Hope is currency
Posted by: seanxc on: April 19, 2009
You are not a Republican. You are not a Democrat. You are not your car, your house, your jewelry. Your double-latte-decaf. You are not the health club you belong to. You are definitely NOT your religion. You are not better than anyone else, nor are you worse than you believe. You are not your body reflected in a mirror, your dress size, or what you eat.
For if you believe any of those things than you are not connected to those around you. And that lack of connection is what is causing your pessimism. Nothing more, nothing less.
Connection = Hope.
Get out of your head. Get into your body and feel. Feel the connection of others. Hope is the fuel that drives our nation, our economy. Today feels different than yesterday in a way you can’t explain, for hope does not reside in any logical statistic, or powerpoint chart. It’s palpable. Not being able to quantify it does not mean that it doesn’t exist.
Branding = hope, and our country was in desperate need of remembering what our brand stood for. We are not powerful because of weapons, but ideals. Ideals that cannot be sacrificed for expedience sake.
Arrogance, elitism, and isolation are but the ideals of fools in insecure skins. It is in our humility we are most powerful. It is where the brand, USA, is most powerful. The man who said “we can’t” will never go anywhere. He will sit there dreaming of days gone by, instead of building the future. For to him: The economy still is in shambles. The world is a disaster area. We still massively over-consume and pollute.
You are not a lot of things. But what you are is a little piece of the meme that is USA, regardless of whether you are American. Why? The feeling. The energy. Is hope.
Have your brand stand for something that is bigger than the little product you produce. Have it be unique to you, but resonate with all. Have your brand be “Hope.” Make your brand about “Connecting” with consumers. Make your brand “Real.” Be more concerned with what you are doing, and less concerned whether anyone hears about it, and you’ll never need some two bit hack advertiser to make your brand anything…. for your brand is you.
2 Responses to "Hope is currency"
2 | Advertising Civics… « X on Marketing
May 8, 2009 at 11:30 am
[...] unwanted, unsold, and I ponder as to the reasoning why they cannot be used to lift up our nation. Hope IS currency. It cannot be put into your spreadsheets. It will definitely not inspire your financial [...]
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AIR Marketing
Sean X currently serves as the Chief Digital Strategist of AIR Marketing.
About Sean X
Sean X Cummings is a recognized leader and expert on Internet marketing and advertising, with over 100 published articles and 30 speaking engagements.For over 15 years Sean X has worked as an award winning digital strategist, and has be one of the 100 executives featured on DishyMix: Podcast Famous Executives.
Noted for his inspirational style and ability to motivate employees and management, he is eagerly sought after as a dynamic thinker, speaker and writer, helping to educate brands, agencies, and vendors on how to best leverage emerging and existing advertising and marketing technologies.
Contact Sean X
For a complimentary 30-minute initial consultation for your brand, agency, or project email Sean X at sxc at me dot com or call 415.694.9514.Real Branding
Sean X also consults for Real Branding as Social Media and Analytics Tsar. If you require the services of a full service digital strategic agency email Sean X at sxc at me dot com and he will assess what you need and connect you with the right people.I believe in Kiva.org
April 27, 2009 at 7:56 am
Is it truly a realistic goal of a brand to be in the business of fulfilling their customer’s hope?
Branding = hope? I thought affiliating with a brand = conformity?
While the act of choosing to affiliate, or align, with a brand may give someone a temporary “sense” of hope, that sense may certainly prove to be much more temporary than long lasting, much less being “true” (true = true = consistency over time). Satisfaction with any brand (that isn’t “true”) will only wane over time and ends with significant dissatisfaction by the consumer with that very brand.
Consumers who look to a brand for true fulfillment of hope in their lives are only bound to be disappointed and any brand that sets itself up to attempt to deliver on their customer’s “hope” (hope as currency?) is destined to be known as a failure.