George Monbiot wrote a piece in this Monday’s (14th Dec) Guardian raising the idea that we are at the end of the ‘age of heroism’ and that we must embrace the ‘age of accommodation’ if we are to stand a chance of saving the planet from climate change:
‘Copenhagen’s premise is that the age of heroism is over. We have entered the age of accommodation. No longer may we live without restraint. No longer may we swing our fists regardless of whose nose might be in the way. In everything we do we must now be mindful of the lives of others, cautious, constrained, meticulous. We may no longer live in the moment, as if there were no tomorrow.’
Looking at this from a marketing perspective, it feels like there are lots of brands that are still very firmly entrenched in an ‘age of heroism’ view of the world. Look at this clip on Mercedes Benz’s site for example: http://bit.ly/7VZLsz
The challenge is that for many people ideas of ‘heroism’ are hard wired into their identity.At a very basic level many of us still equate masculinity with what we should perhaps now be calling ‘old fashioned heroism’. Leading from the front, going faster and being a winner remain behaviours and attributes that are still pretty central to who we are and how we aspire to living our lives. A lot of this is down to human nature – some people will always be more individualistic and more competitive than others. However a lot of it is also down to the brands we have grown up with. They have consistently told us that we should be living ‘heroic’ lives and that ‘going large’ and having the biggest, best, shiniest toys around is where it’s at.
Our belief is that as the ‘age of accommodation’ becomes our reality, businesses and brands have a very central role to play in helping people to find new more ‘accommodating’ ways to express themselves. Brands should be coming up with more ideas that bridge the gap between heroism and accommodation.
So Mercedes Benz (and Ferrari, Renault etc. etc.) how about lobbying for a rule change as you gear up for the new F1 season, how about extra championship points being awarded for the greenest team on the grid next season?