Founder, Smartestmarketingstrategy.com
Diana Herzan

Diana Herzan is a long-time resident of the Minneapolis, Minnesota area. A transplant from the east coast, she has raised a family and lived in the Twin City area for over 40 years. Besides her family that brings her more joy and delight than anything in her world, Diana is blessed to have been involved in marketing, a life long interest for the duration of her career. It is hard to use the word, "work" to describe what she has the privilege of doing each day. She will tell you it is definitely more fun than the word "work" implies.

"I love living in Minnesota, even despite the sometimes very long winters. Growing up out east, I would have never predicted I would become a Midwesterner. I originally came here for my first job out of college and have been here ever since. Minnesota is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. It is a place surrounded with friendly, helpful, caring and genuine people. Minnesota is beautiful and full of opportunities to enjoy so many aspects of life.”

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Divided photo. Top shows a picture of Alka Seltzer fizzing in water from its 1976 TV commercial. The bottom shows a snippet from the commercial for Faberge Organic Shampoo from 1982.

More About Diana's love of marketing....

I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up!

I was one of those lucky people when I went to college who knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. As a kid, I was fascinated with TV commercials. I am sure I "saw" them vastly differently than most other 12 year olds and definitely I spent more time wondering how people came up with the ideas for them and their logic.

I am sure this example dates me, but it's such a great one, it's hard not to give it a mention. The 1976 Alka Seltzer Plop, plop, fizz, fizz commercial was one of the first TV ads that struck me. (And, by the way, I was older than 12!) This commercial stands out in my mind, even today, as an outstanding example, especially for its time. It brilliantly acknowledged a pain and a solution. It created a visual and an audio that explained with undeniable clarity how to use the product and receive its benefits. Seems so simple!? It's amazing how difficult it is for many businesses to formulate the perfect descriptive in their messages about their products or services. It is without a doubt a true art and a true science. I vowed as a kid that I would master it!

Another stand out commercial that I remember having had an impact on me was the 1982 Faberge's Organic Shampoo where a happy customer (actually a young Heather Locklear) "told two friends about it, and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on." Very doubtful the creator of this ad knew how powerful the telling of two friends and so on would become some 40 years later.

"I guess we really never know when we will first identify what our future calling will be! While some kids growing up were playing house or played with chemistry sets, I was analyzing TV commercials. Was I a Marketing Nerd in the making? I would have to say YES!"

Diana Herzan
smartestmarketingstrategy.com

Old black and white photo from the sixties. Shows a TV set from the same time period with a scene from the original Alka Seltzer commercial.

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Founder, Smartestmarketingstrategy.com Diana Herzan

Founder, Smartestmarketingstrategy.com
Diana Herzan