now so you will have plenty of time to work with your design team on developing an appropriate message.

We’ve been working on ours for the last two weeks already and have come up with our message and concept that you all will be enjoying in your snail-mail box two weeks prior to Christmas. Keep it true to the spirit of the holidays and not be self-promotional like an e-card we received last year with a Google Map on it showing their office location and sales copy on why we should work with them, or directing your readers to your website. Classy, real classy.

In a recent survey of 2,000 Americans, here is what the perfect day looked like to the majority of them:

Wake up at 8:15 a.m. – clear skies with a temperature of 74 degrees – two friends seen – three hours spent socializing – two hours spent eating – four hours of relaxation – four hours spent with family – in bed at 10:50 p.m.

In another poll, researchers found the average American will only have 15 “perfect days” a year − days where participants cannot imagine it “getting any better than it just did.”

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I can guess that not very many of us have perfect days, dealing with suppliers, partners, idiot drivers, and team members who can’t seem to understand their role within the firm. We are at our office or the job site, not out socializing with our friends and family and having a two-hour meal. But it’s important for each of us to know what is important to us so we can have more perfect days, as that’s usually what we are pitching to our customers and prospects. The perfect day.

Understandably, some days are outside of our control just by the weather in the morning when we get up. A gloomy rainy morning is not likely to make us feel good and ready to take on the world. Unless you live in Seattle.

To celebrate the 128^th birthday of its founder Colonel Harland Sanders, KFC is giving a college donation to the first baby named Harland born on September 9, Sanders’ birthday. By the way, the name Harland is currently ranked 3,257 on the list of most common baby names for 2017. KFC is hoping to inspire the next generation of Harlands. Talk about a tall task.

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This is the latest in a series of quirky marketing tactics KFC has embraced around its Colonel Sanders founder and spokesperson that have been resonating with chicken-eating consumers. Sure old-fashioned baby names are coming back into style from the Buffy and Bambi trend, but thinking Harland is the next trendy pick is indeed a stretch. And what a moniker to be stuck with for the rest of your life.

It remains to be seen if anyone actually names their baby Harland, or how the contest will be received. It will no doubt turn up some social media chatter, but will it drive people to KFC outlets to purchase all that finger-lickin’ good chicken and lumpy mash potatoes?

We have a local minor league baseball team in town and every one of their ads has the line: “Tickets Are Going Fast.” All it takes is one look at their parking lot and it’s obvious this is a lie. Let alone look at the box score the next day and see the attendance figure. This is shameless exaggeration at its worst, and reminds the consumer how crass marketers can be so they lose credibility and trust in the marketing process.

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People know that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. It’s our job as professionals to create content our customers and prospects believe in and relate to − content that makes them think “those guys get me.” There must be some horrible copywriting book for dummies I don’t know about, because the world is full of shameless exaggeration that we must eliminate: “Best-in-class” − “Gold Standard” − “One-of-a-Kind” and the list goes on. These, as well as many others, are cliché, braggy and simply foolish. Would you ever say in a conversation with someone that you think they’re the best-in-class person you have ever met? Doubtful. The point of this post is to show you why those who just sound like marketers don’t get anywhere.