Martyring or Marketing; Pardon My Dyslexia

I was one of the original creators of the Triangle of Life cards and as such spent time looking at the marketing of the product. I was not allowed to actually engage with this apart from producing names and addresses of potential suppliers so that Dragon or her son could contact these. My actual expertise in marketing was considered non-essential, as they were both natural entrepreneurs. Dragon’s son had the idea to launch the product in an up market restaurant/wine bar that a friend of his owned. I was informed that we would be doing this and that there would be celebrity guests there, in general a glittering evening where the cards would be demonstrated for the amusement of the guests and media. This sounded perfect and I was pleased to fall in with the suggestion.

Time slowly passed and I queried the event date. It seemed there was a holdup. Eventually I was informed that it would now be held at Dragon’s house so that there was no further delay and that a marquee would be erected to take the large number of guests. There was nothing for me to do but turn up. I considered writing a piece for the local newspaper, a form of advertorial that new companies are inclined to produce in the hope of gaining free space. This was disregarded, as Dragon is well known for her erudite writing. I reminded her that if she was going to contact both the local paper and any other press that this should be done in advance of their deadlines. I got the impression that I was somehow telling my grandmother how to suck eggs, and so I left everything in her capable hands.

I checked in on the Friday prior to the launch and was slightly perturbed when Dragon asked me if I had telephoned the local paper. I began to get the feeling that my previous advice had been totally disregarded. “No,” I replied to her, “You said that you were taking care of the press”. It was certainly too late to catch a reporter but I did email the local office in the vague hope that one might be looking for copy for next weeks edition and also there was the possibility of sending a belated advertorial regarding the launch.

The day, or rather the evening dawned. I dressed in my glittery, eveningwear and swaned into the assembly. The usual suspects were occupying the comfortable seats in the lounge area. These comprised Dragon’s family and close friends. There were old friends’ of Dragon’s son there and numerous neighbours. I espied two psychics that I knew through the Delphi chat site and it was a pleasure to see them again. I was placed on the upper landing of the house at a card table and a queue was formed up the stairs for me to read. As Dragon does not read for her family and friends, I was allotted the task of so doing. I stated that there were certain of her friends that I would not read for as I found them singularly unpleasant, and this was accepted. Eventually as I neared total exhaustion Dragon took over and I had the chance to speak to some of the guests.

There were no members of the press present and no people from the trade. The celebrities were noticeable by their absence and I was left feeling very used and greatly saddened that all that hard work and potential had been in vain. The marquee that was specially bought for the occasion and could have been used again or even hired out to regain costs was left to fall apart in the autumn storms.