Ubiquitous

Ubiquitous [yoo-bik-wi-tuhs] - existing or being everywhere, esp. at the same time; omnipresent.

What is ubiquitous?  Tim Horton's, McDonald's, Ford F150’s, Minivans, road construction in the Summer?

Advertising.  Our world is chock full of it.  Television, Radio, the internet.  We see advertisements for new movies when we go to the movies.  Billboards, road signs, Electronic signs flashing from the street corner.  Magazines, books, newspapers.  I get about 5 inches of newspaper flyers in my mailbox every week.  People standing on street corners, hold up signs for pizza places, movie rentals and furniture stores.  Occasionally I’ll get text messages from my phone company with ads.  Even hotel room keys have ads now.

They’re everywhere.

And many, most if not all, are from the big boys. Fast food, beer, big box stores, hip clothing retailers, car manufacturers, credit cards and prepackaged food.

When companies like Coca-Cola can spend $750 million in 2009, how can a mom & pop shop compete when their advertising budget may only be $200 for the year?

The answer is simple.  They can’t.

But why would Mom and Pop even try.  There is a lot of different advertising mediums out there.  I named a nearly two dozen, and those were just the first ones to pop to my mind.

The goal isn’t to compete; it’s to find that medium that is needed to bring in the customers.