There’s an interesting phenomena that occurs during every phase of life that I find myself going through. I’ve found that I tend to reach a point of maximum returns, where everything that I do from that point forward moves me toward a decision point that moves to another phase of life.

 

There’s an interesting phenomena that occurs during every phase of life that I find myself going through. I’ve found that I tend to reach a point of maximum returns, where everything that I do from that point forward moves me toward a decision point that moves to another phase of life.

 

 
If we were looking at a Bell curve, we’d be looking at the peak of the curve. I like to call this point in every phase of life the “as good as it gets” point.
 
It’s not to say everything that happens after that point is all downhill from there. It’s just to say that everything after that point moves us in another direction. Toward another “Bell curve” in the road.
 
Closing out 2014 and look forward to 2015, I cannot help but think that the financial industry has a handful of “as good as it gets” points to deal with. For the past few years (perhaps more), there have been a few key buzz terms around that we financial marketers have latched on to and implemented (or tried to) in one way or another.
 
I think it’s time that we recognize that we’re at the peak of the curve for many trends, and that it’s time to move toward a new phase.
 
I’m not going to pretend to look into a crystal ball and tell you what the top marketing trends for 2015 are going to be. 
 
But I am going to take this opportunity to tell you what my top three “as good as it gets” moments that will move us in a new direction for the New Year.
 
1.     Generation Y Lately, I have been holding out hope that, whenever I visit a blog, I’m not going to be able to read a new plethora of articles on “How to target Gen Y”. There are numerous reasons why, but the main reason is this: I think it’s time that we stop pigeon-holing our baseline for establishing a target market by identifying which generation we want to appeal to. Not only that, but the more we talk about Gen Y, the older they (actually) get. The older they get, the less appealing they become.

 

2.     Big Data There is no doubt in my mind that big data is awesome. But that doesn’t mean that we all need to jump on the ship and steam out into the waters of endless information. I say let’s take a step back, tone it down, and maybe go for more of a Medium (sized) Data plan. It’s a lot easier to bite off and the results will be something we can chew up.

 

 
3.     Digital Wallets Everyone jumps on board with Apple Pay, the end. Right? Maybe not. Digital wallets have been the talk of the town for a long time. Maybe too long. It’s not that the technology isn’t awesome, secure, flexible and everything anyone could ever want in the next evolution of payments. But we’re not talking about some kind of simple switch-over here. We’re talking about a real, down-home change in culture and muscle memory for the way consumers pay for things. I imagine that, at least for awhile, it’s going to take a moment or two for people to remember to pay via their mobile device rather than reaching for the plastic in their wallet. For now, I’d like to see a stop to jumping to conclusions that digital wallets are either dead in the water or taking off like gangbusters. In the end, I’m sure it’ll be more like a nice wine: we have to let it breathe a bit.
 
So there you have it. Here’s to a happy, healthy and evolutionary 2015!
 
 
 
 
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