Challenging Our Sense of Normal

As markets become more crowded and competitive due to global competition, and more things vie for our atttention, sometimes looking at the same thing differently can be beneficial. While traveling the world, I had an opportunity to see so many things "with new eyes. " Looking at everyday things from a different perspective is "in my DNA" now. An interesting example of this, that perhaps everyone can identify with, is how some countries view bicycles. Rather than just as a child's toy, young adult's mode of transportation, or for sporting / fitness purposes, it is integrated in to everyday life.

The funny thing about marketing is that our sense of normal can be challenged even when talking about something that is "normal / unremarkable." It doesn't work on everyone, but it works on various percentages of people depending on the subject matter. We are all susceptible to this depending on our personality.

Personally, I prefer when the marketing message has substance behind it. Meaning, there is something "real" (new feature / product / design / benefit, etc...) behind the advertising / message.

I sometimes like to say - one (wo)man's normal, is another wo(man)'s weird / cool. Do these photos challenge your sense of normal or are they just ho-hum? If yes, do they affect you on a "thought-level" or "emotional-level" or both?

Raining while on a bicycle, use an umbrella! Do you notice the child sitting in back too? No excuses for not riding a bicycle in the rain! Ha! It rains in the Netherlands too, but the photo above is meant to show just how much the Dutch rely on bicycles. In this case, bicycles going to a train station. They even have double decker bicycle parking lots, but I don't have personal photos of those.