How can some still be partying like it's 1999?

I don’t know how many cars Bob Dance sells. Maybe a lot (no pun intended). Certainly a lot more than I have ever sold. (That would be zero.)

So he deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to car advertising. But I can’t imagine this ad, which is one of those annoying ones that expands when your cursor rolls over it on a certain Orlando newspaper site, is really maximizing his spend.

I don’t really mean to pick on Bob Dance. His ad was just a wrong-place, wrong-time thing that spurred this post. Maybe this really is the best way for him to allocate his marketing dollars. Maybe he’s getting his ROI by throwing confusion and confetti at potential car buyers.

But for the rest of us, should we be allocating dollars and messaging like we did in 1999? Really? In this economy? What about creating distinct customer experiences, or connecting with people one-to-one? What about building value into the marketing process, providing content that helps as opposed to induces seizures?

It’s a weird time in business, in Florida and everywhere else. Lots of the old ways to sell are losing effectiveness. The new ways aren’t clear yet. So in this time, can the rest of us can afford to keep partying like it's 1999? Or should we be relentlessly trying new stuff?