-Ya’ll niggas truly aint ready for this Dynasty Thing/ Ya’ll thinkin’ Blake Carrington, I’m thinkin’ more like Ming”-Hova and “You know you’re successful the minute they can’t stand ya”-Jadakiss…”The game’s at a standstill/So don’t worry about me takin’ your spot/ I’m tryin’ to fill a position ya’ll niggas can’t fill”-Jadakiss…Those lines sum up my mentality for the past week or so, especially after yesterday……
-“Until age 25, you’re judged by potential. After 25, you’re judged by results.”
-It’s 8 am at work and I’m tired as shit. I got 4.45 hours of sleep. I need to improve my sleeping habits. Stasia and I were in the office after our meeting till like 1 AM working on getting contacts for our email blasts. The meeting went EXTREMELY well. No further comment.
-Ashaunna Ayers, the VP of Marketing at Def Jam, had us write a marketing plan for three of their artists. I said “You know what? Fuck it…let’s cross brand my dude.” Thus, I proposed a partnership with LRG for said artist to model their fall/winter line in magazines. Also, I proposed that they throw a competition for the young female (targets as usual) demographic. The premise was that the winner of the competition would be able to go out with artist and win some merchandise
-Speaking of infectious beats (last entry), “A Millie” gets my nod for Most Played Beat this year. My favorite part of the original song is:“Don’t you hate a shy bitch/Yeah, I ate a shy bitch/She aint shy no more, she changed her name to MY bitch!!!!!”-Lil’ Wayne. LMAO. Dude is a character. Ne-yo (!!!!) , Hova, Fab, Kiss, Corey Gunz and Los killed it as well
-A LOTTA shit brewing regarding the company. I’ma leave it @ that. I prefer to be a man of action. We’re officially launching our website today. Thanks for the support thus far. I appreciate it.
-It’s funny how shit goes down. We’re at a restaurant and the manager is walking around doing the usual “Is everything fine...” routine. I mention that everything is cool, so dude introduced himself as the manager. Me, thinking how I do, introduced Stasia and I as owners of a nearby marketing company. We end up talking about how dude wants to revamp the restaurant’s image and all this jazz I wont get into on here. It’s gonna be a favor for a favor thing going on…Stasia was talkin’ her fly shit as usual: “What they know about going to a spot and the owner knows you!!!!”…Politics as Usual.
-Advertising Week is next week. Sign up for seminars time!!!!!!
-The more and more I do my thing with the company, the more I feel a divide from a lotta things. “Industry” politics and bullshit. People acting more important than they are. Making 28K and walking around acting like their shit don’t stink. Self-promotion with no basis, not even business cards. Friends not understanding that most of the things in my life are means to an end. Girls I used to talk to not understanding that I’ve stepped my game up. Girls I am talking to getting frustrated that I don’t work on their clock and that I put my grind over them AND let them know from jump what the situation is. Yet when I ask my usual “What’s the incentive for a dude to date you?”, I get blank stares. Family troubles. REALLY bad shit. My pops being MIA sometimes. My mom sometimes doubting me and not believing in me. Her expecting a lot from me as the eldest son. Jealously from friends. The vocal tones of their voices when I talk to them. Friends? Family as well!!!
What’s crazy is that we get a good overall vibe. Me, older women (my moms age, not “older women”) have always liked me for some reason, so when I mention the company they’re all ears. The fact that we’re young, Black and gifted doing something positive is bankable in itself. I get a lotta love on that basis. Stasia’s too talented to work for someone as part of the machine as “just” another worker. My biggest professional fear is being just another “minority” worker in some big “square” company who’s so fuckin’ out of touch with their consumer base and/or being the token Negro who’s so scared for his job security that he doesn’t wanna disagree with the big boys in the boardroom. Time to kick in the door!!!!!!!!!
-This thing of ours will remain in the family. “They” will eventually come to us to offer dollars, but the $ isn’t the most important thing. Owning a business and dedicating yourself to it is. Of course, compensation is needed, but that will come in due time. We’ve separated a lotta potential business partners that way. You can see who’s just as hungry and aggressive as we are, and who’s just in it for a paycheck. In last month’s Vibe, Hov said something that resonated strongly with us: “People weren’t there (Def Jam) to make history. They just wanted to get a check and cross off that project.” (paraphrased). I sometimes look @ some of these corporations on Madison Avenue with cynicism and arrogance. “They” don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.
That’s why we do what we do. The problem with a LOT of advertising to the black community is that there’s NO representation of any groups but the ebonics speaking, fried chicken eating, Kool Aid drinking, watermelon eating, baggy pants wearing crowd. THOROUGH MRI research would do a lotta these companies wonders. You’d be shocked at some marketing trends. Ex: When researching consumer trends for Hellman’s mayonnaise, readers of The Catholic Digest tended to be heavy consumers. Why? I reasoned that Catholics tend to eat fish a lot, especially around the time of Lent. And have you ever had tuna fish w/o mayo on it? The professor, said that I was correct. *pats self on the back*Shoot, we found that that 18-25 female crowd was avid fans of Adult Swim!!! Who woulda thought!!!!
Odds & Ends: December 20, 2024
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