Consumer Escapes - A Broadway Show

I spend my days (and many nights) talking about how we help clients sell tickets. Tickets to sporting events, tickets to play Powerball, tickets to see a show. Lots and lots of tickets. When I have the opportunity to step up and purchase a ticket to some form of consumer escape I get the dual benefit of enjoyment and business research. The other evening while in New York I bought a last-minute ticket to - what's billed as "Broadway's hot-button thriller" - RACE, written and directed by David Mamet. My show review is brief. I found the show gripping and thought-provoking.

As if that wasn't enough, I took the 12 minute intermission to jot down some notes as to why I find a play to be such a worthwhile escape. (In this case $121.50 worthwhile.) Those notes included: my Playbill is clutched, there's a jolt when the curtain goes up, I immediately suspend belief, the actors can actually see me, everyone around me is happy to be there, and when it's over there's a genuine audience-cast bond at the final curtain. Individually, each of those elements can take me away from the everyday. Combine them all and I can escape for a few hours with memories that last for a long time. Guess that explains why Broadway sells over $1 billion in tickets each year.

Consumer Escapes - Financial Freedom

Financial freedom. Read any personal finance book or investing website and they'll talk about how saving and investing early is the key to financial freedom. More important than the concepts of diversification, asset allocation, rates of return or any other investment term in the glossary.

In the U.S. we're not just behind in education. As a recent Global Echo Awards judge for the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) I was blown away by the entries from banks in Europe and Australia. They all had campaigns targeting teens, tweens and young children. Not in a predatory way. No. In an informative, fun, fresh way. These banks are acquiring and retaining younger customers. These banks are doing something good!

Maybe our domestic banks can "borrow" a page from their overseas colleagues and begin educating our young people. That next generation will save more and the banks will get high value customers for life. A long life. And I'll have some exciting award entries to judge in the future.