The bad economy will produce more effective and efficient solutions and responses by the brands to appeal to consumers in a more meaningful way. And that way has to come at the core point of engagement – the retail location. No matter how much the agencies tell their clients otherwise, the retail location is and always will be the most meaningful point of consumer relevance. As usual, necessity in bad times always delivers creative and unique solutions.

Victor Hugo said it 160 years ago that “Necessity is the mother of invention” and brands need to give their collective heads a shake and realize that the status quo as we know it for the past 3 decades is over. If they still don’t get it, despite what is going on, on Wall Street and more importantly what isn’t going on in Washington, wait until the brands and the retailers see this year’s Christmas Shopping season sales resemble
a nightmare scenario, compared to recent years.

That should suffice as a major league wake up call to all, but in the sycophantic, ever-enabling, incestuous relationship between ad agencies and its clients that drink each other’s rancid, home-brewed Kool-Aid, I doubt a whole lot of brands will take some bold and brave moves to really step up to the American consumer and provide meanigful and relevant value that cements emotional attachment status to brands and companies for years and decades.

During the Great Depression in the 1930s companies like Sears and a multitude of brands staked their very own survival on being a part of helping American survive very bad times. Despite rampant corporate greed and the contempt that most companies and brands have for the American consumer with over-priced, shabby, shoddy quality products, I know that if one smart, daring brand does this, another will follow, then 2 more, than 4 more, and so on… Then a funny thing called “Economic Recovery” will start happening all over the place!

This isn’t just smart thinking, this is not walking away from money on the table and how to create and maintain an emotional brand status!

JOEL KIRSTEIN is a Creative Director who has been in the Ad Agencies trenches for 25 years and if this concept seems clear, simple and proven it is because it is a fact!

Article Tags: "Necessity is the mother of invention" | emotional brand status
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