By Jenny Johnson - Integrated Marketing Specialist at Xapsis Integrated Marketing
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| Jenny Johnson |
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-air" (Will Smith).
Yes, I am
guilty. As a teenager, I waited eagerly each week for “The Fresh Prince of
Bel-Air” to come on the air. Unfortunately,
not like this golden-age of DVR capabilities, I had to wait till its air-time. I could have utilized the modern technology (in
1990) and taped it, but that brought on the challenge of NOT taping over any of
my mother’s recorded shows, which is one challenge that was best left
untouched. If you were like me and
obsessed with a favorite television series, you can share in my agony of having
to wait for a missed episode to play as a rerun.
“The Fresh
Prince of Bel-Air” debuted September 10th, 1990. A number of technological
advances debuted during the 90's as well, all echoing the theme song’s concept
of life being “flipped upside down” by change. In comparison, life was dramatically different
before the existence of computers, cell phones, tablets and my favorite, the
world-wide-web.
In 1989, 15%
of the population had a computer, and in 1992 the world-wide-web was introduced
changing the way we communicate, spend money and seek information. E-mail quickly replaced the necessity of
sending a letter or note and instantly increased the speed of long-distance
communication, thus triggering a domino effect of change for a variety of industries. E-commerce was introduced and, wow, we were
able for the first time to research, shop and make purchases without leaving
our homes. The changes were overwhelming,
life-changing and also enlightening, giving us information, options and privileges
we had never dreamed possible. Today we
continue to feel the impact of technology. Its ground-breaking days are long
behind us, but our smart phones, tablets and laptops are constantly
evolving.
It is
important that our marketing tactics are continuously evolving as well. Newspapers and phonebooks were the golden
advertising options when “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” was in its prime, while
today they have taken on other uses.
Today in 2013, as a business looking to increase its customer base and
revenue, impacting the market digitally is necessary. We communicate digitally, and to distract a
potential customer from their daily routine and notice our branding message, we
must impact our target market through the mediums they embrace. This boils down to the web; 68% of adults are
online several times daily. This
statistic forces those businesses that want and need to advertise effectively to
have a viable web presence. It is
important to have an attractive, functional website that entices the end-user
so they are comfortable extending personal information, without worrying that
they have just volunteered for identity theft.
A functional, attractive, dynamic web presence is a key ingredient in building
an effective and successful business in today’s day and age.
Smith, Willard and Townes, Jeffrey. Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince Publishing C, Universal Music-Z Tunes LLC. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Theme Song. 1990.
