The Drunk and the Contact Lens

by Michelle LaPointe

Late one night, an inebriated man stumbled out of a bar just before closing time.

A gust of wind blew a speck of dust into his eye, and he felt a heart-sinking pop as his contact lens came out and dropped onto the sidewalk. He got down on the ground and began to look for it. 

A couple of patrons came out of the bar, saw him looking, and offered to help. As the bar closed, more patrons trickled out and joined in the search. Before long, there was a small knot of people on their knees under a street lamp, all peering inch by inch over the dirty pavement in search of the tiny gleaming lens. 

They’d been at it for nearly fifteen minutes when one of the helpers sat up in frustration. “We’ve covered a six-foot radius under this lamp at least twice,” he said. “My hands are filthy, my eyes are tired, and the cement is so rough that it’s starting to tear the knees of my pants. Are you sure this is where you lost your lens?”

“Oh, no. I lost it over there,” said the drunk, pointing to a deeply shadowed doorway a good fifteen feet away. “But the light is much better here.”

We find ourselves quoting this story a lot in our work as marketers.

In principle, advertising is a straightforward exercise in telling the right story to the right audience in the right way. In practice, though, it can feel technical, baffling, or mysterious. Some strategies and tactics come with a steep learning curve. So there’s a temptation to rely on tools we know, or tools that seem simple, rather than venturing into the unknown. Sometimes, these solutions are chosen because they’re easier to measure than others that may work better, but it be more challenging to gauge ROI. 

Sometimes, though, the tools we know are not as effective as new ones. Learning curves don’t seem so steep once you’re on the other side. And the rewards of doing something new and unfamiliar that works are much greater than doing something familiar and easy that doesn’t yield results. 

Image credits: Michelle LaPointe