During my yoga practice this morning I thought about some of the conversations I’ve seen on how the coronavirus pandemic could alter the way we live and see our lives after it’s over. I hope it does change things. As someone who participates in the business of branding and communications, I find myself asking how this could alter the way we build “brands” in the future—I think a conversation is in order at the very least.
Businesses and brands should take a good look at how things have been done in the past and rethink EVERYTHING with an eye on a more realistic and healthy future. We NEED to face the fact that—while it might not make us comfortable to admit— brands are totally insignificant in the face of death. The truth is, we don’t NEED brands or most of the products or IDEAS we glamorize and push on people through endless campaigns and marketing. And we CAN work in this industry without deluding ourselves to this fact. So how do we move forward with a new world-view while continuing to do what we need to do to support our lives here on earth?
1 - Be nice to people
Businesses and brands should commit to being kind. Not only to the people who buy their products and support their brand, but to ALL the people around the world who make brands successful through years of hard work and effort—while receiving none of the actual wealth they’ve helped create. I’m not only talking about the designers and photographers and the writers, but the secretaries and technicians and call center representatives and the builders of the buildings and the cleaners of the toilets. Because we CAN see how everything is connected now, can’t we? No toilets, no brands. No healthy people, no brands.
Many of the people at the bottom of the brand pyramid get virtually nothing in return for a life-time of effort. And many of the agencies and businesses who help build brands have artificial environments of “creativity and fun and support” that are often toxic in reality—cultivating a sense of dependency and fear. In the face of death we wake up to the reality that we are ALL humans and our most basic needs have little to do with concrete floors and nice decorations. In the face of death we REALize that none of us is better or more worthy of life-benefits than any another. We ALL stand on the same ground and have the same wants and needs. So be nice. And know that life is infinitely more valuable than any brand or business.
2 - Act ethically
We’re shifting toward a world where ethical action is no longer something brands can choose to take or not—t’s a matter of life and death. Brands should immediately rethink and reorganize their processes and strategies to ensure that all actions are guided by a set of ethical guidelines. Brands who refuse to operate in this way should be seen as actual threats to the human race and no longer supported. We don’t have a choice anymore. All brands should get on board with this now if they want to survive in the future.
3 - Be honest
Being honest IS ethical action. But being honest deserves to be a goal all of its own because of how important it will be moving forward. The world can no longer tolerate companies and businesses who rely on outright lies and manipulation through marketing efforts that are designed to get them ahead at ANY cost. Our lives AND well-being is FAR more important and valuable than any brand. Brands are built by people, and AS people we need to have the courage to face this reality. That we ARE people, not the brands we build or the businesses we create, or the ideas we propagate. Building a brand CAN be a fun and good way to promote and establish a business, but a brand will never be more important than ANY human. And that’s something worth being honest about.
Brands CAN be built honestly, ethically, and in ways that DO authentically and actually serve the human race. I believe that. And while I don’t claim to know the PERFECT way to do this, I do know it’s possible and that brands CAN and need to do it and that all of us involved in this line of work need to contribute toward this new direction. Our lives and health depend on it.