As we get closer to the launch date for Rogomo, our minds have been turning to the issue of marketing. It’s all well and good if we have a great website and product, but if no one knows about it, or understands the value of our product, then we’re in trouble. So it’s important to have a clear, effective marketing message and plan.

We’re working hard on honing our marketing, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll get it right. Or at least as close to right as possible.

One thing I can guarantee you, however, is that our marketing will not involve children actors. Personally, I mute every commercial I see with a child actor. I find commercials with kids to be incredibly pandering and annoying (see, the little girl who used to do the Diet Coke commercials, the kid who does the Verizon Fios commercials, etc. etc.). Actually, let me amend that - I find commercials with kids to be even more pandering and annoying than normal commercials, if that’s possible.

So it’s with a real sense of disappointment that I link to the new ad/marketing video for Ooma, a new VoIP service that actually seems like it might be a cool service (if only I could figure out exactly what it is). The clip was apparently produced by Ooma’s creative director, Ashton Kutcher, and for some inexplicable reason features a child discussing the product for 1 minute and 45 seconds. Effective? Not so much.

Thanks to Valleywag for the heads up.