Summer Short #3: The Pied Piper of Marketing

Marketing is something I find daunting and frankly a little boring. You spend time, effort, and sometimes money and then send it out into the world without knowing if it will make a dent. In order to get noticed you have to be either consistent or splashy. The part where I think it’s boring makes consistency tricky and being splashy is just as tricky when it tends to be outrageous.

The oldest picture of the Pied Piper copied from the glass window of the Market Church in Hameln/Hamelin Germany (c.1300-1633).

It makes me think of the Pied Piper. His name comes from his clothing—pied means multicolored—and that’s how we know him. That and his magic pipe, which can lead rats and children anywhere he chooses. But I wonder, was the outfit just a marketing ploy to stand out from all the other rat catchers? He did get the job.

Finding my version of the Pied Piper for my books is my current challenge. Any ideas?