Staying Relevant

Grant McCracken proving that the best parts of conferences are not the actual workshops and events, but the coffee hours in between and the cocktails afterward...

"Marketing instruments and vehicles must grow more interesting and sophisticated. Pirates, jolly green giants, dough boys, these are no longer enough. What we want now are more fully realized creatures that invite the consumer to enter into acts of co-creation and self completion.

The funny thing is that if we do our jobs, the creature leaves the brand and enters the culture. Now marketers are like any other culture creators, except that, unlike the creators of the Simpsons, say, they seize the marketing opportunity at the beginning instead of the end of the creature's life cycle."