You may remember I met my bride on the New York subway, asking to play connect the dots with her freckles.

That happened after a Mets baseball game, so when the time came, it seemed natural to propose to her on Shea Stadium’s big board. However, bureaucratic red tape prevented that, forcing Plan B: proposing with an ad in the Village Voice newspaper.

Obviously, my efforts were successful, as we just celebrated 36 years of wedded bliss.

I was reminded of this last week as we drove to Palm Springs, passing a billboard from a young woman inviting a certain man to have a baby with her.

Given that renting these billboards costs around $3,500 for four weeks, she’s obviously serious about expanding their relationship.

True, she could have just pitched the idea over a glass of wine. Alternately, she could have sent him a letter or a telegram.

Or if she was feeling silly, she could have had a clown deliver balloons with the message, “Help me make a baby.”

But no, she decided to go whole hog and announce to the world that she wants to have this man’s child.

She certainly stood out from the crowd of billboards touting ambulance chasers, restaurants and casinos.

It’s not news to regular readers that we’ll each see up to 10,000 marketing messages in the next 24 hours. This makes it incumbent upon every marketer to do something a bit different to reach their audience with their message.

For some it’ll be billboards, others direct mail, and for others still networking or skywriting.

The point being that just doing what everyone else is doing amounts to little more than noise.

And if you’re just making noise, but not creating an impression that leads to interest in your brand and positive impact on your bottom line, then why bother?

So, as you plan your 2026 marketing efforts, take a hard look at your objective, your offering, your audience and every available marketing option.

Choose something that’s different from the competition; you might be surprised by the results.

And as for the lady with the clever approach and her would-be baby-making partner, I wish them nothing but luck, and hope things ultimately work out the way they both want them to.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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