If you wanted to launch a serious debate on culture, and your name is Vivienne Westwood, you would do it using a men’s fashion magazine. Use what you’ve got. Mark admires that.
Her article, “Active resistance to Propaganda” recently published in the Summer/Autumn 08 issue of Arena Homme Plus was interesting on several counts. As an antithesis to culture Westwood names, among others, Non-Stop Distraction, saying: “The more you consume, the less you think.”
I didn’t stop consuming. That is not why we buy magazines. But her words stuck because several weeks later I went back to her article, putting aside the usual daily nonsense for a few minutes to focus on what she was saying.
Westwood argues that society will benefit by cultivating the individual as opposed to following today’s cult of the individual. Here education holds the golden key. Currently, kids don’t get to explore, to find insight interesting, or even worthy of attention. We consume ‘knowledge’ like we consume ‘culture’ – with minimal interest and with just enough effort to pass the exam.
The challenge for business is twofold. The more we get to consume, the harder it’s going to be for your brand to be noticed.
Instead of shoving more money at sport sponsorships, how about pushing some money into our hard-pressed schools for projects that actually engage minds rather than just forcing them to consume more? Your future marketing director might just benefit, and so could you. This is the essence of Mark’s message: your business is not about brands: it’s about people. No, individuals, and the long-term relationships you build with them.
[The launch editorial from Mark – the new digital business magazine about building relationships with people]
That phrase “The more you consume, the less you think” has been buzzing around in my consciousness since I read it. I’ve been considering at alternating moments between consumption and stillness and I realize that sometimes I consume simply to escape thought, which is often uncomfortable. Thanks for sharing.