Let's agree: marketing today is a mess: amateurs, cowards, copycats and dead boring B2B. So stop complaining, I say to myself, and offer a solution.
Well, I have one... thanks to Roger Waters and Stephen Mitchell. You know the former Pink Floyd genius but not the latter. Mitchell is the author of numerous books on religion, zen, history, poetry and did the absolute best translation of the Tao, hands down, bar none (see http://www.stephenmitchellbooks.com/transAdapt/taoTeChing.html). And his translation of Rilke's poetry can bring you to tears if you're so inclined (see http://www.stephenmitchellbooks.com/transAdapt/poetryRilke.html).
The advice these two gave me applies to zen, music and marketing: shine in your original brilliance, as Mitchell put it. Shine on you crazy diamond, says Roger Waters.
What does this mean? Well, the key words are 'original' and 'crazy'. Once upon a time, we were brilliantly unique. Then circumstance, age and experience made us dull, common. Just like marketing today.
But I think Americans, in particular, but not exclusively (I took an advanced degree in American Culture, so I'm prejudiced) can slough off the dust with a playful shake (paraphrasing Walt Whitman) and return to our original brilliance.
How? Well... what made you want to be a writer in the first place? No one ever said, "I want to write so I can compose tired, dull ads that are mostly lies." No fledgling graphic artist ever said, "I want to copy other people's work and turn art into a commodity."
None of us ever sought to maintain the status quo. We all, at one time or another, wanted to push the boundaries, didn't we?
I'm not here to explain why we lost our brilliance. I guess most answers would start with fear: of losing our jobs, of not making a payday, of facing angry clients or of failure itself.
There's no blame to place. Let's just all agree that, say, once a week we do something for the sheer hell of it... something extraordinary to flaunt our talents, to push the limits, to make people laugh or scream or cry. Just once a week let's promise we'll return to our original brilliance -- the ideas and talents and passions that made us want to be in this business in the first place.
If our brilliant work goes nowhere, so what? Most clients or bosses won't like it but that's their loss, not ours. Let it be our way of showing that commercial success isn't the only thing we care about. Let it be our gift to younger generations... let them see what we once possessed and do possess. Let's show ourselves that we still have talent regardless of age or economic status or level of success.
Once a week, show your original brilliance -- shine on you crazy diamond!
“Consumers want a new story... authenticity, not spin... participation, not propaganda.”
