May our Efforts be exalted in every hall

In the dusty archives of  Intellectua Americana is the now faded and scant-remembered manifesto rendered by Ralph Waldo Emerson entitled, The New American Scholar.  It is a document that famously signaled the departure of America’s intellectual pedigree from its European lineage, and bolstered forward the modern era of American optimism and idealism that has permeated the American psyche for nearly 150 years.  As we close a year mired in a strange sense of hope and morbid foreboding the quest for American identity has again reached a historical tipping point, a Dickensian moment in which the protagonist has awakened with the lingering dread of the spirits close to mind, confronted with a future bleak and terrible.  It is in this waking moment that we must throw our fears to the wayside and call upon our notions of idealism and opportunity.   

      As American marketers we may no longer herald the simple competitive advantages of the advanced supply chain model  or simple consumer brand recognition.  American marketers face the challenge of redefining the cultural attitudes of the global consumer market, while keeping pace in a world that has become increasingly technical, complex, and interconnected.  The former of these challenges cannot be met if the underlying pathos of our decision making is riddled with cynicism and stubbornness, instead we must unite in our common effort to re-invigorate the American brand with the consummate idealism and optimism that Emerson spoke of not so long ago.

    In his book, The Audacity of Hope,Barack Obama speaks of the need for more “Googles” in the American business landscape.  While this view is quite simple, the underlying notion is absolutely correct.   We need more companies who are willing to answer the challenge of the modern era, and whose marketing efforts have so drastically changed the consumer landscape that their failure would simply be unimaginable.  Companies that are willing to focus on the total customer experience from design, marketing, user interface and purchase.  Companies whose brands evolve beyond simple representations of intended product ideals to companies whose brands are synonymous with a renewed sense of American optimism, and intellectual might.

     In the movie Dune the line is spoken that “God created Arakis to test the faithful”, to translate this to our current era we must believe that the current economic situation that we face is meant to test our faith in idealism, courage and purpose.  So I say to my fellow marketers that we must answer the charge of cynicism and hopelessness with our hearts and our minds.  We must climb onto the back of Emerson to peer out at the crowd, and we must make our voices heard again.  We must again define ourselves and our products with the intellectual recklessness which has unceasingly rewarded our efforts, and may these efforts be exalted from hall to hall.