From Habits to Rituals

Sun, 09 Apr 2017 15:36:00 -0700

I celebrated my 48th birthday this week. I’m generally not one of those people who makes a big deal about laps around the sun. Too much fuss makes me feel more awkward than gratified. But ever since I marched past the midlife median I have become more reflective about the ritual we celebrate on the anniversary of our entrance onto the stage of life.

As marketers, we don’t spend enough time thinking about rituals. One of my marketing mentors, Dennis Rook, wrote a seminal piece on the power of consumer ritual. I was lucky enough to hear him lecture on this topic in person. I remember the class vividly because I wrote a note on the margin of the syllabus: “study this!” Rook’s piece explored the powerful and profitable connection to ritualized consumption experiences such as birthdays. He noted the prescribed behaviors such as giving gifts, eating cake, blowing out candles, singing songs, etc.

Rituals on The Findings Report

From Habits to Rituals