This post is by Michael Pollock, the original owner of Small Business Branding. Yaro Starak now owns and produces the latest content for this blog.
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Before we celebrate the death of traditional marketing, lets set the stage for its timely and fortunate demise.
The long-awaited Iraqi election is over, and I wonder how many people realize the significance of such an event. Millions of human beings – who suffered at the hands of a brutal, murderous dictator just two years ago – have collectively and freely CHOSEN their own leaders. A new day has truly dawned in the Middle East.
Tomorrow and each day forward, an Iraqi government of the people, by the people and for the people tackles the long arduous work of crafting a culture where all human beings are imbued with equal respect and value. A culture where people are free to question and criticize their leaders without fear of being jailed, having an extremity lopped off or a family member raped or beaten. A culture where discussion, discourse and debate is not only allowed, but is viewed as imperative to one’s way of life. A culture in which people are free to learn, evolve and transcend their estate, and thereby make more of their life than the circumstances of their birth might otherwise allow.
Democracy. It is, arguably, the premier form of government the human race has yet engineered. And in Western culture, we take it for granted. Of course I can vote. Of course I can come and go as I please. Of course I can call our leader, George Bush, a dumbass in public; ridicule Rumsfeld on Saturday Night Live; and make overt references to Ted Kennedy’s alleged over-consumption of alcohol on the morning radio talk shows.
Of course I can question authority, rage against the machine and protest any policy decision I choose. I can read whatever I want. I can say whatever I want. I can worship whatever God I choose. Or no God at all for that matter. I can even desecrate with impunity the very symbol of a freedom paid for by the noble sacrifice of valiant men and women over the ages – their 200-plus-years worth of blood, sweat and tears invested in my liberty to pretty much do any-damned-thing I want, as confined by law.
Let us ponder their sacrifice in silence for a moment . . .
By now, you’re perhaps wondering what all that has to do with the death of traditional marketing. And I say it has everything to do with it. Appreciate it or not, our free society, especially as it’s evolving in the 21st century, is hammering the last nail into the coffin. We’re striking up the band in celebration as we taunt and torture an obsolete, 20th century business practice that’s outlived its purpose.
Naw-naw-naaw-naw. Naw-naw-naaw-naw. Hey-ay-ay. Goood-bye.
We’ve cut traditional marketing off at the knees. We fire up our Tivos, and skip the commercials, unless we choose to watch them. We filter our email, and read only the messages we choose to read. We not only propose laws that force theater owners to tell us how to avoid their advertisements, we demand they stop showing them altogether. To companies who seek to enter our purses and wallets via the telephone, we say don’t call us, we’ll call you.
Why? Because in a democracy, we can.
Using the power of the net, our mighty voices broadcast worldwide are like kryptonite to companies whose products fail to measure up to their promising pitch. We topple media icons who violate the trust with which they’ve been endowed for so many years. We hammer away at respected academic institutions for recommending less than ethical advertising practices. We call on global business leaders to speak to us. Really speak to us like human beings and friends rather than just consumers. The ones who are up to speed actually do it.
Why? Because in a democracy, we can.
No, we’re not mad as hell any more. But we’re still not gonna take it. See, as a culture, we’re growing up. We’ve been to the moon and back. Several times. We’ve been to Woodstock. We’ve been to college and/or the school of hard knocks. We’ve watched our heroes perish right before our eyes. We’ve watched our children, mothers and fathers, our brothers, sisters and friends, all of them stripped from our lives on a sunny morning in Manhattan. And we’ve gone back there to commemorate their lives. It’s safe to say we’ve been to hell and back. Several times.
Now we’re going inside our selves. We’re leading the way on a global soul searching mission. We’re playing with the big questions. Not because we expect to find the right answers – we’re not that foolish – but because it’s the next frontier to explore. And the most interesting. It’s also the last place we can go that’s free from invasion. Government and business enter only with our permission, assuming you obey the rules. If not, we’ll kick your greedy, narcissistic asses out, bar the door, and leave you behind.
Why? Because in a democracy, we can.
Although we haven’t left it in the dust, we’ve moved beyond the materialistic, winner take all, achievement consciousness that shaped much of the 20th century. What’s emerging in us is a new consciousness. Softened by tragedy, yet hardened by assault. A new mind. More creative in it’s expression. More integrated in its function. More empathic in it’s relationship to others. A mind reconnected to it’s heart and strengthened by the knowledge of who we really are and what life is really about.
Oh we still enjoy the bling, mind you. It’s just that we’re no longer willing to sell our families, our lives or our souls to pay for it. And we expect OUR government institutions to be the watch dogs that protect and defend those values to the best of their ability. If they don’t, it’s no sale come election day.
Why? Because in a democracy, we can.
We expect business to respect us. Respect our privacy, respect our values and respect our humanity, rather than prey on our human vulnerabilities and our love of the bling. We expect you to stop marketing to us, and start connecting with us. Purple cows wow us, and free prizes entice us, but we also want you to be real. Be human. We see you behind the curtain. You’re no wizard. You’re just one of us who wants the same things we do.
Information flows more freely and more quickly today than ever before. And if you make the grade, we’ll tell everyone we know. And even more who we don’t know. If not, no need to pack a lunch. We won’t keep you around long enough to eat it.
Why? Because in a democracy, we don’t have to.