So yesterday all of the Arab world celebrated Mother’s Day. Other than the beautiful photos that we shared of our amazing supermoms, we were bombarded with SMS texts and Facebook posts from many brands with promotions and discounts in celebration of Mother’s Day. Even when you are driving down the street you find random banners, like the one near my house hung on a carpet store: “Celebrate Mother’s Day with Us! Buy a carpet and get one free!” And men’s clothes store were celebrating the occasion by offering discounts on their merchandise.

It is obvious that Jordanian businesses are down with a serious disease called “Seasonal Marketing”. We already know that businesses are not doing too well; thus, they are looking for any excuse for promotions and discounts. From the blind copy paste of the well-known Black Friday, to Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, even International Women’s Day, and now Mother’s Day. Also, every single Wednesday your phone almost explodes with the special you-can’t-miss weekend sales.

We understand that businesses have to make money to survive, but as a consumer, there’s so much we can handle and process. Also, stop making it so cliché and meaningless. Business owners and their marketing teams have got to start thinking of creative ways to market and promote their products and services away from solely depending on occasions, celebrations, and weekends.

This problem is deeply rooted in the Jordanian way of thinking that follows the premises of “monkey see, monkey do”. You do not have to copy what every other business is doing. What we have to understand both as individuals and as businesses is that there is nothing wrong with originality. Be a leader, not a follower. Don’t do something simply because “everyone is doing it”. People always end up remembering unique and original individuals and brands, while the copy-pasters are easily and quickly forgotten.