I bought myself a new Fitbit for Christmas.

I kind of had to, because I lost my old one at the end of last year, and while health is actually the point of exercise, turning it into a competition makes me far more likely to engage with it!

I didn’t want one of the big watch ones.

In fact I didn’t want a watch at all, I wanted something to clip onto my belt.

You see, I haven’t been able to wear anything on my wrists for any length of time for years; since the children were born.

I used to love watches, that was my reward when things went well at work: buy a new watch.

But as soon as Frances and Christopher came along, all of a sudden I couldn’t wear a leather strap, nor metal or plastic, without developing an incurably itchy wrist.

Gold bracelet? Nope.

Even the leather cord of a friendship bracelet didn’t work.

As a result, I was pretty nervous about buying a Fitbit that would only go on my wrist.

I found that the Inspire model can also go in a clip, so I took the plunge.

And guess what? I loved wearing it on my wrist, and my wrist loved having the silicone bracelet on it.

No itch, no irritation, just relief at having a watch again after 19 years!

There’s a salutary lesson here for businesses marketing to get customers.

Just because one form of marketing doesn’t work, doesn’t mean that it won’t work if you try a different angle.

Maybe you’ve tried an ad in the local paper and got nothing from it.

But put an ad in the specialist publication that appeals exactly to your target market and their “pain”, and it will probably work a whole lot better!

Marketing can and does work, so if YOUR marketing is not working, then YOU need to change it – maybe all you need is the equivalent of a silicon strap, rather than a leather one.