California Dreaming: A marketer’s guide to succeed in the Golden State

“You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave.” — Hotel California, Eagles

When I was 15, I was obsessed with the idea of California. Who hasn’t? My interest was, of course, heightened by the popular ditties constantly playing on the airwaves — Hotel California from the Eagles, California Girls from the Beach Boys, California Dreamin from the Mamas and the Papas, etc. As well as from watching the popular TV shows shot on pretty California locations — Charlie’s Angels, CHiPs, the Streets of San Francisco, and much later Baywatch while experiencing the cold and dreary winters of St. Louis, Missouri. Bottom line: I was California dreaming.

California has been home to me for over two decades now but… boy has it changed a lot since I moved. Over the last century, waves of migrants, from filmmakers to oil men, from farmers to “dot com” entrepreneurs, have journeyed to the state in hopes of attaining their own piece of the California dream.

With all the changes that has taken place plus the frequent fires and the recent coronavirus outbreak, is the California Dream still alive? Here’s what we found out about the Golden State.

California Dreaming

California, it has been written, is America, “only more so.” How much more so? From immigration laws to school spending, some of our biggest decisions depend on an accurate count of this giant state’s population — of who we are, of whether we’re coming or going and of what we need from each other and our government.

In 1850 only 92,597 people lived in California, but by mid-19th century, due to the gold rush, CA population grew by 300% to 379,994. After WWII — CA’s population in 1950 was 10.5 million…. following decades of exponential growth CA leads the nation as the most populous state in the US with close to 40 million people.

Fueled by economic prosperity, good weather and glorious land of opportunity and dreams — 1 out of every 8 US citizens lives in California. No wonder why so many songs have been written about the Golden State over the years.

California Leaving

However, all is not so golden in the golden state…along with the US overall — in the…