Branding for better, creating a brighter future
Now that the difficult year 2011 is almost coming to an end, I would like to focus our attention to what we all can do to make 2012 a better year. Why not a splendid one?! Let’s brand for better, applying the power of creativity, inspiration, ideas and ideals. The future’s out there. It’s what we make of it. We are the world.
Let’s start with a plead for creativity. The word creative comes from the Latin ‘creare’, to make or produce, and is related to ‘crescere’, to grow. (Wikipedia) And as Franklin D. Roosevelt once said: ‘happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort’. According to Richard Florida: ‘creativity is now an economic force, reshaping the work world, putting the Industrial Age to bed’! Most importantly as the inspiring book The Brand Bubble points out: creativity is embedded in the spirit of irresistible brands. Brands that we all identify with and aspire too. Why is that?
The worlds most popular song at funerals is ‘I did it my way’. No surprise. All people aspire to be a truly unique personality. A one of a kind character. That lives life to its full potential. And inspires others to do the same. In their unique own way. Creative by nature as we are. And simply because, as Steve Jobs once said to a class of MBA students: life’s just too short to live the life of somebody else. So, finding your flow and doing it your way is essential. For people , but also for brands and corporations off all kind. To lead the way. Their way. To be a one and only. A rebel with a cause. A legendary that makes things happen. Not a laggard that watches things happen. Or worse, a loser that wonders what happened.
As Gary Hamel says, to lead the revolution, corporations and brands should apply the power of creativity. Or as Tom Peters says, they have to ‘re-imagine’. And the newest global IBM survey Capitalizing on Complexity: Insights from the Global Chief Executive Officer Study shows that the most important leadership quality is ‘creativity.’ The findings came from the highest level: 1,500 chief executives from every region in the world. Collectively, they ranked creativity higher than other competencies such as integrity, global thinking, influence, openness, dedication, focus on sustainability, humility and fairness. So creativity is the new must-have of the postmodern market place. The creative edge is now where competitive advantage is achieved. At its most primal level, creativity promises happiness, honesty, and hope. It can be applied to invent a more sustainable, balanced, peaceful, loving and beautiful future. Creativity counteracts the lack of meaning. Creativity offers guidance because people are ‘ meaning making machines’. Creative people and innovative ideas are inspirational. We admire creative people, companies, brands, products, and services because they produce a positive and often unfiltered vision of human existence, which brings added meaning to our lives. It’s creativity that encourages people to dream about tomorrow and nurtures their efforts to do so. It’s a kind of magic.
So I wish you all to reinvent yourself in two thousand twelve!
