Today I’m taking a leap into the world of the unknown.
As I write this, I’m standing on the outside of the agency world for the first time in my career, a casualty of the challenging economics many creative firms now face.
This is a strange moment in the creative industry. The specter of a recession, a world on fire, the proliferation of streaming services, and a populace whose attention is as divided as its politics, leaves us inundated with things to care about yet at the same time, over capacity. We’re asked to care more, but can’t care less.
So why should we embrace these hard to understand things? Why should we care? Why now?
In a world that needs saving, brands aren’t the solution we clamor for. But they could be.
At their best, brands can be great vehicles of optimism, showing the world not just a better way to live or conduct business, but championing values and beliefs powerful enough to endure the rough patches of everyday life. They can bring you joy, they can keep you safe, they can inspire you to take up running again, start a business or finally take that trip to Paris. They ask you to leave the world you know and feel comfortable in, and try something new.
What can sometimes feel like a chasm - remember your first Airbnb experience? - is filled with the unknown, the unfamiliar, and the scary.
And yet at the same time, it can be incredibly exciting: finding yourself in between your before and your after, dreaming about how changed of a person you might become once you take the leap.
That’s where I find myself today, reacquainted with those uncomfortable feelings of an unknowable future, yet filled with optimism that with every leap I make for myself, and the brands I work for, I’ll land having made impact.
So if you are reading this, and are also hoping to take a leap, let’s take a leap together.