What if?

We learnt in the last post that our brains are not optimized, but rather a hotch potch of bolt-ons that developed through evolutionary circumstance, that the brain doesn’t function as a seamless whole but through an imperfect set of connections with a sometimes rudimentary set of information channels.  What does this mean for humankind surviving in today’s world? 

Our primitive brain is still concerned with only one thing – our survival.  And survival today, for those of us lucky enough to live in relative economic prosperity means social survival.  We depend on the society in which we live.  This means that the threats and opportunities to our survival depend upon our relationships and our ability to navigate complex and subtle rules for success.  If we don’t succeed the penalty is marginalization or exclusion from society, which equates to a threat to our very existence.

Our primitive brain struggles to cope with this complexity and yet is forever on guard.  Most of us experience this as a constant state of anxiety.  Our executive brain concerns itself for the most part with our relationships and our status, while our primitive brain worries.

The role of marketing has made a major contribution to this state of anxiety by portraying a vision of what it is to be successful in society, by associating this blissful state with the acquisition of wealth, goods and services that are needed to achieve a level of status that will mitigate the threat of exclusion.

What if marketing turned on its head and took on responsibility for alleviating the anxiety it has helped to create in people’s lives?

What if marketing helped people to feel validated and supported?  What if products were developed with genuine compassion for their customers and their anxiety filled lives?  What if companies and brands leveled with consumers and spoke to them honestly?  What if companies held their hands up and admitted their failings giving customers permission to be flawed too? 

What then?